Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, national television broadcaster, and former racing driver. He is also a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (1981, 1982, 1985) and a three-time NASCAR Cup Series runner-up (1979, 1983, 1986). Posting a modern NASCAR series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983 and 21 top five finishes both in 1981 and 1986, Waltrip won 84 NASCAR Cup Series races, including the 1989 Daytona 500, a record five in the Coca-Cola 600 (formerly the World 600) (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989), and a track and Series record for any driver at Bristol Motor Speedway with 12 (seven consecutive from 1981 to 1984). Those victories tie him with Bobby Allison for fourth on the NASCAR's all-time wins list in the Cup Series and place him second to Jeff Gordon for the most wins in NASCAR's modern era.

Waltrip was born on February 5, 1947 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Starting his driving career in Go-karts at age 12, Waltrip entered his first stock car race just four years later. Waltrip and his father built a 1936 Chevrolet coupe and headed to a local dirt track near their Owensboro home. The first night out was far from a success as the youngster, barely old enough to drive on the street, slammed the wall and heavily damaged the coupe. Waltrip soon left the dirt and found his niche on asphalt where the smoothness he learned in the karts proved a valuable asset.  He was an early racer at the Kentucky Motor Speedway (an asphalt track in Whitesville) and Ellis Raceway, a dirt track on US Highway 60 west in Daviess County (Ellis Raceway is now closed), driving a car called "Big 100" built by Harry Pedley, owner of Pedley's Garage, on West Second Street, in Owensboro and sponsored by R.C. Bratcher Radiator and Welding Co. His success gained the attention of Nashville owner/driver P. B. Crowell, who urged Waltrip to move to the area to race at the Fairgrounds Speedway, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, where he would win two track championships, in 1970, and 1973.  Waltrip drove the #48 P. B. Crowell owned Ford sponsored by American Home, in Nashville, where he aggressively promoted the week's race when he appeared on a local television program promoting the speedway's races, and was not afraid to embrace the local media when other competitors were reluctant to do so. Some of the notorious "on air" trash-talking included making fun of some of the other local drivers such as Coo Coo Marlin (whose son Sterling later raced at the circuit and is a two-time Daytona 500 winner) and James "Flookie" Buford, whose nickname he would mock on air. It pleased track management that he was helping sell tickets, leading to packed grandstands and extra paychecks from track operators for his promotional skills.  He became friends with WSM radio host Ralph Emery in his early years, forming a bond which would be influential throughout his career, as Waltrip would appear frequently on Emery's early morning television show on local Nashville television station, WSMV, and later substitute for Emery in the 1980s on Emery's television show, Nashville Now on the former TNN cable network (later, Spike TV). Waltrip would use the success he enjoyed at the Music City Motorplex, and his notoriety and public speaking skills that he acquired from television appearances in Nashville, as a springboard into NASCAR's big leagues.  He became a Christian in 1983 but it was years later before God came first in his life. One of the charities he supports is the Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) providing spiritual support to racers and their families.

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