Don’t Forget Michael
Tuesday, February 20, 2001
By, Shawn Akers
Nobody in NASCAR history had suffered disappointment quite the way Michael Waltrip had.
Fifteen years. Fifteen long, hard years Waltrip toiled at NASCAR’s highest level, never knowing the joy of what it meant to get to victory lane in a points race.
A total of 462 previous failures and switching teams four times are enough to discourage anyone, or at least give them a complex.
Sure, Waltrip had won The Winston in 1996, and winning The Winston is certainly a big deal. It shows you’re among the best of the best in an all-star event.
But winning The Winston compared to winning any type of points race is like comparing a fast-food hamburger to the finest surf-and-turf dinner. You get the picture.
So, finally, on Daytona 500 Sunday - the holiest of days in the Winston Cup Series - Waltrip found his long-awaited moment in the sun.
Aided by his car owner, Dale Earnhardt, and his teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Waltrip finally made it to the Promised Land. It was the greatest moment of his professional life, a victory in the biggest race there is – the Super Bowl of stock-car racing.
Little did he know it would also be one of the worst days of his life.
Behind Waltrip as he crossed the finish line, sitting in the infield grass, was Earnhardt – the man who had hired Waltrip to resurrect his stagnant career – motionless in his race car, with ambulances racing to attend to him.
Less than an hour later, Waltrip’s car owner, his employer and his long-time friend, was pronounced dead.
No Earnhardt to rush to victory lane to hug the driver of his No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet. No post-race jubilation to celebrate the fact his drivers had just finished 1-2 in the Daytona 500.
It was supposed to be Michael Waltrip’s day – Feb. 18, 2001. The day all the pain of the past few years went away. The day he joined his legendary brother, Darrell, as a winner of the Daytona 500.
But now it won’t be remembered as the day Waltrip broke his unbearable winless streak and won the biggest race there is. It will always be remembered first as the day the greatest driver in the history of the sport died at Daytona.
And that’s certainly a tragedy for Waltrip, who, like his brother Darrell, is one of the funniest people you’d ever want to be around. If he weren’t a driver, he could certainly be a very successful stand-up comedian.
Many predicted a victory this year for Waltrip, who spent the past couple of years watching as he slipped further and further down the Winston Cup ladder.
Upon his hiring at Dale Earnhardt Inc., at the age of 37, he was finally in a position amicable for success. With the empire DEI has become through the past few years, who would ever turn down an opportunity to drive for Dale Earnhardt?
Certainly not Michael Waltrip.
Waltrip missed the “big wreck” on Lap 174 - one in which 19 cars were involved - and took the lead from his boss on Lap 184. With Waltrip’s past history, and with Earnhardt and Earnhardt Jr. behind him, one had to wonder if he could hang on for another 15 circuits around the 2.5-mile tri-oval.
Even to the casual observer, much less to those of us who know Michael, watching the final 15 laps was nerve-wracking. Sterling Marlin appeared to have the best car of the bunch, and Marlin did everything he could to make it to the front in the waning moments.
But there was Earnhardt, his black No. 3 Chevrolet keeping Marlin and others at bay. Even Earnhardt Jr. seemed to be more like a lineman blocking for Waltrip, staying on his heels to make sure he got to the end zone, or in this case, the checkered flag.
And then there was big brother Darrell, who nervously paced the FOX sports broadcasting booth in the final few laps, cheering for his brother. Normally, you wouldn’t like to see such blatant favoritism, but that wasn’t even a consideration Sunday.
Darrell’s voice cracking with every lap, it couldn’t help but bring tears to your eyes. I’ll admit it, it happened to both my wife and I, and I began to root for Michael just as fervently.
When Michael finally crossed the finish line, it was a tremendously emotional moment, one that should go down in the annals of NASCAR history. Behind them, Earnhardt had gotten into the wall with Ken Schrader, but it looked as though it would be one of the incidents Earnhardt would just walk away from, as he always had.
He never did, unknown to Waltrip, who at least got to celebrate in victory lane for a few moments.
Waltrip’s victory Sunday is certainly insignificant compared to the tragedy the Earnhardt family, and the entire NASCAR world, has suffered. Racing just doesn’t compare to the fragility of the loss of human life, and my thoughts and prayers, as well as millions of others, are extended to the Earnhardts.
My prayers, however, are also extended to Michael Waltrip and his family. Knowing what he’s been through the past few years in his racing career, knowing the disappointment and heartache he has had to endure – to finally win a Winston Cup race on such a tragic Sunday – one has to wonder where the justice of it all is.
