Michael Waltrip Hits Rock-Bottom
Has One of NASCAR's Most Popular Drivers Hit Rock-Bottom?
Waltrip's notorious debut season as a car owner and spokesperson for Toyota began with the thwarting cheating scandal at Daytona.
After spotting an illegal substance on the intake manifold of Waltrip’s Toyota Camry during post-qualifying inspection, NASCAR officials seized his car. Michael Waltrip was penalized 100 driver and owner points, and his crew chief David Hyder and director of competition Bobby Kennedy faced indefinite suspensions.
Waltrip valiantly raced his way into the Daytona 500, but his 30th place finish in the Great American Race only paid 73 NASCAR Nextel Cup points, which fell 27 points short of compensating his 100-point penalty. He has failed to qualify for the subsequent five races, thus, Waltrip is last in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship standings with negative 27 championship points.
His two other drivers, 1999 Champion Dale Jarrett and rookie David Reutimann, have also struggled. Jarrett has already used four of his six Champions provisional starting spots and currently sits 37th in the Nextel Cup standings. Reutimann has failed to qualify for two races and currently sits 43rd in the Nextel Cup standings.
As if the lackluster results from his Toyota-backed organization coupled with the cheating scandal (known as Mikey-gate) were not bad enough, he will face another public relations disaster.
Waltrip was cited for reckless driving after he fled the scene of a single-car accident. Early Saturday morning (1 am-ish to 2am-ish), he purportedly fell asleep just a mile away from his home. He reportedly rolled his car after hitting a utility pole; however, he was uninjured and was able to walk home.
Waltrip was not arrested, but he was charged with reckless driving after the police finally located him later that night.
You never want to see a man suffer through so much adversity in such a short period; however, there are critics monitoring Waltrip’s mounting list of transgressions.
Waltrip’s career began in the shadows of his three-time champion sibling, Darrell, and he has not even come close to measuring up. Because of his enchanting personality, Waltrip developed many friendships at and away from the track. Throughout the early part of his career, he was moderately popular with the fans, however, his popularity ascended after he landed a ride with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He won the hearts of thousands of fans after winning the 2001 Daytona 500, the same race that took the life of the late Dale Earnhardt.
He capitalized on his fame by appearing in the cleverly over-played NAPA, Domino’s, and Aaron’s commercials and becoming a TV personality. He became a household name, and a recognizable face despite the fact that he was not one of NASCAR’s front-runners. Eventually, he built his one-car Busch Series team into a three-car NASCAR Nextel Cup operation.
Unfortunately, Waltrip has an uphill mountain to climb.
It is safe to say the Michael Waltrip has hit rock-bottom and the only way to go is up. Qualifying for this weekend’s race at Texas would be a breath of fresh air for the two-time Daytona 500 champion.
