Lake Chambers Speed was born on January 17th of 1948. Lake's father, Leland L Speed, was 49 years old and the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi at the time of his birth.
Lake started his career in racing by racing go-carts at the age of thirteen on local tracks around Mississippi. By the time 1965 rolled around Speed had joined the International Karting Federation and won his first of six championships in that series.
After winning his six American championships Speed was invited to race in the Karting World Championship in 1978. That race involved many championship caliber drivers from around the world, including future Formula One racer Ayrton Senna; but Speed was the one who led the last lap to win the World Championship race in karting. This good news was quickly overshadowed in Lake’s life with bad news when his first wife left him later in 1978 because of him not being around.
After Speed’s wife left, a deep emptiness engulfed him to a point where he felt he needed something to fill his time and energy, and in 1980 he began to consider his options for furthering his racing career. Speed looked into places such as Formula One, CART, and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), but after much deliberation decided that NASCAR would be where he would fit the best. Speed bought his first racecar from a man in Chicago and raced 19 of the season’s 31 races and finished a respectable 22nd in driver’s points standing while also finishing second, to Jody Ridley, in the rookie of the year battle.
1981 saw Speed return to the Winston (Sprint) Cup Series with slightly better equipment, while still driving for himself, and an extended schedule. Speed racing in 27 races of the 31 ran in his sophomore season, finishing 6 of them with top tens and completing the year in 18th in points.
In 1982 Speed decided to run the full schedule of the NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series with team owner Roger Hamby in the #17 Yazoo Mowers racing machine. According to the record books, Speed’s car experienced many problems in 1982, from engine problems to oil pressure issues, which led to Speed not finishing 19 of the 30 races he ran. But despite those races, Speed still managed to finish in the top ten five times and finish 20th in the overall points standings.
1983 was a major year in Lake Speed’s life, and it all started with him signing on to race for Hoss Ellington in the #1 UNO Chevrolet. With Speed finally being back in competitive equipment he finished in the top ten twice before getting to Talladega, where Speed’s life was changed forever. Speed was leading the 1983 Winston 500 at Talladega when he had a sudden realization of the feeling of emptiness inside of him despite being in such a successful position in the sport. Speed finished the race in third, but won a much bigger victory in life after the race when Speed accepted Jesus Christ into his heart and began living his life to the standards that the Bible taught. After this important decision in Speed’s life, he went on to finish in the top ten two more times that year and finish 27th in the years point standings after skipping five race between Darlington and Charlotte.
In 1984 Speed decided to run five Busch Grand National (Nationwide) Series races, one at Daytona, two at Darlington, and two at Charlotte. This decision led to a second place finish at Daytona, and a third at Charlotte in his #83 Bull Frog Knits Pontiac. While in the same year Speed ran 19 races in the Winston (Sprint) Cup Series driving again for Hoss Ellington, resulting in 2 top fives and 7 top tens.
When 1985 rolled around, Speed had a contract with RahMoc Enterprises to run the entire season in the Nationwise Auto Parts #75 Pontiac. This was Speed’s most consistent season in Cup as he finished with 14 top tens, an average finish of 13th place, and a tenth place finish in the season’s points standings.
Speed began the 1986 season with high hopes in the RahMoc Enterprise organization, but four races in the team let him go in favor of Jody Ridley who drove the #75 for the next ten races of the season (Jim Sauter and Morgan Shepherd finished out the #75’s season). This event led Speed to not have a car to race for the rest of the season except for when he got to fill in for driver Rick Wilson in the famed Morgan-McClure Motorsports #4 at Charlotte where he finished 14th.
1987 was a building year in many ways for Lake and his newly formed purple and white #83 Oldsmobile team. Speed, with help from veteran crew chief Darrell Bryant, earned sponsorship from Wynn's Car Care Products, K-mart, and Delco for 13 races of the season. Speed was able to put up some impressive race runs in just thirteen starts, finishing ninth at Talladega and backing that up with a third place finish in the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The season ultimately saw Speed finish in the top ten an impressive 5 times.
1988 was a monumental year for the newly 40 year old Lake Speed as prior to Daytona he had picked up sponsorship from the Hoosier Tire Company. This led to a tenth place starting position in the Daytona 500, a 6th place finish the next weekend at Richmond, and a 2nd at Rockingham. Because of Speed having sponsorship from Hoosier, he was able to run Hoosier’s at Darlington in a test prior to the race and he discovered that the tires were not blistering as everyone else thought they would. This enabled Speed to have the advantage and win the TranSouth 500 at Darlington that year, leading 178 laps and winning by nearly a half of a second. The year went on and Speed was not able to finish 11 total races due to various mechanical woes and crashes, but he still ended up finishing 17th in the final points standings in the Winston (Sprint) Cup Series.
Speed’s 1989 season began with new sponsorship from Bull’s Eye Barbecue Sauce for his Oldsmobile, and was a fairly unexciting season for Speed until the second race that year at Pocono. Speed was running behind Greg Sacks when something broke and they both ran at full speed into the wall in the turn. Greg’s car began to flip while Speed’s car was uncontrolled and slid to a stop. Speed never moved his car from that position because he had broken his shoulder and missed the next 6 races while he healed. Once Speed came back he blew an engine in three of the next four races and did not post a lead lap finish for the rest of the season. Despite not finishing on the lead lap, Speed did manage to finish the last race of the season in Atlanta in the 10th position.
1990, 1991, and 1992 were very dismal seasons for Speed as he only raced in 35 races across the three seasons, managing to finish in the top 15 only five times, with four of those being in 1992 while driving for Cale Yarborough in the #66 TropArtic Pontiac. The seasons were so unsuccessful that Speed only finished on the lead lap once throughout the entire three seasons.
1993 began in the same fashion as the previous three seasons, but after Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison was killed in a helicopter accident at Talladega, Speed was asked to drive the famed #28. Speed drove the car in three races to one top ten finish and one top five finish before being replaced by Ernie Irvan and moving over to Bud Moore’s Motorcraft Ford. In Bud Moore’s #15 Speed finished four times in the top twenty.
Speed’s runs with Bud Moore at the end of the 1993 season earned him the opportunity to run the entire 1994 season with Bud, which paid big dividends for them both as Speed finished nine times in the top 10 and four times in the top 5. These great runs in a time when the sport was become more and more competitive resulted in Speed finishing 11th in the final Winston (Sprint) Cup points standings, just one position behind racing legend Bill Elliott.
In 1995 Speed decided to move over to the organization of Harry Melling, which was a team that hadn’t had a full time driver since Bill Elliott in 1991. This decision breathed new life into the organization as with Speed driving the team gained sponsorship from Spam and Speed finished 12 of the 31 races in the top 20 with only 3 DNF’s. 1995 was also the year of one of the most famous incidents of Lake’s career. In the Miller Genuine Draft 400 Speed was blocking fellow driver Michael Waltrip, which made Waltrip very mad. When the race was concluded Waltrip pulled down Speed’s window net and began throwing punches, which did not hurt Speed as he was wearing his helmet. But the incident did hurt Waltrip’s financial situation as NASCAR fined him $10,000 for misconduct on pit road. After an eventful season Speed ended up finishing 23rd in the points.
1996 was Speed’s last full season in the NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup series, and while still driving for Harry Melling’s Spam Ford the team managed to find 13 top 20 finishes including an eight at Pocono and a tenth at Darlington. Speed also completed 88% of the laps in the season, finishing 23rd in the final Winston (Sprint) Cup points standings.
1997 was a hard year to find sponsorship for Harry Melling’s #9 so the season had to be shaved back to 25 races, with most of them being sponsored by Melling’s company Melling Engine Parts. One notable race in Speed’s 1997 season was at Richmond during green flag pit stops the team accidentally put the left side tires on the right side of the car, and the right side tires on the left side of the car, creating multiple problems for Speed including needing multiple pit stops to correct the problems. Despite the lack of sponsorship in a majority of races, Speed still managed an average 24th place finish and ten top 20 finishes.
