Q&A with Darrell Waltrip

Once the most hated man in NASCAR, he evolved into a fan favorite and retired in 2000 tied for third on the alltime victory list, with 84. At 56 he's winning new fans as Fox's folksy NASCAR analyst.

Greg Foster

SI: How much fun is talking about a race on TV compared with driving?

Waltrip: TV's more fun because everyone has to listen. I'm preaching to a 20-million-person choir. Driving, I just had a few folks in the garage area listening.

SI: You open every race broadcast saying "boogity-boogity-boogity" as the green flag drops. What's the story with that?

Waltrip: As kids we'd say, "This car can really boogie." Well, you can't say boogie-boogie. But boogity-boogity-boogity, it just sounded right.

SI: In 1964 you set a Kentucky high school record with a 2:02.04 in the 880-yard run. How'd you manage that?

Waltrip: They threw me a hubcap and hollered, "Police!"

SI: When you were growing up in Owensboro, Kentucky, the police once shot six times at your car. How come?

Waltrip: Me and my buddies were racing the cops, and it got a little out of hand. I think they were just trying to send me a message. And trust me, I received the message.

SI: You sometimes break into song in the booth. What's your favorite on-air ditty?

Waltrip: When Dave Blaney lost his left rear wheel at Atlanta I went into, "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel."

SI: Do you own one of those shirts saying, I HATE WARM BEER, COLD WOMEN AND DARRELL WALTRIP?

Waltrip: No, but I have a lot that say, ANYBODY BUT WALTRIP.

SI: How come the fans gave you such a hard time?

Waltrip: I was a kid from Kentucky who showed up and started beating on the back bumper of their heroes. Plus, I was just mouthy. I was rude and obnoxious. Carl Yarborough called me Jaws because I ate up people. I was a good talker, and they wasn't.

SI: When you won Most Popular Driver in 1989 you said it was your most important achievement. Why?

Waltrip: I felt I was given a chance to mend fences with fans. Richard Petty had once said that I would win a lot of races and break a lot of records, but I'd never be Most Popular Driver.

SI: Who would win a footrace between you and Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Waltrip: I'd lap him. I bet he'd give out before we got halfway around.

SI: Which was a tougher loss: being passed on the last lap of the 1979 Daytona 500 by Richard Petty, or watching your Kentucky Wildcats get blown out by Marquette in this year's NCAA tournament?

Waltrip: Daytona. I didn't take what happened to Kentucky personally, but I took what happened to me personally. I couldn't go coach the Kentucky game, but I could have done something about what happened with Petty.

SI: In 1976 you won a race and told reporters, "Hello, I'm Darrell Waltrip and I'm here to take Richard Petty's place." How did that go over?

Waltrip: Not too good. That was the beginning of a lot of trouble for me.

SI: When you finished sixth in a truck race last year at Indianapolis, you got out of your car and did the Ickey Shuffle. Had you been saving that dance for a while?

Waltrip: I didn't know if I could still do it. That's not something for the older crowd to try. Maybe I should have just given them a wave.

SI: You won 11 races at Martinsville, and the 11 grandfather clocks that go to the winner. How many do you still have?

Waltrip: I have six of them here at the house and I've given five away. They're great clocks. They never wear out. If we had them all going off, it would be pretty loud.

SI: Do you regret calling your last season "Victory Tour 2000"?

Waltrip: No, I just regret that it didn't come sooner.

SI: Your favorite movie is For the Love of the Game. Would you want Kevin Costner to play you in The Darrell Waltrip Story?

Waltrip: Either him or Mel Gibson. I like Mel Gibson.

SI: You used to drive a car owned by Junior Johnson, who was the subject of Tom Wolfe's story, The Last American Hero. What do you think a Tom Wolfe story about you would be called?

Waltrip: Maybe I Tried To Do It My Way.

SI: You drove a car owned by Dale Earnhardt in '98. What was it like working for a man who for a decade had been your biggest rival?

Waltrip: Dale and I were always "frenemies." We were friends part of the time; we were enemies part of the time. I just feel like the Lord gave me that opportunity just so I could spend time with him and we could become friends.

SI: You won more than half your races in green cars, even though green is supposed to be bad luck in NASCAR. How do you like the color green now?

Waltrip: Here's the thing: I won 27 races in the Gatorade car. I won 24 races in the Mountain Dew car. So green has been my favorite color. That was the approach I took to the sport from day one. People would say green was unlucky; I'd say, 'No it isn't. I like green.' They'd say Bristol is the toughest race we run. I'd say, 'No it isn't. I like Bristol.' I took negatives and turned them into positives. I would listen to what other drivers would say they didn't like, and I would focus on that. If they said they didn't like Darlington, I liked Darlington. If they didn't want to go 200 mph, I wanted to go 210.

SI: You're pretty good friends with President Bush. If he were a NASCAR driver, what kind of driver would he be?

Waltrip: He'd spend a lot of time in the big red truck [in trouble with NASCAR].

SI: Would he have problems turning left all the time?

Waltrip: [laughs] I don't know about that. I do know that he would probably have a problem getting along politically. See, athletes in general are pretty good politicians, because we've all had to deal with sanctioning bodies or the league; we've all had to deal with authority. So we kind of learn how to work the system.

SI: Finally, could you leave me with a boogity-boogity-boogity for the road?

Waltrip: I'll tell you what you've got to do, buddy. You better pull them belts tight, you better get up close to that computer, because we're ready to go racing. Boogity-boogity-boogity, Pete!

--Pete McEntegart

Issue date: April 21, 2003

 

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