A NASCAR

Unforgettable Character

Darrell Waltrip

1947 - Present

 Well, it’s Sunday afternoon, you’re kicked back on the couch or in your favorite recliner, snacks are ready, beer is chilling in the refrigerator, Fox Sports is on TV, and there you sit, waiting… Ok, the Star Spangled Banner has been sung, that sucked, I wonder where they got that singer, waiting… waiting Now, the invocation, still waiting… Man when is this race going to start. I don’t know why they say it’ll start at 2:00pm, they know it won’t start for at least 25 minutes past that, waiting… finally, “Gentlemen Start Your Engines“ the roar of 43 engines fills the air waiting… good, the pace car is leading them onto the track, still waiting… Dang how many pace laps are they going to run today waiting… waiting… OK, the pace car is dropping down onto the apron heading for the pits waiting … excitement is building, along with the tension, as 43 cars enter turn 4 heading for the start finish line. The roar of the engines intensifies, the crowd comes to its feet. Suddenly over the Air Waves “BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY, LET’S GO RACING BOYS!!“ the green flag waves and 43 cars thunder across the start/finish line and roar into turn one. The race has begun and the waiting is over.

Most NASCAR fan know that Darrell Waltrip was born in 1947 in Owensboro, Kentucky. That he started racing go carts when he was 12 and moved up to stock cars at the age of 16. He was doing most of his racing at that time at the Kentucky Motor Speedway an asphalt track and the Ellis dirt track before moving to Nashville Tennessee. When in Nashville he raced at the Music City Motorplex where he won 2 championships.

He started in the cup series in 1972. At one time he was the most hated driver in NASCAR, admonished by Richard Petty for aggressive driving and given the nickname of Jaws by Cale Yarborough for the way he was gobbling up cars on the track and for his trash talking off the track. After one win when the fans were booing him while in Victory Lane he challenged them to Boo if you love DW. He also made a more famous comment about a one time rival Dale Earnhardt saying “ I can say anything about Dale and his team in the newspaper because they can’t read it anyway.”

In the 1970’s Waltrip formed his own race team and was the owner/driver for a short time. During this time he put Dale Earnhardt into his first race car in the Cup Series. Darrell said later, “When Dale brought the car back to the garage, there were so many dents and dings in it, I thought he had raced in the Demolition Derby. Dale and Darrell were good friends off the track, but on the track they became bitter rivals.

In 1989 Darrell won the Daytona 500 and his last Cup Championship. At the end of that season he and Jeff Hammond started DarWal Racing. In 1992 Darrell visited victory lane for the last time during his career when he won the Southern 500. DW is one of the few car owners who has won races in all three NASCAR Series.. In 1997 after selling his cup series racing team and while waiting for the new owner to begin entering a car in the races, DW signed with DEI as a replacement driver for Steve Parks. He finally retired after the 2000 season and began his announcing career when he joined Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond in the Fox Sports racing booth. The first race that he accounced for Fox was the 2001 Daytona 500. On the last lap with his brother Michael Waltrip taking the checkered flag one of the other members of the broadcast team said that there was a crash in turn 4 involving Earnhart. Waltrip stood up, paused, looked toward turn 4 saying “Gee I hope Earnhart is ok..” At that Fox cut away from the race for a commercial and it wasn’t til later that Waltrip learned that his good friend had died in that crash.

And now for the rest of the story: Darrell began his announcing career when he moved to Nashville and began racing at the Music City Motorplex. He did a lot of television work, promoting the track and the races. He became friends with Ralph Emory and in the 1980’s substituted for him when he went on vacations. He also presented awards at gospel awards shows.

A week after the Daytona 500 Waltrip interviewed Mike Hilton for a pre-race segment. He believed that four deaths due to Basilar Skull Fractures occurring in 10 months was too many and was not shy about asking Hilton for an explanation. Mike Hilton’s responses only irritated Waltrip who was said to be acting more like Mike Wallace than John Madden.

He then pushed for the use of a head and neck restraint and demonstrated it’s use two weeks later. Seven months later NASCAR mandated the use of the head and neck restraint after Blaise Alexander was killed during an ARCA race.

In recent years at the start of each race he shouts Boogity, Boogity, Boogity sometimes followed by Let’s Go Racing Boys. The story is he got tired of hearing his spotter or crew chief shouting green, green, green and wanted to hear something more original.

He has also written two books, and been in several movies that were made about NASCAR. He truly is one of the unforgettable characters of NASCAR and had a many faceted career.