Michael Waltrip
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| status | not active | ||||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series statistics | |||||||||
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| Best placement | 12. - (1994, 1995) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 13th - (2004) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 61st - (2004) | ||||||||
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Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963 in Owensboro , Kentucky ) is a retired American NASCAR racing driver and team owner of Michael Waltrip Racing . Waltrip is a two-time Daytona 500 winner . He works as a preliminary reporter for the Monster Energy Cup and as a commentator for the Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series on Fox Sports .
Waltrip lives in Sherrills Ford , North Carolina . He is the younger brother of three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip .
Career
Early years
Waltrip's career in touring car racing took off when he won the Mini-Modified Division circuit championship at Kentucky Motor Speedway in 1981 . A year later he competed in the Goody's Dash Series and won the championship in the 1983 season. In the same year he was voted the series' most popular driver, as well as the following year.
He made his Winston Cup debut in 1985 at the Coca-Cola World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Dick Bahre . Waltrip finished 28th and was 57th in the championship after four more races that season. In the 1986 season he started in the number 23 for Bahari Racing and drove the entire season with the exception of the Daytona 500 . His best result was an eleventh place in the Sovran Bank 500 in Martinsville and in the Summer 500 in Pocono . Despite eight failures, he finished 19th in the championship at the end of the season and was only beaten by Alan Kulwicki in the ranking of Rookie of the Year . In the following year, Waltrip switched to starting number 30 and achieved his first top 10 result at the Sovran Bank 500 in Martinsville, but did not finish eight times again. In the end it was enough for 20th place in the championship.
In 1988 Waltrip suffered eight retirements, but on the other hand there was a second place at the Miller High Life 500 in Pocono and two other top 10 placements. Waltrip improved to 18th place in the championship standings. At the same time, he started some races in the Busch Series for his brother Darrell's team. In his fourth race, the Grand National 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway , he took his first win.
With five placements within the top 10, he maintained this rank in the 1989 Winston Cup season. In addition, he also competed in 14 races in the Busch Series, in which he started three times from pole position and in the Kroger 200 also crossed the finish line first at Indianapolis Raceway Park . At the end of the season he finished 23rd in the championship.
1990-1995
In 1990 Waltrip had its best season to date in the Winston Cup. Overall, scored five results within the top 5 and another five within the top 10. The best result was a third place at the Mello Yello 500 in Charlotte . In the championship standings, he finished 16th. In the Busch Series, Waltrip competed in a total of 13 races, of which he won two. In addition, he achieved two pole positions.
In the 1991 season Waltrip achieved the first two pole positions in the Winston Cup and also won the Winston Open . He was also close to winning the Heinz Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway , but an unexpected incident ruined it. The best place in the cup this season was a third place at the TranSouth 500 , also in Darlington. In the championship standings Waltrip improved by one place to 15th. In the Busch Series, he remained without a win in the ten races he contested. Still, he scored five top five finishes, including two second places in Daytona and Darlington.
1992 Waltrip could not build on the performances of the previous season. His best result was a fourth place finish in the GM Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway . Together with a seventh place in the DieHard 500 on the Talladega Superspeedway , these should remain the only two results within the top 10. In the championship standings at the end of the season, Waltrip slipped to 23rd place. In the Busch Series, Waltrip competed in eleven races, including pole position in Daytona. He also won the Gatorade 200 in Darlington.
The 1993 season in the Winston Cup was as average as the previous one, but Waltrip achieved a total of five results within the top 10. The best result was a sixth place at the Hooters 500 in Atlanta . In the championship he improved to 17th place. In the Busch Series, Waltrip was able to build on the 1990 season and won the Budweiser 250 in Bristol and the Champion 300 in Charlotte. There was also a second place in the All Pro 300 in Charlotte and a third place in the Slick 50 300 in Atlanta.
In 1994 Waltrip achieved a total of two placements within the top 5 and eight more within the top 10. The best result was a third place at the Winston Select 500 in Talladega. At the end of the season, Waltrip finished twelfth in the championship, which has also been his best result since then. In the Busch Series he started a total of nine races, including one from pole position in Daytona. His best result of the season was a runner-up at the AC-Delco 200 at the North Carolina Speedway.
In the 1995 season, Waltrip was able to maintain its position in the championship and again took twelfth place in the championship standings with two placements within the top 5, including a third place at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, and six other placements within the top 10 . Nevertheless, he was replaced by rookie Johnny Benson at the end of the season and switched to Wood Brothers Racing in the Ford with starting number 21. In the Busch Series, Waltrip competed in a total of six races. As in the previous year, he achieved pole position at the Goody's 300 in Daytona. He then finished the race in second place.