Lake Speed turned 50 in 1998 prior to the start of the season, and little did he know that this would be his final season in NASCAR racing. Harry Melling’s car gained new sponsorship from Cartoon Network for 1998, but the results were below par from the previous two seasons, posting only three top 20 finishes in the first half of the season. When the series made their annual stop at Sears Point (Infineon) Raceway Speed crashed his car during practice and was injured, though only severely enough to give his car up for that one race. The next week at Loudon, New Hampshire Speed was involved in a crash that later on was found to have cracked his sternum and broken four of his ribs, which convinced Speed to announce his retirement from NASCAR.
Speed said about his retirement, “This is a God thing, as far as I'm concerned,” Speed said. “He knew the only way He was gonna stop me from racing was probably to put that concrete barrier in front of me and break me up, so that I had to stop. My kids were at the age then that they really needed Dad at home. To be able to not have your mind focused on the next race all the time and be able to give them some attention and time was monumental. The timing was perfect. I fought it, fussed about it and was ill about it for quite a few years, but finally came to realize how blessed I was and, really, that things had turned out for the best.” Speed later on added that even though he may not have had great success throughout his NASCAR career that “[He] can’t count how many moral victories [he] had.”
Speed has drove karts on and off since his NASCAR retirement; which has resulted in him becoming the WKA Karting National Road Racing Series Point Champion in 2008. Speed also has had four wins in Historic Stock Car Racing Association events on Daytona's 3.56-mile road course in 2002 and 2003 driving one of his old 83 Purex-sponsored Fords.
In 2006, the International Kart Federation established the Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence karting award for those who show great sportsmanship, achievement, and professional appearance in the series. Also, in 2010 Speed was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Today, the 65 year old Lake Speed lives in Kannapolis, North Carolina with his wife Ricé while still tinkering with his karts. Speed also serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Motor Racing Outreach, which is a Christian Ministry that travels with NASCAR to be an option for worship on weekends they are away from their home church.
Mississippi Hall of Fame - Lake Speed
Lake Speed - Wikipedia
Lake Speed Career Stats
Where Are They Now? - Lake Speed
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Steve Park
Stephen Park was born on August 23rd of 1967 in East Northport, New York to Dotti and Bob Park; Bob was a National Modified Championship contender in the mid 1900’s.
After tinkering with cars since he was 12, Open-Wheeled Modified owner Curt Chase noticed the multi-talented Park hanging out in the pits and asked if he wouldn't mind driving his car; of course he didn’t. Park drove the Curt Chase owned car for the whole 1992 season.
Park moved to TG Racing in 1993; that move paid off, he won four times in 1993 and 10 times in 1994 for that team.
In 1995, Park moved to Sheba Racing and posted seven victories.
In 1996 Steve was hired by Dale Earnhardt. At first, when Dale was calling Park, he would refuse to return his phone calls, thinking that his friends were pulling a prank on him. After asking his mom and finally being convinced that the actual Dale Earnhardt was calling him, Steve made one start in the #31 Busch (Nationwide) Series car in Charlotte in October that resulted in a 29th place finish. In the Modified Series, Steve posted five wins, and in the Busch North Series he competed in 11 races with two wins as a result. At Watkins Glen that year Joe Nemechek asked Steve to qualify his Craftsman (Camping World) Series Truck, all he had to do was get it in the field. Steve did that and much more by winning the pole for the race that more likely helped his career along tremendously.
In 1997 Steve was given a full-time ride in Earnhardt’s #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet in the Busch (Nationwide) Series; he boasted 3 wins and the rookie of the year title.
Steve came to the NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series full-time in 1998 as the driver for the newly formed #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet team of Dale Earnhardt Inc. When he moved to Concord so did his parents; his father Bob Park started working at Dale Earnhardt Inc. as a gear specialist and his mother Dotti Park moved Steve's Fan Club headquarters to Mooresville, N.C. When the season started Steve was competing for the Rookie of the Year honors with Kenny Irwin Jr. but only five races into the season Steve was in a major crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That race put him out of contention for the majority of the races that year.
Steve raced his first full NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series season in 2000. During the season Steve won at his home track of Watkins Glen International Raceway when he won the 2000 Global Crossing at The Glen.
In 2001, Park scored an emotional win for Dale Earnhardt Inc. by winning the Dura Lube 400 at North Carolina Speedway just one week after his boss and good friend Dale Earnhardt was killed in a bizarre crash the week before at Daytona International Raceway in the Daytona 500. The same season, while driving in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, Park was involved in a horrific crash at Darlington Raceway while driving the #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet owned by Ted Marsh. Under the caution Steve removed his steering wheel to adjust it, causing him to turn hard left. By complete chance, lap down car Larry Foyt was speeding up to join the lap down line at the same time Park turned. Park was T-boned on the driver’s side by Foyt’s car. The rigorousness of the crash caused a massive head injury plus several broken ribs. Foyt said that the car was traveling "well over 100 miles per hour [at the time of the crash]”. Park was left with slurred speech as a result of the accident and some have theorized that he never fully recovered from his injuries.
Park returned to race six times in the 2002 Winston (Sprint) Cup season and had many accidents; at Pocono Raceway Park moved over to dodge the merging Rusty Wallace when he hit teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and spun into the infield guardrail; he barrel rolled multiple times which caused NASCAR to issue a very lengthy Red flag to repair the broken, highway-like barrier.
During the 2003 NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. let Park go midway into the season, and he was traded to Richard Childress Racing for Jeff Green, who took over the #1 Chevrolet car from Park with Park taking over the #30 AOL Chevrolet for Childress. A few days later, he won the pole for the Winston All Star Open, but at the start of the race he jumped the start and had to start from the rear. He never made it to the next round to the actual million dollar race. His best finish at RCR was a 5th place finish at Michigan that June. After the season was over, Park announced he would not return to the #30 AOL Chevy and would join the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series the following season. He joined Las Vegas-owned team Orleans Racing to pilot the #62 Dodge, vacated by Brendan Gaughan.
Steve never won a race in 2004, he finished 9th in the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series driver points, and was voted the Most Popular Driver.
In 2005 Park won the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series American Racing Wheels 200, the second race of the season at California Speedway, and became the tenth driver to win a race in all three of NASCAR's top racing series. Park and the #62 team was struggling and in October, right before the truck race in Martinsville, Steve Park and Orleans Racing parted ways due to Dodge pulling support and money to many truck teams.
Park drove Ted Marsh’s #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet in six NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) Series events in 2006.
In 2008 Park signed with NDS Motorsports to drive the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevrolet Monte Carlo in all 13 of the NASCAR Camping World East Series events. He finished 9th in the standings with a best finish of 2nd at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In late 2008, Steve Park married his longtime girlfriend, Jessica Skarpalezos at Sea Island, Georgia.
In 2009 Park returned to race in the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevy Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. On August 1, 2009 Steve won the Edge Hotel 150 at Adirondack International Speedway. It was Steve's first NASCAR Camping World East Series win since July 1, 1996 at Nazareth Speedway. Total Steve finished 5th in the point standings. On August 12, 2009, Park announced on his website (Steve-Park.com) that he and his wife Jessica, were expecting their first child.
In 2010 Park yet again returned to race in the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. On January 2, 2010, Park announced on his website that his son Jayden Robert Park was born.
When not at the track, Park enjoys riding motorcycles, boating, golfing, and spending time with Jayden, his son.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Park_(NASCAR)
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/date/19980907/news016797.html
http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/spark00/cup/bio.html
http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/AM/011708.html
After tinkering with cars since he was 12, Open-Wheeled Modified owner Curt Chase noticed the multi-talented Park hanging out in the pits and asked if he wouldn't mind driving his car; of course he didn’t. Park drove the Curt Chase owned car for the whole 1992 season.
