Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102070088
SECTION: RACING PAGE: AR4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As he slipped into his new race car for a test session, it did not feel quite the same. The place seemed dark and lonely.
"It was kind of a little bit of an eerie feeling," Waltrip said. "We were testing there and there weren't that many cars there. I kinda felt like I was out there on a limb all by myself to a certain degree."
Waltrip does not remember last July's Pepsi 400 practice accident. He does remember the pain afterward of a shattered left leg. And he has seen the videotape - the image of his car sliding to a stop on the Daytona front stretch last July, only to be slammed in the driver's side by Dave Marcis' spinning car.
"I was always curious about how I would react" to a serious racing injury, Waltrip said. "I think it tests your commitment. I think it tests your desire to get back in a car. I always wondered if I would want to get back in."
And there he was, sitting in his race car, thinking of Daytona as a dark and eerie place.
"After I made a lap or two and didn't slide or spin out, I felt pretty good," Waltrip said. "So that was the end of that."
A serious crash can do something to a driver's mind. If he remembers how much it hurt, he may lift a little the next time out. He may lose that fearless edge.
Waltrip says that won't happen to him, although he still walks with a pronounced limp. "I feel really good about all that," he said in January during a session with the media at his garage near Charlotte Motor Speedway.
But if that mental hurdle indeed has been cleared, the three-time Winston Cup champion still faces a tremendous challenge to make it back to the top of the sport after his first winless season since 1975.
Waltrip is now the owner of his own team. And he candidly admitted that he has work to do to reach that sharp edge of competitiveness because he had to spend much of his winter organizing the team.
Waltrip said his split with Rick Hendrick was amicable. They remain friends, he said, and he will continue to buy engines from Hendrick during this season.
But the two were unable to agree on a price for the shop equipment and eventually Hendrick sent his people over to clean it out.
Replacing that equipment was just one of many tasks for the new team owner.
"It's a huge undertaking," Waltrip said. "It's the little things that drive you crazy. Whether it's a people problem or getting parts and pieces to work. Getting people to work through the holidays. It was tough. Just a lot of minor things like the phone system not working properly, the toilets stopped up or the break room not having an adequate amount of cups. . . . For us, everything was an emergency."
For every minute Waltrip had to spend worrying about toilets or cups, time was lost on his cars.
"If we had to race this weekend, we'd be in trouble," Waltrip said on Jan. 15. "We're two or three miles per hour off the pace. There's no question we're a little bit behind."
But his longtime crew chief, Jeff Hammond, is still with him. New sponsor Western Auto is supplying the cash.
And when the green flag flies at Daytona next Sunday, "I think we'll be ready," he said.
\ DARRELL WALTRIP\ Age: 44 Born: Owensboro, Ky. Lives: Franklin, Tenn. Car: Western Auto Chevrolet Lumina 17 Owner: Darrell Waltrip Crew chief: Jeff Hammond 1991 changes: Waltrip leaves Rick Hendrick team, Tide sponsorship to form his own, new team. Acquires Western Auto sponsorship. Stays with Chevrolet and retains 17. Orange car will be replaced by black, white, gray and red car with silver numbers. 1990 highlights: No victories, five top-five finishes. Won $520,420. Missed six races after breaking left leg, elbow in Pepsi Firecracker 400 practice crash. Finished 20th in Winston Cup points. Voted most popular driver. Career highlights: Seventy-nine victories in 508 starts. . . . Fifth on all-time victory list. . . . Winston Cup champion in 1981, 1982 and 1985. Twelve victories in both 1981 and 1982. . . . 1989 Daytona 500 winner. . . . Career earnings of $10.99 million ranks second among U.S. drivers.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB