{"id":908377,"date":"2026-09-24T22:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908377\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T22:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:26:12","slug":"darrell-waltrips-family-gave-nascar-a-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908377\/","title":{"rendered":"Darrell Waltrip\u2019s Family Gave NASCAR a Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every time a generation change occurs in NASCAR, there is always one driver who ruffles the most feathers with the veterans and fans, who challenges the establishment. Darrell Waltrip was that driver in the mid-1970s and through most of the 1980s.
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<\/p>\n

Waltrip appeared in the sport when it was gaining national attention due to more TV coverage and when corporate America was discovering it as a marketing tool. Unlike many drivers before him, Waltrip was as comfortable in a corporate board room as he was in a race car, and he knew how to use radio and TV to his advantage. In fact, he preferred the electronic media because he felt the fans could better understand him through his voice tone and facial expressions.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u201cJaws\u201d by Cale Yarborough in September 1977, Waltrip became known for his one-liners, and many of them became legendary.<\/p>\n

Once during driver introductions at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as Waltrip walked up the steps and onto the stage, the thunderous boos started in the fourth turn grandstand and progressed down the front stretch as he headed for the microphone. He then leaned into the microphone and said, \u201cBoo if you love DW.\u201d Suddenly, there was silence, and Waltrip grinned as he walked off the stage.<\/p>\n

\"NASCARRobert Alexander\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A motorhome belonging to a fan of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. expresses a dislike of Darrell Waltrip at Daytona in 1984.<\/p>\n

Then there was the time at Charlotte when the fans cheered after he crashed off the second turn. When he was interviewed afterwards, he challenged them to meet him in the \u201cBig K parking lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving Junior Johnson and joining Hendrick Motorsports, Waltrip was asked about the move during Charlotte\u2019s annual media tour. He told the media he went from a \u201cmule to a thoroughbred.\u201d When Johnson was asked to respond to Waltrip\u2019s comment, the veteran team owner said, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about a mule, but I know one jackass I got rid of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NASCARBob Riha Jr\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Darrell Waltrip (left) with Junior Johnson in good times.<\/p>\n

Waltrip\u2019s rendition of the \u201cIggy Shuffle\u201d in victory lane after he won the 1989 Daytona 500 is still seen in highlight reels, but it was the All-Star race at Charlotte that same year that suddenly changed the fans\u2019 attitude toward him. For those who have forgotten, Waltrip and Rusty Wallace were racing for the lead in the closing laps. Waltrip was leading with just over two miles remaining on the 1.5-mile track when Wallace got into him. The Hendrick driver spun off turn four and slid through the front stretch grass. After the race, the fans booed, the crews skirmished, and while Wallace celebrated in victory lane, an angry Waltrip stated in his post-race interview, \u201cI hope he chokes on that $200,000!\u201d That was the amount Wallace received for the victory.<\/p>\n

Decades later when I interviewed Waltrip about that day, the then Tide-sponsored driver chuckled and said, \u201cYeah, he put me into a spin cycle, and I came out squeaky clean.\u201d That\u2019s definitely true because he won the National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver award in 1989 and 1990.<\/p>\n

Waltrip was a natural as a TV analyst because of his emotion, his one liners, and his knowledge.<\/p>\n

\"NASCAR<\/p>\n

Bob Riha Jr\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

On the personal side, he was only the second person to ever call me D.W. When he would return one of my telephone calls, he would say, \u201cHey D.W., this is D.W.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, I knew something was wrong when I saw him and his wife Stevie at Darlington. Stevie greeted me with a wonderful hug, but even though Darrell was in a conversation with someone, I could tell by the look on his face and his eyes he didn\u2019t know me. I\u2019ve had family members with dementia, Sundowner Syndrome, and Alzheimer\u2019s. I\u2019m all too familiar with that look.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m extremely sorry for Darrell\u2019s diagnosis, but I\u2019m glad the family went public with it because it stopped ugly rumors on social media. It explained why we will no longer see him at NASCAR Hall of Fame events or at other functions connected to the motorsports community. The Waltrip family\u2019s decision may help others who are dealing with loved ones suffering from brain injuries. But most of all, it allows the rest of the motorsports community to be there to support them. <\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com<\/a>, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association\u2019s sports feature category.\u00a0 During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication\u2019s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every time a generation change occurs in NASCAR, there is always one driver who ruffles the most feathers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,782,313742,784,237154,1642,634,313741,273948,82,183339],"class_list":["post-908377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-3b53ed6c-18b5-42c0-8b04-331bc5f7d972","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-nascar","tag-shorttitle-darrell-waltrips-family-gave-nascar-a-gift","tag-sponsored-false","tag-sports","tag-subsection-nascar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}