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Darrell Lee Waltrip, popularly known as Darrell Waltrip, is one of the most renowned faces in the NASCAR fraternity. Waltrip, a former NASCAR driver, is a three-time Cup Series champion and a NASCAR Hall of Famer. He has numerous accolades to his name, and the winner of the Daytona 500 is one of them as he won the race once in 1989.
In his illustrious career that spanned nearly three decades, Waltrip claimed multiple high-stakes wins, such as the Southern 500, Coca-Cola 600, Winston 500, Snowball Derby, and many more. However, his Daytona 500 triumph at Daytona International Speedway takes the cake.
In today's article, we'll delve deeper into Waltrip's Daytona 500 victory in 1989:
The Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways in the NASCAR calendar, alongside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Any race here is one of the most iconic ones, such as the Rolex 24 Daytona. However, for NASCAR fans, the Daytona 500 brings out a different emotion.
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The 1989 Daytona 500 was the inaugural race of the 1989 Cup Series season. It took place in front of a massive crowd of 150,000 people, on the 2.5-mile (4 kilometers) track, and was contested for over 200 laps. Waltrip participated in the race while he was racing for Hendrick Motorsports.
Waltrip started the race in second place after he narrowly missed out on the pole in the qualifying to Ken Schrader, his then-teammate at HMS. He qualified outside on pole with his #17 Chevrolet against Schrader's #25 Chevy. However, once the race started, he immediately went into contention for the race win.
As the race started, Waltrip, Schrader, and Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt started fighting for the lead. With 53 laps to go, the three-time Cup Series driver gambled on fuel mileage to run on one tank and ultimately came out on top.
The victory was Darrell Waltrip's 74th Cup Series win and the first of that season. With the win, he claimed the lead in the championship in the 1989 Winston Cup Series season. His teammate Schrader and RCR's Earnhardt came home in second and third places, respectively.
Darrell Waltrip's illustrious career in a nutshell
Darrell Waltrip participated in 809 Cup Series races in over 29 years, where he claimed 84 wins, 59 pole positions, and 390 Top 10s. He is mostly known for his stint with Junior Johnson when he was driving the #11 Chevrolet. Waltrip claimed three Cup Series championships in 1981, 1982, and 1985.
The former NASCAR driver also participated in the two other national series—the Xfinity and the Truck Series. In the Xfinity, he racked up 95 races in over 14 years and claimed 13 wins, four pole positions, and 53 Top 10s.
In the Truck Series, Waltrip's numbers were 17 races in over six years, with eight Top 10s. He also has one NASCAR Grand National Series race entry. Interestingly, Waltrip is regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers in history, and his Cup Series win numbers (84) put him fifth on NASCAR's all-time wins list in the Cup Series.
Darrell Waltrip was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, on February 5, 1947. He is currently 77 years old and will turn 78 in February. Currently, he works as an American motorsports analyst after giving a fair share of his time to broadcasting and authorship.