1996-2000
In the 1996 season, Waltrip again won the show race The Winston . The best result of the regular season was a fifth place in the Winston Select 500 in Talladega and ten other results within the top 10. At the end of the season, this performance was enough for 14th place in the championship. At the same time he started in the Busch Series with his own team and completed a total of 13 races, achieved a pole position and crossed the finish line three times within the top 5, including one runner-up at the Dura Lube 200 in Darlington. Waltrip also started for the Carquest 420K in the Craftsman Truck Series , which he finished fourth.
In the Winston Cup 1997 Waltrip could not build on the previous season and achieved only six placements within the top 10, including four seventh places. Accordingly, he deteriorated to 18th place in the championship standings. Waltrip started a total of 16 times in the Busch Series this season, including one from pole position, and made it into the top five four times. Also this season he competed in the Craftsman Truck Series. In three races he achieved the best result with a seventh place at The No Fear Challenge at California Speedway .
The 1998 Winston Cup season was similar to the previous season and Waltrip achieved a total of five placements within the top 10 and 17th place in the championship standings at the end of the season. He then left the team to drive the number 7 Chevrolet for Mattei Motorsports . Waltrip competed a total of 15 times in the Busch Series. The best result was a fourth place at the Carquest Auto Parts 300 in Charlotte. As in the previous two years, Waltrip also competed in the Craftsman Truck Series. He drove a race which he finished 31st.
After switching to Mattei Motorsports Waltrip could not build on the previous years in the 1999 Winston Cup season. Although he achieved a fifth place at the Daytona 500 and two other placements within the top 10, but ten failures ensured that he only ended the season in 29th place in the championship. In the Busch Series, on the other hand, Waltrip took his first win in six years at the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 in at Lowe's Motor Speedway and a second place at the Food City 250 in Bristol.
The 2000 season in the Winston Cup was just as unsatisfactory for Waltrip as the 1999 season: A third place at the Goody's Body Pain 500 in Martinsville as the only result within the top 10 were again offset by ten failures, so that at the end of the season there was only room for 27 in the championship standings was enough. Waltrip competed a total of twelve times in the Busch Series and achieved three top five results, including a second place at the NAPAonline.com 250 at Michigan International Speedway .
2001-2006
For the 2001 Winston Cup season, Michael Waltrip moved to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the number 15 Chevrolet. In his first race for his new team, he won the Daytona 500 and took his first ever win in the Winston Cup. In addition, he and Darrell were the first pair of brothers to win the Daytona 500. Furthermore, Michael was the sixth driver after Tiny Lund , Mario Andretti , Pete Hamilton , Derrike Cope and Sterling Marlin to get his debut victory at the Daytona 500, as well as the ninth driver after Tim Flock , Fonty Flock , Donald Thomas , Donnie Allison , Phil Parsons , Brett Bodine , Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton the ninth brother of a Cup Series winner who had also won a race. However, the race was overshadowed by the fatal accident of team boss Dale Earnhardt, which everyone should only find out about after the race, when Waltrip had already extensively celebrated his victory.
In the second race of the season in Daytona, the Pepsi 400 , he was second, as well as in the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway . In the championship standings, he improved to 24th place. In the Busch Series, Waltrip drove a total of twelve races, the best result was a third place at the Aaron's 312 in Atlanta.
In the 2002 season he won the second win of his career in the Winston Cup at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona. Together with three further placements within the top 5 and six placements within the top 10, Waltrip improved to 14th place in the championship standings at the end of the season. Waltrip started a total of 19 times in the Busch Series, started the race twice from pole position and won the Cabela's 250 in Michigan. In addition, there were five further results each within the top 5 and within the top 10.
The 2003 season became one of the most successful seasons in the Winston Cup for Waltrip. He took his second victory at the Daytona 500 and another win at the EA Sports 500 in Talladega - his last win in the Cup series so far. With a total of six more results within the top 5, Waltrip finished 15th in the championship at the end of the season. Waltrip was also successful in the Busch Series. He won the Food City 250 in Bristol, took three second places and started the race twice from pole position.
In the 2004 season Waltrip could not build on the performance of previous years in the Nextel Cup . With just two placements in the top 5 and seven more in the top 10, including a second place in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, he dropped to 20th place in the championship standings at the end of the season. In the Busch Series, however, Waltrip won the Pepsi 300 on the Nashville Superspeedway . For the first time after a six-year break, Waltrip competed for two races in the Craftsman Truck Series and finished fifth at the Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway as the best result .
