TRIBUTES/MEMORIALS TO LEGENDS

            Darrell Waltrip                     

One of the enduring figures on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit and a three-time series champion (1981, '82, '85), Darrell Waltrip became the elder spokesman for the sport prior to his retirement "Victory Tour" in 2000. His 809 starts is third-best, his 84 victories ties him for third (with Bobby Allison) on the all-time list, and his 59 pole positions are fourth best in NASCAR Winston Cup history.

 

Waltrip won the (1989) Daytona 500 in his 17th attempt. He is the only five-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and won the inaugural The Winston in 1985. Waltrip holds the modern-era record for wins from the pole position with eight in 1981. He was the first NASCAR Winston Cup driver to win $6 million, $7 million, $8 million, $9 million, and $10 million in prize money and was the third driver in NASCAR Winston Cup history to surpass the $15 million mark.

     

Waltrip was the winner of the NASCAR Most Popular Driver award in 1989 and 1990 and the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the year in 1977, 1981, and 1982. Waltrip will continue to reap the respect he has cultivated as a motorsports broadcast analyst.  He was inducted into the Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway's Heroes of Bristol Hall of Fame in 1997.