Park moved to TG Racing in 1993; that move paid off, he won four times in 1993 and 10 times in 1994 for that team.
In 1995, Park moved to Sheba Racing and posted seven victories.
In 1996 Steve was hired by Dale Earnhardt. At first, when Dale was calling Park, he would refuse to return his phone calls, thinking that his friends were pulling a prank on him. After asking his mom and finally being convinced that the actual Dale Earnhardt was calling him, Steve made one start in the #31 Busch (Nationwide) Series car in Charlotte in October that resulted in a 29th place finish. In the Modified Series, Steve posted five wins, and in the Busch North Series he competed in 11 races with two wins as a result. At Watkins Glen that year Joe Nemechek asked Steve to qualify his Craftsman (Camping World) Series Truck, all he had to do was get it in the field. Steve did that and much more by winning the pole for the race that more likely helped his career along tremendously.
In 1997 Steve was given a full-time ride in Earnhardt’s #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet in the Busch (Nationwide) Series; he boasted 3 wins and the rookie of the year title.
Steve came to the NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series full-time in 1998 as the driver for the newly formed #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet team of Dale Earnhardt Inc. When he moved to Concord so did his parents; his father Bob Park started working at Dale Earnhardt Inc. as a gear specialist and his mother Dotti Park moved Steve's Fan Club headquarters to Mooresville, N.C. When the season started Steve was competing for the Rookie of the Year honors with Kenny Irwin Jr. but only five races into the season Steve was in a major crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That race put him out of contention for the majority of the races that year.
Steve raced his first full NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series season in 2000. During the season Steve won at his home track of Watkins Glen International Raceway when he won the 2000 Global Crossing at The Glen.
In 2001, Park scored an emotional win for Dale Earnhardt Inc. by winning the Dura Lube 400 at North Carolina Speedway just one week after his boss and good friend Dale Earnhardt was killed in a bizarre crash the week before at Daytona International Raceway in the Daytona 500. The same season, while driving in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, Park was involved in a horrific crash at Darlington Raceway while driving the #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet owned by Ted Marsh. Under the caution Steve removed his steering wheel to adjust it, causing him to turn hard left. By complete chance, lap down car Larry Foyt was speeding up to join the lap down line at the same time Park turned. Park was T-boned on the driver’s side by Foyt’s car. The rigorousness of the crash caused a massive head injury plus several broken ribs. Foyt said that the car was traveling "well over 100 miles per hour [at the time of the crash]”. Park was left with slurred speech as a result of the accident and some have theorized that he never fully recovered from his injuries.
Park returned to race six times in the 2002 Winston (Sprint) Cup season and had many accidents; at Pocono Raceway Park moved over to dodge the merging Rusty Wallace when he hit teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and spun into the infield guardrail; he barrel rolled multiple times which caused NASCAR to issue a very lengthy Red flag to repair the broken, highway-like barrier.
During the 2003 NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. let Park go midway into the season, and he was traded to Richard Childress Racing for Jeff Green, who took over the #1 Chevrolet car from Park with Park taking over the #30 AOL Chevrolet for Childress. A few days later, he won the pole for the Winston All Star Open, but at the start of the race he jumped the start and had to start from the rear. He never made it to the next round to the actual million dollar race. His best finish at RCR was a 5th place finish at Michigan that June. After the season was over, Park announced he would not return to the #30 AOL Chevy and would join the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series the following season. He joined Las Vegas-owned team Orleans Racing to pilot the #62 Dodge, vacated by Brendan Gaughan.
Steve never won a race in 2004, he finished 9th in the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series driver points, and was voted the Most Popular Driver.
In 2005 Park won the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series American Racing Wheels 200, the second race of the season at California Speedway, and became the tenth driver to win a race in all three of NASCAR's top racing series. Park and the #62 team was struggling and in October, right before the truck race in Martinsville, Steve Park and Orleans Racing parted ways due to Dodge pulling support and money to many truck teams.
Park drove Ted Marsh’s #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet in six NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) Series events in 2006.
In 2008 Park signed with NDS Motorsports to drive the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevrolet Monte Carlo in all 13 of the NASCAR Camping World East Series events. He finished 9th in the standings with a best finish of 2nd at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In late 2008, Steve Park married his longtime girlfriend, Jessica Skarpalezos at Sea Island, Georgia.
In 2009 Park returned to race in the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevy Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. On August 1, 2009 Steve won the Edge Hotel 150 at Adirondack International Speedway. It was Steve's first NASCAR Camping World East Series win since July 1, 1996 at Nazareth Speedway. Total Steve finished 5th in the point standings. On August 12, 2009, Park announced on his website (Steve-Park.com) that he and his wife Jessica, were expecting their first child.
In 2010 Park yet again returned to race in the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. On January 2, 2010, Park announced on his website that his son Jayden Robert Park was born.
When not at the track, Park enjoys riding motorcycles, boating, golfing, and spending time with Jayden, his son.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Park_(NASCAR)
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/date/19980907/news016797.html
http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/spark00/cup/bio.html
http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/AM/011708.html
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Sam McQuagg
Sam McQuagg was born on November 11th of 1937 in Columbus, Georgia.
Sam McQuagg was just a construction worker but then he decided to do something more exhilarating in his life so he bought half interest of a 1934 Ford in 1956 and started racing at local dirt tracks. Local fans say Sam was almost unbeatable at the Valdosta 75 Speedway.
In 1962, McQuagg entered his first NASCAR Grand National Division (Sprint Cup) event driving his own #62 Ford at Valdosta 75 Speedway. McQuagg qualified 9th for the race, but a blown motor dropped him to a 12th place starting position. That was his only race that year.
1964 was a year that McQuagg only raced five races in the Grand National (Sprint Cup Series) Division. He drove in J.L Thomas’s #71 and #72 Ford’s. In the five races he ran four of them were recorded as a DNF (Did not finish) and the other race was a 12th place. At Valdosta that year Sam won 37 of the 39 races he ran.
In 1965 McQuagg had 5 top tens in the 14 races he entered with about 5 teams which earned him the Rookie of the Year honor on the Grand National (Sprint Cup) level. Sam was involved in one of the most violent and memorable wrecks in NASCAR history. During the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Cale Yarborough tangled with then race leader McQuagg in the first turn. Yarborough spun, and then vaulted over the guard rail; he rolled 6 times down the 40-foot embankment landing in the parking lot. When the car landed, Cale got out, climbed the bank back to the track, and waved his arms to let the 50,000 fans at the race know he was fine.
In 1966 Dodge noticed Sam’s accomplishments in his small Ford team, so they hired him to their factory #98 Ray Nichels team. At Daytona that July he came out of the box with a spoiler on his Dodge Charger; it was the first spoiler that had ever been used on the NASCAR circuit. Sam won the Firecracker 400 that year in a car sponsored by a newlywed Georgia couple with a total of $13,500 in winnings for his only win of his career; Sam McQuagg Jr. recalls that after that race his father and mother went a bought themselves a new 1966 Dodge Charger. The flag that waved over McQuagg’s head as he crossed the finish line is now hanging on his grandson’s wall. That race was also the first time a motor home was brought into the Daytona infield. He made 15 more starts that year with 4 top fives and 7 top tens with a finish of 15th in points.
In 1967 Sam drove for Bud Moore, Don Robertson, Cotton Owen, and many more car owners. He had a chance to drive for the Wood Brothers, but they told him he would have to run Firestone tires. He was dedicated to Goodyear due to them giving him his first set of tires, so he declined and Cale Yarborough got that ride. At Darlington that year Sam was involved in a violent wreck on lap 81; McQuagg went over the guardrail and flipped many times before landing back on his wheels. Sam got aggravated at the frequency of his wrecks so he scaled his schedule back to just local tracks. In all of 1967 Sam ran 14 races, and had 3 top-5 finishes.
