When it comes to rowdy Drivers you think of Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and even Matt Kenesth. The original rowdy driver had to be Darrell Waltrip. Darrell was the one driver who some fans liked and others hated. You surely respected Darrell Waltrip and many of the drivers respected him. Darrell had rivals in Dale Earnhardt Sr. among others but later became friends with him. On track Darrell had 84 wins in NASCAR's highest division. Darrell went 17 years without winning the Daytona 500 but in 1989 Darrell finally won the Daytona 500. His celebration is really what is remembered where he did the famous ickey shuffle and asked Mike Joy if this was the Daytona 500 repeatedly.
In his later years Darrell had limited success but had the chance to return the favor to his friend Dale Earnhardt Sr. after Dale's driver Steve Park was injured in a crash at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Darrell drove the #1 for DEI starting at Bristol. His last win came in 1992. After 2000 Darrell Waltrip retired from racing and would move up to the new Fox Sports Booth starting at the 2001 Daytona 500. In that race Darrell called his brother to his first win of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series Career. Sadly in that race Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last lap crash. Ever since that day Darrell has been joined by Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds. Starting in 2016 Jeff Gordon will be replacing Larry Mac in the Booth while Larry goes and focuses on his sons racing career.
Darrell Waltrip was nothing less than a legend to the sport. He is one of the few legends that I haven't met over my life. I certainly hope over the years I get the chance to speak with him in the next few years. Look for the next NASCAR Hall Of Fame Spotlight featuring Rusty Wallace, a former rival of Darrell Waltrip. (Koelle, 2015)
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