When the checkered flag fell in Miami a few weeks ago, Denny Hamlin eon the race and Jimmie Johnson won his record shattering fourth consecutive championship. But there was one other headline that did not garner a whole lot of media attention until the last few laps. This race also makred the end of Michael Waltrip's career as a full time Sprint Cup Series driver. Starting in the 2010 Budweiser Shootout, Waltrip will hand the keys to his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry to Martin Truex, Jr who, if all goes as planned, will win a few races and join teammate David Reutimann in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Mikey will focus more on the ownership side of the team that bears his name and run a few races here and there so he doesn't completely lose his mind. But long before he became the successful owner he is today, "Mike" Waltrip was always just "Darrell's little brother."
Michael Waltrip's career in stock cars began in the Mini Modified Division, where he won the series title in 1981. He then moved up to the Goodys Dash Series, where he was the champion in 1983 as well as the series most popular driver in '83 and '84. Then in 1985, Michael's shot at the big time had arrived. He drove the Coca-Cola 600 for Dick Bahre, starting 19th and finishing 28th after a mechanical failure derailed his efforts. Waltrip made four more starts in the remaing races. In 1986, Michael moved over to Bahari Racing. The team ran the full schedule and showed a lot of potential. But unfortunatly, that potential never translated into success. Michael drove Bahari's #30 Pennzoil Pontiac for nine seasons before moving to a more established team.
In 1996, Mikey slid into the drivers seat of the famed #21 Ford feilded by the legendary Wood Brothers. Waltrip and the Stewart, Virgina based team ran competitivly in their first full season together. They also pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of NASCAR. The team went into the 1996 WInston All Star Race in the position of having to finish top five in the Open event to transfer to the big show. They did just that, beating out Johnny Benson for the fifth and final transfer spot. Since the team did not have a car that could contend with the likes of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Michael was told that the car's backup ignition box had a little bit more timing than the primary. He was alos told to use it only if it was nessesary. After hearing that news, Mikey instantly flipped the switch to the B-box and they were able to keep up with the leaders. They maintained and found themselves in third at the start of the final segment. The two cars in front of Waltrip's #21, Earnhardt and Terry Labonte, got together, allowing the CITGO Ford to slip underneath and grab the lead. Mikey held off the pack and won his first ever Winston Cup race (albeit unofficial sice this wasn't a points paying race. It's just for fun and a little bit of cash).
Mikey drove the CITGO Thunderbird for two more seasons, before leaving to drive for Mattie Motorsports and their #7 Philips/Klaussner Chevy Monte Carlo. Waltrip instantly went back to being an also-ran like he was at Bahari, never quite getting to the next level. The next year, Nations Rent replaced Philips as the teams sponsor, but that didn't translate to any better performance, as they only had one top five and finished 27th in points. But it was a call from an old friend that would forever change Michael Waltrip's life.
Dale Earnhardt was looking to start a third team at Dale Earnhardt Incorperated and Michael Waltrip was looking for a competative ride. Earnhardt told Waltrip "You'd win in my cars" and after netting NAPA, DEI's Busch Series sponsor, to fund Waltrip's effort, Mikey got his big break. The team had accuired the #15 from Bud Moore's defunked team and they headed to Daytona for testing. Heading into the Daytona 500, the #15 team didn't qualify all that well, but that doesn't mean a whole lot at Daytona since anyone can win in such an unpredictble event.
In the late stages of teh 2001 Daytona 500, Waltrip emerged as a strong contener, swapping the lead with then teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr and owner Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Eventually the #15 was able to keep the lead and both Earnhardt's worked to keep Mikey in position to win his first Cup Series race. On the final lap, Waltrip's brightest day turned to NASCAR's darkest. In turn 4, Earnhardt threw a block on Sterling Marlin to keep the cars he owned in the lead. This sent the famous black #3 Chevy head on into the wall, killing Earnhardt instantly. Mikey, however, did go on to win the race and snap his streak of 463 consecutive winless races. The race was also made made extra special because Mikey's brother Darrell was in the booth broadcasting for FOX. The two talked in victory lane about everything from what Mikey would do with the million dollars he had won to how much better 1 for 463 sounded that 0 for 463. But when he learned of what had happened to his owner, his world was turned upside down. In the coming weeks, Michael became spokesman for the team, making personal apperances, speeches and such on behalf of a team that had just lost it's foundation, it's leader.
Michael finished the season 24th in points, still destraught about what had happened in Daytona that February, when his best friend was taken away. But his team perservired and won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July of 2002 and had a much more consistant season. That continued into 2003 when Mikey won the rain shortened Daytona 500, the second of his career. Michael still thinks that the race being rained out was God's way of letting him celebrate the victory that he never got to savor two years prior. The team also won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega, followed by Mikey popping out of the roof hatch (meant as a saftey device) on the frontstreach, arms raised triumphantly, to the delight of the crowd and his crew. This would be Michael's final win with DEI, despite having several strong runs in 2004 and in 2005, if not for a ton of bad luck, he would have made the Chase for the Cup on the heels of several victories and even more stong runs.
Late in 2005, Michael and DEI's "owner" Theresa Earnhardt, Dale's widow, agreed to part ways at season's end. The #15 went through a crew chief change that resulted in Mikey losing Tony Eury, Jr as head wrecnh to Earnhardt Jr's #8 team. Since he no longer seemed to be a priority, Mikey decided to dabble in the owner buisness himself. In 2006, he accuired the #55 and ran a NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger preped by Bill Davis Racing (now closed) under the Waltrip-Jasper racing banner. To say the 2006 season was a struggle would be putting it kindly. Davis's team had no manufactuer suport from Dodge, which meant neither did Mikey's and they could not afford things like wind tunnel time or other technological expences to better their organization. Mikey missed a few races and finished the season outside of the top 35 in owner points, meaning he would have to qualify on time for the first five races of 2007. But that would prove to be the least of his problems.