In 1970, he became the company pilot for the W. C. Bradly Co. in Columbus, Georgia and unofficially retired from racing.
McQuagg decided to come back after his leave of absence for three starts in 1974. He drove for Hoss Ellington in the #28 Pylon Wiper Blades Chevy, he had a 7th place finish at Darlington and an 8th at Talladega. His last start was at the 1974 World 600.
Out of 8 years in NASCAR’s top series, McQuagg garnered 62 starts, 1 win, 9 top-5s, and 21 top-10s.
In 1997 McQuagg retired as a commercial pilot after 27 years of flying.
McQuagg was inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 73 at St. Francis Hospital. He and his wife Joy had recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
http://fullthrottle.cranialcavity.net/rip-sam-mcquagg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_McQuagg
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Articles/06/051206Madding.asp
http://race500.com/SamMcQuagg.htm
Sam McQuagg was just a construction worker but then he decided to do something more exhilarating in his life so he bought half interest of a 1934 Ford in 1956 and started racing at local dirt tracks. Local fans say Sam was almost unbeatable at the Valdosta 75 Speedway.
In 1962, McQuagg entered his first NASCAR Grand National Division (Sprint Cup) event driving his own #62 Ford at Valdosta 75 Speedway. McQuagg qualified 9th for the race, but a blown motor dropped him to a 12th place starting position. That was his only race that year.
1964 was a year that McQuagg only raced five races in the Grand National (Sprint Cup Series) Division. He drove in J.L Thomas’s #71 and #72 Ford’s. In the five races he ran four of them were recorded as a DNF (Did not finish) and the other race was a 12th place. At Valdosta that year Sam won 37 of the 39 races he ran.
In 1965 McQuagg had 5 top tens in the 14 races he entered with about 5 teams which earned him the Rookie of the Year honor on the Grand National (Sprint Cup) level. Sam was involved in one of the most violent and memorable wrecks in NASCAR history. During the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Cale Yarborough tangled with then race leader McQuagg in the first turn. Yarborough spun, and then vaulted over the guard rail; he rolled 6 times down the 40-foot embankment landing in the parking lot. When the car landed, Cale got out, climbed the bank back to the track, and waved his arms to let the 50,000 fans at the race know he was fine.
In 1966 Dodge noticed Sam’s accomplishments in his small Ford team, so they hired him to their factory #98 Ray Nichels team. At Daytona that July he came out of the box with a spoiler on his Dodge Charger; it was the first spoiler that had ever been used on the NASCAR circuit. Sam won the Firecracker 400 that year in a car sponsored by a newlywed Georgia couple with a total of $13,500 in winnings for his only win of his career; Sam McQuagg Jr. recalls that after that race his father and mother went a bought themselves a new 1966 Dodge Charger. The flag that waved over McQuagg’s head as he crossed the finish line is now hanging on his grandson’s wall. That race was also the first time a motor home was brought into the Daytona infield. He made 15 more starts that year with 4 top fives and 7 top tens with a finish of 15th in points.
In 1967 Sam drove for Bud Moore, Don Robertson, Cotton Owen, and many more car owners. He had a chance to drive for the Wood Brothers, but they told him he would have to run Firestone tires. He was dedicated to Goodyear due to them giving him his first set of tires, so he declined and Cale Yarborough got that ride. At Darlington that year Sam was involved in a violent wreck on lap 81; McQuagg went over the guardrail and flipped many times before landing back on his wheels. Sam got aggravated at the frequency of his wrecks so he scaled his schedule back to just local tracks. In all of 1967 Sam ran 14 races, and had 3 top-5 finishes.
In 1970, he became the company pilot for the W. C. Bradly Co. in Columbus, Georgia and unofficially retired from racing.
McQuagg decided to come back after his leave of absence for three starts in 1974. He drove for Hoss Ellington in the #28 Pylon Wiper Blades Chevy, he had a 7th place finish at Darlington and an 8th at Talladega. His last start was at the 1974 World 600.
Out of 8 years in NASCAR’s top series, McQuagg garnered 62 starts, 1 win, 9 top-5s, and 21 top-10s.
In 1997 McQuagg retired as a commercial pilot after 27 years of flying.
McQuagg was inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 73 at St. Francis Hospital. He and his wife Joy had recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
http://fullthrottle.cranialcavity.net/rip-sam-mcquagg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_McQuagg
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Articles/06/051206Madding.asp
http://race500.com/SamMcQuagg.htm
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Jimmy Spencer
James Spencer Sr. was born on Wednesday, February 15th of 1957 in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania to his father that was also a racer, Ed Spencer Sr.; his father had the nickname “Fast Eddie” for his wins around the modified series.
During his days racing Modifieds, Jimmy was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" for his aggressive racing style.
Jimmy Spencer followed his father in racing. Spencer started in Late Models in Pennsylvania and in 1976 he won his very first race in the Late Model division at the Port Royal Speedway.
In 1984, Spencer raced 60 races in the National Modified Series and finished second in the points to competitor Richie Evans. When NASCAR changed the National Modified Championship into the smaller-schedule Winston (Whelen) Modified Tour in 1985, Spencer continued to run, and won the title in 1986 and 1987.
Jimmy made his first NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) Series start in 1985 at the North Carolina (Rockingham) Motor Speedway in the #67 Frank Cicci Racing Pontiac; he finished 19th.
Jimmy’s first son James Spencer Jr. was born in 1986. Jimmy said when he was born that if he wanted to race he was going to help him.
In 1987 Spencer ran twice in the Frank Cicci Racing Pontiac in the Busch (Nationwide) Series with a best finish of 36th.
Jimmy ran his first full season in 1988, finishing seventh in the Busch (Nationwide) point standings in the #34.
In 1989, Spencer won his first career Busch (Nationwide) race at the Hickory Motor Speedway; he then won two more races over the course of the season, finishing fifteenth in the final standings.
In 1989, he made the move to the Winston (Sprint) Cup Series, driving the #88 Crisco Pontiac for Buddy Baker's team in 17 of the 29 races. With three top-tens he finished 34th in points.
He then ran a full-time season in 1990 in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series. He finished in the top-ten twice in the #57 Heinz Rod Osterlund Racing Pontiac; he finished 24th in the points.
In 1991, Spencer moved to the #98 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet for Travis Carter Motorsports; he had 12 DNF (Did not finish) s, and six top tens which resulted in a 25th place finish in the Winston (Sprint) Cup points.
Jimmy began 1992 with Travis Carter Motorsports, but he later moved down to the Busch (Nationwide) Series to drive the #20 Daily's 1st Ade Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso after Carter's team withdraw from NASCAR early in the season. He won twice that year in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, once at the Myrtle Beach Speedway and the other at Orange County Speedway. In the last four races of the Winston (Sprint) Cup series Jimmy finished in the top five three times with Bobby Allison Motorsports.
In 1993 he signed to drive Bobby Allison's #12 Meineke Ford Thunderbird full-time in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series. Jimmy finished in the top-five five times, resulting in a career-best fifteenth-place in the final points standings.
In 1994, Jimmy switched to drive the #27 McDonald's Ford for Junior Johnson, that #27 was one of the most desired rides at the time because of the reputation Junior Johnson had; in the time he was with Junior that year Spencer won his only two career Cup races, at the series biggest tracks, Daytona and Talladega; he also won his first career pole at the series shortest track, North Wilkesboro Speedway. He finished 29th in the standings.
Spencer left Junior Johnson’s team after 1994 to reunite with Travis Carter, who was now fielding the #23, Smokin' Joe's Ford; he finished in the top-ten four times in 1995.
