DARRELL WALTRIP

DARRELL WALTRIP

b. 2/5/47)

Hometown: Franklin, Tenn.

Competed: 1972-2000

Starts: 809

Wins: 84

Poles: 59

A three-time NASCAR premier series champion (1981-82, ’85), Waltrip won all three with legendary driver/owner Junior Johnson. Waltrip is tied with Bobby Allison for third all-time in series victories with 84. His 59 poles rank fifth all-time in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. He competed from 1972-2000, another highlight being his 1989 Daytona 500 victory in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet.

Waltrip’s first series title came in 1981, when he finished with 12 wins and 21 top fives in 31 races. He won the title by 53 points over Bobby Allison. In his second championship season, 1982, he finished with 12 wins and 20 top 10s in 30 races, sweeping both races at four tracks (Nashville, Bristol, Talladega and North Wilkesboro). In his third championship season, 1985, Waltrip finished with three wins and 21 top 10s in 28 races.

Waltrip and his wife, Stevie, reside in Franklin, Tenn. He was nicknamed “Jaws” during his career because of an outspoken demeanor. He currently is a commentator on FOX’s NASCAR broadcasts. He was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics

Year Age Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Rank AvSt AvFn RAF Miles LLF 1972 25 5 of 31 0 1 3 0 1211 7 59 18.6 16.4 3 1658.8 0 1973 26 19 of 28 0 1 5 0 3783 50 29 10.6 21.3 8 5363.4 0 1974 27 16 of 30 0 7 11 1 4649 103 8 10.3 12.6 11 6024.8 1 1975 28 28 of 30 2 11 14 2 7240 562 8 8.4 15.5 13 7584.4 4 1976 29 30 of 30 1 10 12 3 7780 534 8 6.2 17.4 14 8235.4 4 1977 30 30 of 30 6 16 24 3 9301 948 4 5.0 8.3 23 10733.7 12 1978 31 30 of 30 6 19 20 2 9445 2173 3 5.9 10.4 21 10715.8 12 1979 32 31 of 31 7 19 22 5 9994 2130 2 4.8 7.0 30 11947.3 13 1980 33 31 of 31 5 16 17 5 9015 2022 5 5.1 12.8 19 9935.7 10 1981 34 31 of 31 12 21 25 11 9575 2517 1 5.3 7.2 27 11149.6 22 1982 35 30 of 30 12 17 20 7 9455 3026 1 3.8 9.1 22 10734.7 15 1983 36 30 of 30 6 22 25 7 9403 2363 2 7.1 7.7 26 10667.3 20 1984 37 30 of 30 7 13 20 4 9464 2030 5 5.9 11.2 27 10618.1 15 1985 38 28 of 28 3 18 21 4 8933 969 1 8.3 7.3 23 11098.0 17 1986 39 29 of 29 3 21 22 1 8327 573 2 8.6 10.0 22 10050.4 17 1987 40 29 of 29 1 6 16 0 8996 310 4 12.3 11.2 27 11203.3 9 1988 41 29 of 29 2 10 14 2 9065 520 7 10.1 13.5 25 10887.4 11 1989 42 29 of 29 6 14 18 0 9333 858 4 8.4 11.9 26 10972.5 15 1990 43 23 of 29 0 5 12 0 8138 297 20 13.5 12.4 23 9265.3 8 1991 44 29 of 29 2 5 17 0 9229 203 8 12.8 13.6 23 10877.0 11 1992 45 29 of 29 3 10 13 1 8706 513 9 13.7 14.6 25 10216.5 10 1993 46 30 of 30 0 4 10 0 9194 151 13 21.6 16.8 25 10791.2 13 1994 47 31 of 31 0 4 13 0 9905 60 9 24.2 15.8 30 11999.6 10 1995 48 31 of 31 0 4 8 1 8222 168 19 17.0 22.2 20 9557.5 8 1996 49 31 of 31 0 0 2 0 7766 2 29 26.6 25.9 20 8940.7 6 1997 50 31 of 32 0 1 4 0 8427 18 26 25.7 23.2 26 10947.0 9 1998 51 33 of 33 0 1 2 0 8995 17 24 35.0 24.8 28 11891.8 7 1999 52 27 of 34 0 0 0 0 7204 3 37 30.9 27.8 23 8941.6 3 2000 53 29 of 34 0 0 0 0 7018 5 37 31.5 31.8 22 9719.5 4 29 years 809 84 276 390 59 237773 23132 13.7 15.2 632 282728.3 286