"I wanted that hug; he never came": When Michael Waltrip was saddened about not meeting Dale Earnhardt after his maiden Daytona victory

Former NASCAR driver and owner Michael Waltrip once discussed the aftermath of his maiden Daytona 500 triumph, which came in 2001. While it was Waltrip's first Cup Series victory at the esteemed event, the race was overshadowed by the last-lap crash that took Dale Earnhardt's life.

NASCAR racer-turned-commentator Waltrip is the younger brother of three-time Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip. In his three-decade-long stock car racing career, the younger Waltrip took the checkered flag four times while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. While all his four triumphs came at the Superspeedway, two of them were at the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500 races.

In a 2019 conversation, Michael Waltrip opened up on his emotional thoughts surrounding his victory lane celebration. He shared how the absence of seven-time Cup Series champion and his team owner Dale Sr. affected him even among his victory celebrations. He said (via SiriusXM):

"I remember it vividly and I always will because... I was in Victory Lane and everything was perfect. My family was there, there was champagne and confetti and I just kept looking over my shoulder at the gate into Victory Lane and I was wondering when Dale was gonna walk in, you know...I wanted that hug" [0:32].

Waltrip said he had witnessed Hall of Famer Dale Sr. hug his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the latter's win in Texas the previous year. Referencing that moment, Waltrip said:

"I wanted that more than I wanted the money or the trophy. I wanted him to come there and I kept looking and he never came."

The 2001 Daytona 500 race was Michael Waltrip's debut race with DEI, driving the team's #15 Chevy Monte Carlo. Dale Jr. followed him in the runner-up spot, also for his father's Cup team, driving the famed #8 Chevy.

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"Dale Earnhardt used to tell me all the time, 'You would win if you were driving for me'" - When Michael Waltrip opened up on NASCAR legend

Apart from his maiden Cup and Daytona 500 victory at Daytona International Speedway, Michael Waltrip said the loss of Dale Earnhardt Sr. is the first thing that comes to his mind when he thinks about the 2001 race.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 - Practice - Source: Getty

In a 2019 interview, Waltrip opened up on the possible inner thoughts of Dale Sr. watching Waltrip and Dale Jr. battling for the win in the final moments of the race. He said (via USA Today),

"I believe when Dale Jr. and I drove off from Turn 4 at Daytona, I think that Dale Sr. had a smile on his face."

Speaking about Dale Sr., he added,

"He used to tell me all the time, 'You would win if you were driving for me. If you were in one of my cars, you would win.' And I would always say, 'Well damn, let’s get me in one then!' And it finally happened where I could go drive for him."

Waltrip mentioned that he broke his more than 450-long Cup Series winless streak with that Daytona win competing for DEI.

"I was 0-462 without him, and on the first try, I was able to win. The thing that makes me smile and laugh a lot... I knew Dale, I knew him really good, the first thing he was gonna say was, 'I told you so!' And I just think about that a lot. And then he would have said, 'I helped you win that one, you butthole! You better go win the next one.' And you know, that’s what I expected and what I wanted to hear and what I wanted to do."

Michael Waltrip also finished runner-up the same season at the Pepsi 400 race at Daytona International Speedway. Waltrip went on to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race at Daytona the following season and the iconic Daytona 500 race again in 2003.