In 1998, Winston Cigarettes became his team's new primary sponsor; about half-way through the season when he went to the Brickyard 400 Spencer wrecked and suffered injuries that prevented him from racing in the next two events which dropped him to 14th in points. Midway during the season Spencer created his own NASCAR team, Spencer Motor Ventures. He fielded the #12 Zippo Chevrolet in the Busch (Nationwide) Series in which he and several other drivers shared.
In 1999 Spencer expanded his Busch (Nationwide) Series to 2 cars. He fielded the #12 Zippo Chevrolet and the #5 Schneider National Chevrolet. The #5 car went to Dick Trickle for this year. In the Winston (Sprint) Cup series Jimmy finished 20th in the points.
In 2000, Winston Cigarettes left the Travis Carter team, and K-mart became the team's new sponsor, causing Spencer to switch to the #26 to accommodate the new sponsor, who was already backing the #66 car driven by Spencer's teammate, Darrell Waltrip. Spencer’s Busch (Nationwide) team moved up to the Winston (Sprint) Cup with Boris Said running the #23 Federated Auto Parts Ford. Due to sponsor issues the team shut down at the end of the year.
Spencer had two top-fives and in 2001 won the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, he had three top fives, and eight top tens but sadly had 7 DNF’s but he did advance to sixteenth in points. He left Travis Carter’s has Carter team at the end of the season. 2001 was a memorable season for Jimmy as he went over $2 million in season winnings for the first time in his 13-year Winston (Sprint) Cup career, ending up with $2,669,638.
In 2002 Spencer joined Chip Ganassi Racing’s #41 Target Dodge Intrepid. He began the season by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, then had a streak of four top-five qualifying efforts, including at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started fourth and was leading the race when he was bumped by Kurt Busch, who then won, starting a long rivalry between the two. After another DNQ (Did not qualify) at Watkins Glen International Raceway, Spencer was released from the ride at the end of the season, causing him to file a lawsuit against the Ganassi organization, saying his dismissal was a violation of his contract. He also won his last Busch (Nationwide) Series race at Bristol driving for James Finch that season in the #1 Chevy.
Spencer started driving the Ultra Motorsports #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge in 2003. He had four top-tens during the season, but at the running of the GFS Marketplace 400, Spencer had a confrontation with Kurt Busch. Busch intentionally stopped in front of Spencer's garage and revved his engine as a threat to block Spencer, Jimmy confronted Busch and punched him in the face. Spencer and Busch were both fined and placed on probation for the rest of the year, and Spencer was suspended for one race. Spencer ended the season 29th in points. In the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series Jimmy ran three races in Ultra motorsports #2 Team ASE Racing Dodge, he won the pole in his very first race and won his very first race in only his second start at the New Hampshire International Speedway; that win made him one of only a few drivers to win a race in all three of NASCAR’s top series. Part of the way through the 2003 season Jimmy bought into the Frank Cicci Racing organization but later that partnership vanished when he bought into Bang! Racing in the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series.
He began 2004 with Ultra Motorsport’s NEXTEL (Sprint) Cup team at the Daytona 500, but when the team closed down due to a lack of sponsorship, he replaced Kevin Lepage at Morgan-McClure Motorsports, which had also been running unsponsored. Spencer's best finish that season had been 13th, when on October 25, he was arrested after trying to interfere with the police, who had a warrant to arrest his son, James Spencer Jr., for "injury to personal property”. The incident cost Spencer his job at Morgan-McClure, and he sat out the rest of 2004.
Spencer returned to the #2 Ultra Motorsports Truck team in 2005. While he failed to win a race, he had nine top-ten finishes and finished twelfth in points. He also ran part-time in Cup, running nine races in the #50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge, and one race apiece for Peak Fitness Racing and R&J Racing.
When Arnold was unable to locate a sponsor and Ultra closed its Truck team doors following a fallout with the Ford Motor Company, Spencer began working full-time on SPEED in 2006. He had run both Cup races at Pocono Raceway for Furniture Row Racing in 2006, finishing 32nd and 36th, respectively.
He is currently a co-host with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace on the Speed Channel's prerace and post race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane. Throughout Spencer’s career he helped Brent Sherman and Stuart Kirby go through the ranks of NASCAR.
One thing Spencer does for fun in to go out to his custom-made dirt track in his backyard and race with his friends, he also golf’s, and ironically enjoys working with flowers in his garden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Spencer
http://www.tums.com/Racing_SpencerBio.aspx
http://www.racingone.com/driver.aspx?driverID=95&subID=1
http://home.comcast.net/~loudfast/writeweb/spencer.htm
During his days racing Modifieds, Jimmy was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" for his aggressive racing style.
Jimmy Spencer followed his father in racing. Spencer started in Late Models in Pennsylvania and in 1976 he won his very first race in the Late Model division at the Port Royal Speedway.
In 1984, Spencer raced 60 races in the National Modified Series and finished second in the points to competitor Richie Evans. When NASCAR changed the National Modified Championship into the smaller-schedule Winston (Whelen) Modified Tour in 1985, Spencer continued to run, and won the title in 1986 and 1987.
Jimmy made his first NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) Series start in 1985 at the North Carolina (Rockingham) Motor Speedway in the #67 Frank Cicci Racing Pontiac; he finished 19th.
Jimmy’s first son James Spencer Jr. was born in 1986. Jimmy said when he was born that if he wanted to race he was going to help him.
In 1987 Spencer ran twice in the Frank Cicci Racing Pontiac in the Busch (Nationwide) Series with a best finish of 36th.
Jimmy ran his first full season in 1988, finishing seventh in the Busch (Nationwide) point standings in the #34.
In 1989, Spencer won his first career Busch (Nationwide) race at the Hickory Motor Speedway; he then won two more races over the course of the season, finishing fifteenth in the final standings.
In 1989, he made the move to the Winston (Sprint) Cup Series, driving the #88 Crisco Pontiac for Buddy Baker's team in 17 of the 29 races. With three top-tens he finished 34th in points.
He then ran a full-time season in 1990 in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series. He finished in the top-ten twice in the #57 Heinz Rod Osterlund Racing Pontiac; he finished 24th in the points.
In 1991, Spencer moved to the #98 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet for Travis Carter Motorsports; he had 12 DNF (Did not finish) s, and six top tens which resulted in a 25th place finish in the Winston (Sprint) Cup points.
Jimmy began 1992 with Travis Carter Motorsports, but he later moved down to the Busch (Nationwide) Series to drive the #20 Daily's 1st Ade Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso after Carter's team withdraw from NASCAR early in the season. He won twice that year in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, once at the Myrtle Beach Speedway and the other at Orange County Speedway. In the last four races of the Winston (Sprint) Cup series Jimmy finished in the top five three times with Bobby Allison Motorsports.
In 1993 he signed to drive Bobby Allison's #12 Meineke Ford Thunderbird full-time in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series. Jimmy finished in the top-five five times, resulting in a career-best fifteenth-place in the final points standings.
In 1994, Jimmy switched to drive the #27 McDonald's Ford for Junior Johnson, that #27 was one of the most desired rides at the time because of the reputation Junior Johnson had; in the time he was with Junior that year Spencer won his only two career Cup races, at the series biggest tracks, Daytona and Talladega; he also won his first career pole at the series shortest track, North Wilkesboro Speedway. He finished 29th in the standings.
Spencer left Junior Johnson’s team after 1994 to reunite with Travis Carter, who was now fielding the #23, Smokin' Joe's Ford; he finished in the top-ten four times in 1995.
