Global InformationDarrell Waltrip information
 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (March 2014) |
| Darrell Waltrip | |||||||
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 Waltrip at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019 | |||||||
| Born | Darrell Lee Waltrip February 5, 1947 Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 1981, 1982, 1985 Winston Cup Series Champion 1989 Daytona 500 Winner 1992 Southern 500 Winner 1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989 Coca-Cola 600 Winner 1977, 1982 Winston 500 Winner 1985 The Winston Winner (inaugural race) 1981 Busch Clash Winner 1976 Snowball Derby Winner 1987 All American 400 Winner 1986, 1987 World Crown 300 Winner 1970, 1973 Fairgrounds Speedway Track Champion | ||||||
| Awards | 1989, 1990 Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2005) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2003)[1] NASCAR Hall of Fame (2012) Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame (2001) Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023) | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 809 races run over 29 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1981, 1982, 1985) | ||||||
| First race | 1972 Winston 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
| Last race | 2000 NAPA 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
| First win | 1975 Music City USA 420 (Nashville) | ||||||
| Last win | 1992 Southern 500 (Darlington) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 95 races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 22nd (1986) | ||||||
| First race | 1982 Mello Yello 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 2006 Goody's 250 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| First win | 1982 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last win | 1989 Goody's 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| 17 races run over 6 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 37th (1996) | ||||||
| First race | 1995 Heartland Tailgate 175 (Heartland) | ||||||
| Last race | 2005 Kroger 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Grand National East Series career | |||||||
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| First race | 1973 Salem 100 (Salem) | ||||||
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Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during his time as a driver), most notably driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Junior Johnson. Waltrip is a three-time Cup Series champion (1981, 1982, 1985).
Posting a modern NASCAR series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983 and 21 top five finishes both in 1981 and 1986, Waltrip won 84 NASCAR Cup Series races throughout his career, including the 1989 Daytona 500, a record five in the Coca-Cola 600 (formerly the World 600) (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989), and a track and Series record for any driver at Bristol Motor Speedway with 12 (seven consecutive from 1981 to 1984). Those victories tie him with Bobby Allison for fourth on the NASCAR's all-time wins list in the Cup Series and place him second to Jeff Gordon for the most wins in NASCAR's modern era. He is ranked fifth for all-time pole positions with 59, including all-time modern era highs with 35 on short tracks and eight on road courses. Competing in 809 Cup starts over four decades and 29 years (1972–2000), he has scored 271 Top 5s and 390 Top 10s. Winning nearly $19.9 million in posted earnings, he became the first NASCAR driver to be awarded over $10 million in career race winnings.
Waltrip has additionally won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, seven American Speed Association (ASA) races, three IROC races, two Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) races, two NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, two All Pro Racing Association races, and a USAC race. He competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also holds the all-time track record 67 wins at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee, including NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local Late Model Sportsman NASCAR sanctioned series races. He still holds many NASCAR records, more than two decades after his retirement as an active driver.
He has also won many awards in NASCAR. That includes two for NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award (1989, 1990), three for "American Driver of the Year" (1979, 1981, 1982), and "NASCAR's Driver of the Decade" for the 1980s, as well as three for "National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year" (1977, 1981, and 1982), two for "Auto Racing Digest Driver of the Year" (1981 and 1982), the first "Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year" (1979), one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and the Bill France "Award of Excellence" in 2000. He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America for 2003 the International Motorsports Hall of Fame for 2005. After being nominated for the inaugural 2010 and 2011 classes, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame's 2012 class.
Waltrip served as a color analyst for Fox Sports alongside Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Jeff Gordon, a columnist at Foxsports.com, and an author. He is the older brother of former NASCAR driver and the now defunct MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. Waltrip retired from the commentary box at the conclusion of Fox's broadcast schedule for the 2019 NASCAR season in June 2019.[2]
- ^ Darrell Waltrip at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ "Darrell Waltrip retiring after 19 years in NASCAR TV booth with Fox".