In the Nextel Cup, the 2005 season was similar to the 2004 season. Although Waltrip started from pole position at the Pocono 500 and achieved second place at the Subway Fresh 500 in Phoenix , he deteriorated to 25th place in the championship In races in which he started in the Busch Series, Waltrip achieved four results within the top 10, including three seventh places as the best result.
Waltrip announced that he and his main sponsor would be leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc. after the end of the 2005 season to switch to the number 55 for Bill Davis Racing . But after the number 77 team was dissolved by Jasper Motorsports , Waltrip took over the team and owner points in order to get a guaranteed starting place in the first five races of the 2006 season. Under the name Waltrip-Jasper Racing , the team was supposed to prepare Waltrip's entry as a team owner together with Toyota as the new manufacturer in the Nextel Cup for the 2007 season. Waltrip himself entered the race in the 2006 season with starting number 55. After he did not get a result among the top 10 and also failed to qualify for four races, he finished the season 37th in the championship. In the Busch Series he started a total of 21 races, the best result was a second place in the Dollar General 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Waltrip also completed a race in the Craftsman Truck Series. At the season finale, the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway , he drove from 30th on the grid to 17th place.
Since 2007–2017
After Waltrip had bought into the former team with starting number 77 in 2006, he founded his own cup team with Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2007 season . Waltrip also hired Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann as drivers. In his very first race as a team owner, there was trouble with NASCAR: After the first qualifying races for the Daytona 500, NASCAR officials found illegal additives in the engine's intake that had been mixed with gasoline. Bobby Kennedy, one of the directors in charge, and Waltrip's crew chief David Hyder have been banned from Daytona International Speedway and banned for an indefinite period. Hyder also had a fine of 100,000 US dollars pay while Michael Waltrip 100 points were deducted, as his wife Buffy Waltrip, the official owner of the team.
After Waltrip was able to qualify for the Daytona 500 in his replacement car, he finished the race in 30th place. Waltrip was the first driver ever to start the second race of the season with a negative score. However, he could not qualify for this and for the next eleven races, so that he only contested his second race of the season at the Autism Speaks 400 in Dover.
On October 6, 2007 he achieved the first pole position with the new Car of Tomorrow at the UAW Ford 500 in Talladega , but finished it in 25th place after an accident. Overall, Waltrip qualified for only 14 races in the Nextel Cup in the 2007 season and achieved two placements within the top 10. At the end of the season he finished 44th in the championship.
In addition to the races in the Nextel Cup, Waltrip also competed in the Busch Series. He started the Nicorette 300 in Atlanta from position 23 and retired after 16 laps after an accident, so that he was classified in position 43.
After the bad 2007 season, he brought the businessman and founder of the Fortress Investment Group into the team as an equal partner in 2008. Other shareholders were contractor Johnny Harris and the former team owner Cal Wells III.
Waltrip drove the Daytona 500 in 2017 and said he would retire after that. He started as 32nd and reached 8th place.
Controversy
In a race in the early 1990s, Waltrip hit Dave Marcis with his fist. Waltrip was fined $ 500 for this action.
In 1995, Waltrip hit his fellow racing driver Lake Speed at Michigan International Speedway while he was still in his car. Waltrip was fined $ 10,000.
During the first half of the 2005 season, Waltrip had an extended feud with Jeff Green , who was driving for Petty Enterprises at the time . The climax of this feud were the races in Martinsville and Darlington, where both drivers rammed each other several times.
On the Sylvania 300 of the 2005 season, Waltrip was involved in an accident with Robby Gordon , in which Gordon angrily got out of his wrecked car and threw his helmet against Waltrip's car as it passed him on the next lap behind the pace car. According to various viewers, Waltrip is said to have shown Gordon the finger the next time he drove by, but this was not clear from the video recordings and was denied by Waltrip. The television station TNT apologized for the behavior of both drivers, who had to justify themselves to the NASCAR officials after the end of the race. Gordon was fined $ 50,000 and was deducted 50 points. Waltrip was also fined, but the sentence was withdrawn after an appeal.
statistics
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 |
 AF Corse
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Ferrari 458 Italia GTC |
 Robert Kauffman
|
 Rui Águas
|
failure | malfunction |
Sebring results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 |
AF Corse whale trip
|
Ferrari 458 Italia |
Robert Kauffman
|
Rui Águas
|
Rank 38 |
Web links
- Official website
- Michael Waltrip Challenge ( Memento from February 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Driver statistics on racing-reference.info
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Waltrip, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Waltrip, Michael Curtis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American NASCAR racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1963 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Owensboro , Kentucky |