In 1998, Winston Cigarettes became his team's new primary sponsor; about half-way through the season when he went to the Brickyard 400 Spencer wrecked and suffered injuries that prevented him from racing in the next two events which dropped him to 14th in points. Midway during the season Spencer created his own NASCAR team, Spencer Motor Ventures. He fielded the #12 Zippo Chevrolet in the Busch (Nationwide) Series in which he and several other drivers shared.
In 1999 Spencer expanded his Busch (Nationwide) Series to 2 cars. He fielded the #12 Zippo Chevrolet and the #5 Schneider National Chevrolet. The #5 car went to Dick Trickle for this year. In the Winston (Sprint) Cup series Jimmy finished 20th in the points.
In 2000, Winston Cigarettes left the Travis Carter team, and K-mart became the team's new sponsor, causing Spencer to switch to the #26 to accommodate the new sponsor, who was already backing the #66 car driven by Spencer's teammate, Darrell Waltrip. Spencer’s Busch (Nationwide) team moved up to the Winston (Sprint) Cup with Boris Said running the #23 Federated Auto Parts Ford. Due to sponsor issues the team shut down at the end of the year.
Spencer had two top-fives and in 2001 won the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, he had three top fives, and eight top tens but sadly had 7 DNF’s but he did advance to sixteenth in points. He left Travis Carter’s has Carter team at the end of the season. 2001 was a memorable season for Jimmy as he went over $2 million in season winnings for the first time in his 13-year Winston (Sprint) Cup career, ending up with $2,669,638.
In 2002 Spencer joined Chip Ganassi Racing’s #41 Target Dodge Intrepid. He began the season by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, then had a streak of four top-five qualifying efforts, including at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started fourth and was leading the race when he was bumped by Kurt Busch, who then won, starting a long rivalry between the two. After another DNQ (Did not qualify) at Watkins Glen International Raceway, Spencer was released from the ride at the end of the season, causing him to file a lawsuit against the Ganassi organization, saying his dismissal was a violation of his contract. He also won his last Busch (Nationwide) Series race at Bristol driving for James Finch that season in the #1 Chevy.
Spencer started driving the Ultra Motorsports #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge in 2003. He had four top-tens during the season, but at the running of the GFS Marketplace 400, Spencer had a confrontation with Kurt Busch. Busch intentionally stopped in front of Spencer's garage and revved his engine as a threat to block Spencer, Jimmy confronted Busch and punched him in the face. Spencer and Busch were both fined and placed on probation for the rest of the year, and Spencer was suspended for one race. Spencer ended the season 29th in points. In the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series Jimmy ran three races in Ultra motorsports #2 Team ASE Racing Dodge, he won the pole in his very first race and won his very first race in only his second start at the New Hampshire International Speedway; that win made him one of only a few drivers to win a race in all three of NASCAR’s top series. Part of the way through the 2003 season Jimmy bought into the Frank Cicci Racing organization but later that partnership vanished when he bought into Bang! Racing in the Craftsman (Camping World) Truck Series.
He began 2004 with Ultra Motorsport’s NEXTEL (Sprint) Cup team at the Daytona 500, but when the team closed down due to a lack of sponsorship, he replaced Kevin Lepage at Morgan-McClure Motorsports, which had also been running unsponsored. Spencer's best finish that season had been 13th, when on October 25, he was arrested after trying to interfere with the police, who had a warrant to arrest his son, James Spencer Jr., for "injury to personal property”. The incident cost Spencer his job at Morgan-McClure, and he sat out the rest of 2004.
Spencer returned to the #2 Ultra Motorsports Truck team in 2005. While he failed to win a race, he had nine top-ten finishes and finished twelfth in points. He also ran part-time in Cup, running nine races in the #50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge, and one race apiece for Peak Fitness Racing and R&J Racing.
When Arnold was unable to locate a sponsor and Ultra closed its Truck team doors following a fallout with the Ford Motor Company, Spencer began working full-time on SPEED in 2006. He had run both Cup races at Pocono Raceway for Furniture Row Racing in 2006, finishing 32nd and 36th, respectively.
He is currently a co-host with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace on the Speed Channel's prerace and post race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane. Throughout Spencer’s career he helped Brent Sherman and Stuart Kirby go through the ranks of NASCAR.
One thing Spencer does for fun in to go out to his custom-made dirt track in his backyard and race with his friends, he also golf’s, and ironically enjoys working with flowers in his garden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Spencer
http://www.tums.com/Racing_SpencerBio.aspx
http://www.racingone.com/driver.aspx?driverID=95&subID=1
http://home.comcast.net/~loudfast/writeweb/spencer.htm
Monday, February 1, 2010
Michael Waltrip
Michael Curtis Waltrip was born on April 30th of 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky to Margaret and Leroy Waltrip. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup champion Darrell Waltrip. His other siblings include Connie, Carolyn, and Bobby.
Michael's first go-kart race was in Olney, Illinois, through the Southern Indiana Racing Association (SIRA) at the tender age of 13. The track was a road course, which Michael enjoyed. He was running the same type of go-kart as the famed Green boys, but he experienced mechanical troubles with his ride. His friend, 13 year old Jeff Green, came to the rescue. Jeff disassembled the carburetor and repaired the go-kart right on the track. Michael went on to win that day, thanks to his buddy but future rival.
Waltrip's stock-car career got off the ground in 1981, when he captured the Mini-Modified division track championship at Kentucky Motor Speedway the same year his brother Darrell won his first Winston (Sprint) Cup championship.
In 1982 Waltrip competed in his first race in the Goody's Dash Series.
In 1983 he won the championship in the Goody’s Dash Series and won the Most Popular Driver award; he won the Most Popular Driver Award again in that series in 1984.
In 1984 Michael wanted to make it big so he moved to North Carolina to move in with his good friend Kyle Petty who was still living with his champion father Richard. Darrell never really wanted to teach Michael anything because he wanted him to learn the ropes the same way he did but when he moved in with the Petty’s Richard trained him in a whole new way.
Waltrip made his Winston (Sprint) Cup debut in the 1985 Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway driving for Dick Bahre in the #23 Mell-Gear Pontiac; he qualified 24th and finished 28th after dropping out 500 miles into the race his brother Darrell won.
Michael had his first full season in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series in 1986, driving the #23 Hawaiian Punch car for Bahari Racing. Waltrip finished 19th overall in points and second in the rookie of the year battle to Alan Kulwicki.
In 1987, he posted his first career top-ten finish when he ended up tenth in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway in his #30 All-Pro Chevy Monte Carlo.
In 1988, Michael began running in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, making five starts for his Brother Darrell's fledgling team; this was the first time his brother let him drive for his team and that paid off because Michael took the checkered flag for the first time at Dover in only his fourth Busch (Nationwide) start.
In 1989, he had his first top-five finish in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series in the #30 Country Time Lemonade/Kool Aid Pontiac. Again he won at Dover in the Busch (Nationwide) Series; overall he had four poles and eight top tens in only 14 races in the second-tier NASCAR series while driving for himself.
Michael was a new father when Caitlin Marie Waltrip was born on January 12, 1990 just 2 months before the race at Bristol that could have took her father’s life. Waltrip, after making contact with Steve Grissom, hit the wall head on and his Busch (Nationwide) car all but disintegrated. Waltrip only suffered bruises in the incident that left only the roll cage with Michael in the driver’s seat. The accident was referenced in a 2008 NAPA Auto Parts commercial. Waltrip was signing die-cast replica cars when a fan showed up with pieces of the 1990 car crashed for Waltrip to sign.
In 1991, he gained new sponsorship from Pennzoil and won his first two career pole positions; he finished 15th in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series points.
In 1992 Michael won in the Gatorade 200 at Darlington in the Busch (Nationwide) Series.
1993 was a very assorted year for Michael’s emotions. In April his good friend and Rookie of the Year competitor Alan Kulwicki died in a plane crash. Two days later when he won the Busch (Nationwide) Series Budweiser 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway he did a polish victory lap in honor of Alan. In victory lane he proposed to Elizabeth "Buffy" Franks to whom he married November 27, 1993. He finished 17th in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series points that year.