2007 was supposed to be a banner year for the newly formed Michael Waltrip Racing organization. They were able to aquire proven veteran Dale Jarrett and a rookie with potential in David Reutimann to drive as Waltrip's teammates. Jarrett brought his longtime, high dollar sponsor UPS to fund his #44 car, while Domino's and Burger King split the cost of Reutimann's #00 ride and NAPA would fund Mikey's #55 ride. the cars would also wear "shoes and socks," or, have chrome wheels, which is a touch tat Michael insisted that his cars have to make them look that much sharper. MWR showed up in Daytona for Speedweeks with three shiney, new, fully funded Toyota Camrys. Everything was going great, until an illegal fuel additive was slipped into the #55 car's intake manifold. That's when the chrome plated wheels came off the bus.
NASCAR handed down record breaking penalties in the coming days. Waltrip was fined $100,000 and 100 driver points while his wife, and listed car owner, Buffy was fined 100 owner points. Waltrip's #55 car was also confiscated and his qualifying time dissallowed, forcing him to run the Gatorade Twins in teammate Reutimann's backup car. But the team did not give up. They repainted the car to bear the gold and blue NAPA sheild that Mikey is so synonimous with, practiced and when it came time to run the Gatorade Duel 150's, Michael was able to race his way into the 2007 Daytona 500, as did Jarrett and Reutimann. But despite this achievment, the remaining races were a struggle for a new organization. Reutimann missed a total of ten races with a best finish of 13th twice, Jarrett missed 15 races and never cracked the top ten. But it was Waltrip who experienced the hardest luck. After making the feild for the 500, Michael missed twelve straight events, rejoining the field at Dover that spring. He did, however, grab the pole position at Talladega in the fall and post two tenth place finishes at Michigan and Charlotte.
Over the offseason, speculation ran rampant that MWR didn't have the funds to continue and would have to shut it's doors. It turned out that was indeed a very harsh reality, but it wasn't one that Michael Waltrip was about to let take place. Through his wife Buffy, Michael became aquainted with Rob Kaufmann, owner and founder of Fortress Invesment Group and welcomed him as an equal partner, creating Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC. This infusion of cash would prove to do a lot more than Waltrip bargained for.
In 2008, MWR's improvement continued. The season started off with Michael putting his #55 NAPA Toyota on the front row, just barely missing beating Jimmie Johnson for the pole. Reutimann also timed his way into the 500 field, while Jarrett getting in through the Gatorade Duels. Throughout the season, the progress continued with Reutimann leading the charge. He scored his first top ten finish in the Coca Cola 600, finishing tenth, and followed that up with three more top tens, leading the most laps at Richmond and netting the pole in the season finale at Homestead. Michael on the other hand had the spring Talladega race won until his motor let go on the final lap. He also finished second at Loudon due to a great startegy call from crew cheif Bobby Kennedy. He also netted a tenth place finish at Dover in the fall.
2009 proved a pivitol year for Waltrip Racing. They needed to get t least one car in the Chase and win a race to prove their legitimacy. This led to Mikey stating at the begimnning ot the season that if he didnt perform at the level Reutimann did or that NAPA expected, he would step out of the driver's seat and find someone that could. The year started off great for Mikey and crew chief "Bootie" Barker, posting a ninth place finish in the rain shortened Daytona 500 (a race they could have won had it gone the distance) and a fifteenth place run in California the next week, the wheels came off the bus and the remainder of Michael's season was filled with wrecks, blown engines and other ubiquitous bad luck not of his making. Waltrip didn't find the top ten anagin until he placed ninth in the fall Talladega event. Meanwhile, Reutimann posted five top fives, ten top tens, two poles, scored his first win in the 50th Coca Cola 600 and narrowly missed making the Chase (thanks to Denny Hamlin wrecking him at Pocono).
About halfway though the season, MWR announced that Martin Truex, Jr would replace Mikey in the NAPA Camry full time and the car would be renumbered 56. (This was Truex's number for every car he'd raced before signing with DEI in 2003). They also announced Mikey would run his #55 in the Daytona 500 with NAPA sponsorship, as well as a few other events, including the three other restrictor plate races.
In only 36 days from now, at 1pm eastern, the 2010 Daytona 500 will kick off another great season of NASCAR racing. It will also mark one of Michael Waltrip's last chances to win again in NASCAR's top division. But even if Michael doesn't win another race, he will still leave a legacy behind. No driver has been more perserverant and resilliant in the face of tragedy and adversity than Michael Waltrip. From a 462 race winless drought to the death of his best friend on the biggest day of his career, Waltrip kept his head up and stayed determined to win when a lesser driver would have given up and packed it in. That is something everyone can learn from. No matter what happened thoughout his 25 year career in NASCAR's premier series, "Mike" Waltrip the eternal optimist was always convinced that next week, he would run better and have a shot to win. That is what propelled him to over 700 Cup starts and over 1,000 career starts. While his crazy antics will continue in TV ads and he will still be at the racetrack, he will be missed as a driver by his fans. Hope you enjoy semi-retirement Mikey! Your're a helluva driver, a helluva owner and a helluva person! Heres to a banner 2010 season for MWR!
