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was a professional race car driver, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, racing commentator, and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500; having won the race in 2001 and 2003. He is also a pre-race analyst for NASCAR on FOX. Waltrip made his Cup debut in 1985 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte driving for Dick Bahre. He finished 28th. For Waltrip, 1990 was memorable for a horrific crash at Bristol in the spring where he destroyed his Xfinity Series Pontiac. Waltrip, after making contact with Steve Grissom, hit a turn-out gate at the corner exit, broke the gate and went head-on into the end of the wall, disintegrating the car on impact and collapsing the car into itself. Onlookers were sure that Waltrip was badly hurt because of how massive the crash was, but his brother Darrell, having rushed to the wreck confirmed officially he was alive. Waltrip only suffered cuts, soreness, and bruises in the incident. In 1991, he gained new sponsorship from

Pennzoil. He came close to winning the 1991 Transouth 500 with the team but had an incident that put him out of the running. Waltrip would have to wait ten more years to get his first win. In 1996 he joined Wood Brothers Racing to drive their #21 Citgo Ford. In 2001 Waltrip was hired by Dale Earnhardt to drive his team's new #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo entry. In his first race with the team, the 2001 Daytona 500, Waltrip broke a streak of 462 consecutive Cup races without a victory and won his first career points-paying Cup race. Unfortunately, the win itself was overshadowed by Dale Earnhardt, Sr.'s death on the

teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his first plate race. In 2003 Waltrip won a rain-shortened Daytona 500 and also took victory at the EA Sports 500 at Talladega (his only non-Daytona win). Waltrip moved his NASCAR Xfinity Series team, Michael Waltrip Racing, full-time for the 2007 season. He hired Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann to race in the three car operation. After the first round of qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500, NASCAR inspectors found evidence in the engine manifold that Waltrip's team had used an illegal fuel additive. NASCAR confiscated the car, forcing Waltrip to move to a back-up for the Daytona 500.

After a 30th place finish in the Daytona 500, Waltrip became the first driver in series history to go into the second race of the season with a negative number of points (-27). Waltrip failed to qualify for the next eleven races following the Daytona 500, so he maintained his negative point total for almost 4 months. On Saturday April 7, 2007 he fell asleep behind the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser which overturned and hit a utility pole. Waltrip crawled out from under the car suffering only minor cuts. He was charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident. On February 10, 2008, Michael qualified second for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, which

guaranteed him a second place start in the race. Waltrip started the race with "gold wheels" on his car in tribute to the golden anniversary of the Daytona 500; after the race the wheels were signed and sold to benefit NASCAR charities. In early 2009, Waltrip announced that he would be sharing the #99 NASCAR Xfinity Series Aaron's dream machine with David Reutimann and Scott Speed during the season. On May 25, 2009 Waltrip scored his first win as an owner in Cup Series competition in the Coca-Cola 600, with David Reutimann winning the event. Waltrip also announced Martin Truex Jr. will be joining Michael Waltrip Racing as the driver of the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota full-time in 2010. In 2013, Waltrip drove three races in the #55 during the season; in addition, he entered the 2013 Daytona 500 driving the #30 Toyota for Swan Racing. In his first race in the #55 for the season at Talladega, Waltrip finished fourth. He also ran at Daytona in July and finished

5th. When he wasn't racing, he is a NASCAR race commentator. Michael Waltrip Racing fielded three cars for the 2013 season. Martin Truex raced the NAPA sponsored #56, Clint Bowyer drove the #15 Hour Energy Sponsored Toyota, while Mark Martin and Brian Vickers split driving duties in the #55 Aarons Dream machine. The last race before the chase (at Richmond) there was an intense battle to see who would grab the last spot to get into the chase. Late in the race Truex teammate intentionally spun out to bring out a yellow to give Truex a better shot at making the Chase. The plan worked and Truex got the last spot. However NASCAR and TV intercepted the radio broadcast and it was confirmed Bowyer intentionally had spun to alter the outcome of the race. Bowyer was fined $100,000, Waltrip racing was fined $100,000 and Truex was removed

from the Chase. At the end of the season NAPA dropped their sponsorship with Waltrip racing because of the incident, and Truex and NAPA moved to Furniture Row racing for the 2014. In 2017 it seems as though Waltrip's race career has about ran it's course. Since 2010 he has pretty much only ran the races at Daytona and Talladega. Through 2015 he drove for his own team. Starting in 2016 he drove those races for others. His last Cup start was in 2017 when he ran the Daytona 500 in the #15 "Thanks Mikey" Aaron's Toyota that he wheeled to an eighth place finish (car at right). Waltrip has been a TV commentator for the Truck series events the last couple years. For his career Waltrip ran 784 Cup races over 33 years. He has won on four occasions and posted 41 Top 5 and 133 top 10. He also won 11 times in the Xfinity series

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MICHAEL CURTIS WALTRIP - 04/30/1963