In April of 1994 Michael was a team owner in the Busch (Nationwide) Series for the first time with childhood friend Jeff Green driving it to a third place finish.
In 1995 at Michigan International Speedway, Waltrip lashed out at fellow driver, Lake Speed. Waltrip struck Speed twice on national television, while Speed was still strapped in his car. Waltrip was fined $10,000 for his actions. At the end of that season Michael was released from Bahari Racing and Johnny Benson was put in that car.
After moving to the #21 Wood Brothers CITGO Ford Thunderbird for 1996, Michael won The Winston. He started his own team in the Busch (Nationwide) Series in the #21 Band-Aid Ford with Roush engines running select races. "The reason I have a Busch team is because of Darrell," Michael said. "I always liked how he had a car of his own to fiddle with. He was off driving for Junior Johnson, but he had his own shop and had his own guys. It was something that I always looked at and thought one day that's what I want to do. So in '96 I started my Busch team and we've been successful, won some poles, and won some races." In his first year with his new Busch (Nationwide) Series team, Michael gained three top 5's, four top 10's, and qualified on the pole after just ten races. In Winston (Sprint) Cup, he finished 14th in points with eleven top 10's and a top 5.
On September 27, 1997 Michael's second child Margaret “Macy” Carol was born. In his very first race in the Winston West Series at Pikes Peak, Michael led 186 laps and won the race.
After missing his first race since 1986 and the Wood Brothers first since 1971 at the 1998 Dura Lube/Kmart 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway, Waltrip departed the Woods at the end of 1998 to drive the #7 Philips Chevrolet for Mattei Motorsports.
In 2000, Nations Rent replaced Philips as the sponsor of his #7 and Waltrip moved up to twenty seventh in points but finished in the top-five once, causing him and the team to part ways at the end of the season. On January 10th, his father Leroy passed away at the age 76 after a three-year struggle with cancer. He had died without having seen Michael win a Winston Cup race. On April 18, 2000, Waltrip ran the Boston Marathon. He finished 14,315th out of 17,813, and was the first person ever who raced this Marathon and the Daytona 500. In December, he ran in the inaugural Hop's Marathon by the Bay in Tampa, Florida. He finished 1209th, out of 3200 entrants.
Waltrip was hired by Dale Earnhardt Inc. to drive their newly formed #15 NAPA Chevrolet. In his first race with the team, the 2001 Daytona 500, Michael was in the lead with his teammate and boss’s son Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him when there was a wreck in turn four. The race continued and Michael won it snapping a 463 race losing streak. The race was bitter-sweet because the wreck that was in turn four was his boss and friend Dale Earnhardt who lost his life due to a head injury. After that race Michael didn’t have a top ten until the next race at Daytona, the Pepsi 400. He finished 24th that year in the standings.
In 2002 he picked up his second career win at Daytona again, except this time it was the July Pepsi 400. He finished fourteenth in the standings which was ten places above the previous year.
In 2003 Michael won the rain-shortened opening race at Daytona yet again but this time he got to enjoy it; that was his third win at Daytona, all three with his brother Darrell in the broadcasting booth for Fox. He won one more race that year and finished 15th in points.
In 2005 he had one pole, and seven top tens but at the end of the year he announced he and his sponsor NAPA would leave DEI to drive the #55 Dodge Charger for Bill Davis Racing. Through a silly-season mess Michael ended up using the defunct #77 Jasper Motorsports team points for the first five races under the Waltrip-Jasper Racing banner to guarantee a starting spot. Michael failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 so he bought the qualifying spot from Derrike Cope so he would keep his streak of 262 races alive. He ended up missing three races that season ending his streak.
Waltrip formed his own team, Michael Waltrip Racing, for the 2007 season. He hired Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann to drive along side of him in Toyotas. After a controversy at Daytona Michael had to resort to an interim Crew Chief; it was Scott Eggleston, who was Waltrip's former crew chief in 2001. After a 30th place finish in the Daytona 500, Waltrip became the first driver in series history to go into the second race of the season with a negative number of points due to being docked 100 at Daytona; -27. Waltrip failed to qualify for the next eleven races following the Daytona 500, so he maintained his negative point total for almost 4 months. He qualified for the thirteenth race of the season at Dover and finished 28th, moving his point total above zero to 52 points. Jarrett used a provisional to qualify for five of the first six races, and Reutimann had to use two. On Saturday April 7, 2007 Waltrip fell asleep behind the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser which overturned and struck a utility pole. Michael crawled out from the car suffering only minor cuts. There was no NEXTEL (Sprint) Cup race held that weekend but he was charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident. In October, Michael won the pole for the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the first restrictor plate race to be run with the Car of Tomorrow. He finished 25th after a wreck, but bounced back the next week at Lowes Motor Speedway with his second top-10 finish of the season. Him and his team had one of the worst seasons for a team in NASCAR history but would eventually bounce back.
In 2008, Michael Waltrip Racing underwent a change following the disappointing 2007 campaign. Waltrip welcomed business owner Robert Kaufmann, owner/founder of the Fortress Investment Group and was made an equal partner and got more aid with real estate developer Johnny Harris buying into the team during the 2007 off-season. Former PPC Racing owner Cal Wells III also bought into the team. The name also underwent a change as it now operates as Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC. On February 10, 2008, Michael qualified second for the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Waltrip started the race with "gold wheels" on his car in tribute to the golden anniversary of the Daytona 500; after the race the wheels were signed and sold to benefit NASCAR charities. After leading the first two laps, he was not a factor in the race and finished 26th. Waltrip made his 1,000th NASCAR touring series start at Atlanta in October. He is second only to 7-time champion Richard Petty in most career starts spanning all of the top divisions in NASCAR.
In early 2009, Waltrip announced that he, Scott Speed, and David Reutimann would be splitting the #99 Nationwide Series Aaron’s dream machine Toyota throughout the year. On May 25, 2009 Michael Waltrip scored his first win as an owner in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, with David Reutimann winning his very first race. On July 7, 2009 Waltrip announced he would be driving part-time in the 2010 season starting with the Daytona 500. Waltrip also announced Martin Truex Jr. will be joining Michael Waltrip Racing as the driver of the #56 NAPA Toyota full time in 2010. One thing Michael did for fun in 2009 was he appeared on an episode of My Name is Earl entitled "Inside Probe”.
For the 2010 Daytona 500 Michael is racing the #51 in tribute to previous car owner and friend Dale Earnhardt; Dale won the daytona 500 in the #15 so Michael is running it in reverse.
He currently lives in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina with his wife Buffy in a 200 year old farmhouse.
In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything
Wikipedia:Michael Waltrip
Michael's first go-kart race was in Olney, Illinois, through the Southern Indiana Racing Association (SIRA) at the tender age of 13. The track was a road course, which Michael enjoyed. He was running the same type of go-kart as the famed Green boys, but he experienced mechanical troubles with his ride. His friend, 13 year old Jeff Green, came to the rescue. Jeff disassembled the carburetor and repaired the go-kart right on the track. Michael went on to win that day, thanks to his buddy but future rival.
Waltrip's stock-car career got off the ground in 1981, when he captured the Mini-Modified division track championship at Kentucky Motor Speedway the same year his brother Darrell won his first Winston (Sprint) Cup championship.
In 1982 Waltrip competed in his first race in the Goody's Dash Series.
In 1983 he won the championship in the Goody’s Dash Series and won the Most Popular Driver award; he won the Most Popular Driver Award again in that series in 1984.
