DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Letting it sink in, Michael Waltrip has completed in nearly half of the Daytona 500s run on record.
According to him, this Sunday, the 59th annual running of the “Great American Race” will be the Owensboro, Kentucky native’s final spat.
The two-time winner in 2001 and 2003 has been competing on a part-time basis since 2010, but during Wednesday’s Daytona 500 Media Day, Waltrip was asked sincerely if this really was his last hoorah.
“Yes, it’s my 30th and final one and I just thought it was a cool place to run my last race,” Waltrip said. “I’ve been thinking about calling it a day over the last couple years, and this just seemed like the perfect time to do it, so I’m looking forward to my opportunity to go out there and compete one last time and then sort of slow down I guess.”
The 53-year-old driver has 783 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts with all four Cup victories occurring at restrictor plate tracks with two at Daytona and Talladega apiece, so his justification makes sense, but why now?
“Well, when we ran last year’s Daytona 500, it didn’t go well,” the Premium Motorsports driver recalled.
“We didn’t run good and I guess we got into a little bit of a fender bender and messed up the car and I finished 30th I think and I just didn’t want to quit like that. I went to Talladega and we got a 12th place finish and I ran up front a little bit and then I decided we would just try to have one more competitive run down here this year. You’ve got to quit sometime and the partnership with Aaron’s has been important to me.
“They could wrap their arms around us doing a final race together. They made a commercial that aired on FS1 (FOX Sports 1), so I’m thankful for that and a bunch of the folks that have been with me – they’ve been my sponsor for I think 18 years, so a bunch of the folks that work there are going to come down and celebrate our last race together, so that was kind of important to me to share it with them.”
With his flamboyant approach to cover NASCAR, it’s surprising to think that Waltrip initially planned to be mum about his final race, but that’s before longtime partner Aarons stepped in.
“Quite honestly, I thought a lot about running my last race and not telling anyone,” Waltrip said. “Just say ‘thank y’all’ after it was over with. Aarons really wanted to help me celebrate it, made a great commercial that aired on FS1. I’m thankful that they cared, and my friends at Daytona as well.”
Makes sense.
While his odds of winning a third Daytona 500 will be challenging, Waltrip hasn’t had a chance to embrace the emotions and spectacle of winning NASCAR’s prestige race.
Waltrip’s first career Cup win coincides with the passing of Dale Earnhardt Sr., his boss, a manufacturer teammate, but most importantly a friend.
Recanting the moments of that day, Waltrip was plaintive.
“I think we have a number of days when we’re born that we’re going to live,” Waltrip said.
“Everybody has that number and that was Dale (Earnhardt’s) day, and me winning was the perfect person to win because I just wanted to give him the credit. I still honor him by giving him the credit and I will say also as I get older, as you think about your day coming up, it’s a pretty good day when you’re watching your two cars drive off to win the Daytona 500 and then you’re in Heaven right after that.
“Obviously, I wish I could have got a hug from him and everything had turned out different, but that’s just not the way it was meant to be.”
Leaving the past alone, Waltrip hopes to be able control the destiny a little more Sunday.
“Well, I qualified 35th, so that’s not good,” he said. “I think I qualified about there at Talladega in April last year and I finished 12th, so if I can figure out a way to get to the front, run up front and finish in the top 10, I would walk away proud.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
