Michael Waltrip: Freak of the Week

DW’s (TALL) LITTLE BROTHER BRINGS CONTROVERSY AND A JAPANESE CAR TO THE DAYTONA 500 

(If you don’t enjoy stock car racing, you may want to avoid these pages for the next nine months.  While I won’t dedicate every story to the Nextel Cup season, I will cover important events and controversies as the year unfolds.) 

Boy, do I love NASCAR!  I got hooked on the sport (yes, it’s a sport–I want to see the doubters drive a car for an entire 400-500 mile race at 150mph and tell me how they feel the next day) twelve years ago when I worked at a radio station and had to play local commercials during the race.  Less than a year later, I was in Daytona as part of a news team (I was the cameraman) covering Speed Weeks.  We would go around the garage area and interview drivers as they prepped for the big race and the upcoming (then) Winston Cup season.  Meeting the crew chiefs, tire changers, and big-name stars of NASCAR was a privilege and it helped me appreciate the depth of the sport.