February 5, 1947
Darrell Waltrip
(Photo "Darrell Waltrip" via photopin (license))
Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA.
He is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series runner-up, winner of the 1989 Daytona 500, and the first 5-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600. Posting a modern NASCAR series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983, Waltrip is the winner of 84 NASCAR Cup Series races, including 12 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway. Waltrip's 84 wins places him second only to Jeff Gordon, for the most wins in the modern era of NASCAR, tying him with driver Bobby Allison, for fourth on the all-time list of NASCAR Cup series winners. Waltrip won 59 NASCAR Cup Series pole positions, including 35 on short tracks, and 8 on road courses. He has 271 top-five finishes, and 390 top-ten finishes, ran 237,773 laps, 280,788 miles, led 23,134 laps, won $19,886,666.00, in posted earnings, competing in 809 NASCAR Cup series races, spanning 29 years, and four different decades, from 1972–2000, and still holds many NASCAR records, more than a decade after his retirement as an active driver.
In addition to NASCAR's premier racing series, Waltrip won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, 7 American Speed Association races, 3 IROC races, 2 Automobile Racing Club of America races, 2 NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, 2 All Pro Racing Association races, a USAC race, and competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Waltrip also holds the all-time track record with 67 wins at the Fairgrounds Speedway, in Nashville, Tennessee, including NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local Late Model Sportsman NASCAR sanctioned series races.
Waltrip also became the first NASCAR driver to be awarded $10 million in race winnings. He is a 2-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, was the "American Driver of the Year", and was named "NASCAR's Driver of the Decade" in 1980s. Additionally, Waltrip was named the "National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year", in 1977, 1981, 1982, the "Auto Racing Digest Driver of the Year" in 1981, 1982, and the named the first "Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year", in. He is a 2003 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and a 2005 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2012. Waltrip was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, in (1998), and was awarded the Bill France, "Award of Excellence", in the year 2000.
Waltrip currently owns Honda, Volvo, and Subaru automobile dealerships in Franklin, Tennessee, and is the lead television analyst and race commentator with Fox Broadcasting Company, a columnist at Foxsports.com, and an author. He is the older brother of NASCAR driver and MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. He is married, has two daughters, and resides in Franklin, Tennessee.
Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA.
He is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series runner-up, winner of the 1989 Daytona 500, and the first 5-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600. Posting a modern NASCAR series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983, Waltrip is the winner of 84 NASCAR Cup Series races, including 12 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway. Waltrip's 84 wins places him second only to Jeff Gordon, for the most wins in the modern era of NASCAR, tying him with driver Bobby Allison, for fourth on the all-time list of NASCAR Cup series winners. Waltrip won 59 NASCAR Cup Series pole positions, including 35 on short tracks, and 8 on road courses. He has 271 top-five finishes, and 390 top-ten finishes, ran 237,773 laps, 280,788 miles, led 23,134 laps, won $19,886,666.00, in posted earnings, competing in 809 NASCAR Cup series races, spanning 29 years, and four different decades, from 1972–2000, and still holds many NASCAR records, more than a decade after his retirement as an active driver.
In addition to NASCAR's premier racing series, Waltrip won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, 7 American Speed Association races, 3 IROC races, 2 Automobile Racing Club of America races, 2 NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, 2 All Pro Racing Association races, a USAC race, and competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Waltrip also holds the all-time track record with 67 wins at the Fairgrounds Speedway, in Nashville, Tennessee, including NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local Late Model Sportsman NASCAR sanctioned series races.
Waltrip also became the first NASCAR driver to be awarded $10 million in race winnings. He is a 2-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, was the "American Driver of the Year", and was named "NASCAR's Driver of the Decade" in 1980s. Additionally, Waltrip was named the "National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year", in 1977, 1981, 1982, the "Auto Racing Digest Driver of the Year" in 1981, 1982, and the named the first "Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year", in. He is a 2003 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and a 2005 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2012. Waltrip was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, in (1998), and was awarded the Bill France, "Award of Excellence", in the year 2000.
Waltrip currently owns Honda, Volvo, and Subaru automobile dealerships in Franklin, Tennessee, and is the lead television analyst and race commentator with Fox Broadcasting Company, a columnist at Foxsports.com, and an author. He is the older brother of NASCAR driver and MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. He is married, has two daughters, and resides in Franklin, Tennessee.
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