In 1984 Michael wanted to make it big so he moved to North Carolina to move in with his good friend Kyle Petty who was still living with his champion father Richard. Darrell never really wanted to teach Michael anything because he wanted him to learn the ropes the same way he did but when he moved in with the Petty’s Richard trained him in a whole new way.
Waltrip made his Winston (Sprint) Cup debut in the 1985 Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway driving for Dick Bahre in the #23 Mell-Gear Pontiac; he qualified 24th and finished 28th after dropping out 500 miles into the race his brother Darrell won.
Michael had his first full season in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series in 1986, driving the #23 Hawaiian Punch car for Bahari Racing. Waltrip finished 19th overall in points and second in the rookie of the year battle to Alan Kulwicki.
In 1987, he posted his first career top-ten finish when he ended up tenth in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway in his #30 All-Pro Chevy Monte Carlo.
In 1988, Michael began running in the Busch (Nationwide) Series, making five starts for his Brother Darrell's fledgling team; this was the first time his brother let him drive for his team and that paid off because Michael took the checkered flag for the first time at Dover in only his fourth Busch (Nationwide) start.
In 1989, he had his first top-five finish in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series in the #30 Country Time Lemonade/Kool Aid Pontiac. Again he won at Dover in the Busch (Nationwide) Series; overall he had four poles and eight top tens in only 14 races in the second-tier NASCAR series while driving for himself.
Michael was a new father when Caitlin Marie Waltrip was born on January 12, 1990 just 2 months before the race at Bristol that could have took her father’s life. Waltrip, after making contact with Steve Grissom, hit the wall head on and his Busch (Nationwide) car all but disintegrated. Waltrip only suffered bruises in the incident that left only the roll cage with Michael in the driver’s seat. The accident was referenced in a 2008 NAPA Auto Parts commercial. Waltrip was signing die-cast replica cars when a fan showed up with pieces of the 1990 car crashed for Waltrip to sign.
In 1991, he gained new sponsorship from Pennzoil and won his first two career pole positions; he finished 15th in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series points.
In 1992 Michael won in the Gatorade 200 at Darlington in the Busch (Nationwide) Series.
1993 was a very assorted year for Michael’s emotions. In April his good friend and Rookie of the Year competitor Alan Kulwicki died in a plane crash. Two days later when he won the Busch (Nationwide) Series Budweiser 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway he did a polish victory lap in honor of Alan. In victory lane he proposed to Elizabeth "Buffy" Franks to whom he married November 27, 1993. He finished 17th in the Winston (Sprint) Cup series points that year.
In April of 1994 Michael was a team owner in the Busch (Nationwide) Series for the first time with childhood friend Jeff Green driving it to a third place finish.
In 1995 at Michigan International Speedway, Waltrip lashed out at fellow driver, Lake Speed. Waltrip struck Speed twice on national television, while Speed was still strapped in his car. Waltrip was fined $10,000 for his actions. At the end of that season Michael was released from Bahari Racing and Johnny Benson was put in that car.
After moving to the #21 Wood Brothers CITGO Ford Thunderbird for 1996, Michael won The Winston. He started his own team in the Busch (Nationwide) Series in the #21 Band-Aid Ford with Roush engines running select races. "The reason I have a Busch team is because of Darrell," Michael said. "I always liked how he had a car of his own to fiddle with. He was off driving for Junior Johnson, but he had his own shop and had his own guys. It was something that I always looked at and thought one day that's what I want to do. So in '96 I started my Busch team and we've been successful, won some poles, and won some races." In his first year with his new Busch (Nationwide) Series team, Michael gained three top 5's, four top 10's, and qualified on the pole after just ten races. In Winston (Sprint) Cup, he finished 14th in points with eleven top 10's and a top 5.
On September 27, 1997 Michael's second child Margaret “Macy” Carol was born. In his very first race in the Winston West Series at Pikes Peak, Michael led 186 laps and won the race.
After missing his first race since 1986 and the Wood Brothers first since 1971 at the 1998 Dura Lube/Kmart 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway, Waltrip departed the Woods at the end of 1998 to drive the #7 Philips Chevrolet for Mattei Motorsports.
In 2000, Nations Rent replaced Philips as the sponsor of his #7 and Waltrip moved up to twenty seventh in points but finished in the top-five once, causing him and the team to part ways at the end of the season. On January 10th, his father Leroy passed away at the age 76 after a three-year struggle with cancer. He had died without having seen Michael win a Winston Cup race. On April 18, 2000, Waltrip ran the Boston Marathon. He finished 14,315th out of 17,813, and was the first person ever who raced this Marathon and the Daytona 500. In December, he ran in the inaugural Hop's Marathon by the Bay in Tampa, Florida. He finished 1209th, out of 3200 entrants.
Waltrip was hired by Dale Earnhardt Inc. to drive their newly formed #15 NAPA Chevrolet. In his first race with the team, the 2001 Daytona 500, Michael was in the lead with his teammate and boss’s son Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him when there was a wreck in turn four. The race continued and Michael won it snapping a 463 race losing streak. The race was bitter-sweet because the wreck that was in turn four was his boss and friend Dale Earnhardt who lost his life due to a head injury. After that race Michael didn’t have a top ten until the next race at Daytona, the Pepsi 400. He finished 24th that year in the standings.
In 2002 he picked up his second career win at Daytona again, except this time it was the July Pepsi 400. He finished fourteenth in the standings which was ten places above the previous year.
In 2003 Michael won the rain-shortened opening race at Daytona yet again but this time he got to enjoy it; that was his third win at Daytona, all three with his brother Darrell in the broadcasting booth for Fox. He won one more race that year and finished 15th in points.
In 2005 he had one pole, and seven top tens but at the end of the year he announced he and his sponsor NAPA would leave DEI to drive the #55 Dodge Charger for Bill Davis Racing. Through a silly-season mess Michael ended up using the defunct #77 Jasper Motorsports team points for the first five races under the Waltrip-Jasper Racing banner to guarantee a starting spot. Michael failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 so he bought the qualifying spot from Derrike Cope so he would keep his streak of 262 races alive. He ended up missing three races that season ending his streak.
Waltrip formed his own team, Michael Waltrip Racing, for the 2007 season. He hired Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann to drive along side of him in Toyotas. After a controversy at Daytona Michael had to resort to an interim Crew Chief; it was Scott Eggleston, who was Waltrip's former crew chief in 2001. After a 30th place finish in the Daytona 500, Waltrip became the first driver in series history to go into the second race of the season with a negative number of points due to being docked 100 at Daytona; -27. Waltrip failed to qualify for the next eleven races following the Daytona 500, so he maintained his negative point total for almost 4 months. He qualified for the thirteenth race of the season at Dover and finished 28th, moving his point total above zero to 52 points. Jarrett used a provisional to qualify for five of the first six races, and Reutimann had to use two. On Saturday April 7, 2007 Waltrip fell asleep behind the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser which overturned and struck a utility pole. Michael crawled out from the car suffering only minor cuts. There was no NEXTEL (Sprint) Cup race held that weekend but he was charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident. In October, Michael won the pole for the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the first restrictor plate race to be run with the Car of Tomorrow. He finished 25th after a wreck, but bounced back the next week at Lowes Motor Speedway with his second top-10 finish of the season. Him and his team had one of the worst seasons for a team in NASCAR history but would eventually bounce back.
In 2008, Michael Waltrip Racing underwent a change following the disappointing 2007 campaign. Waltrip welcomed business owner Robert Kaufmann, owner/founder of the Fortress Investment Group and was made an equal partner and got more aid with real estate developer Johnny Harris buying into the team during the 2007 off-season. Former PPC Racing owner Cal Wells III also bought into the team. The name also underwent a change as it now operates as Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC. On February 10, 2008, Michael qualified second for the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Waltrip started the race with "gold wheels" on his car in tribute to the golden anniversary of the Daytona 500; after the race the wheels were signed and sold to benefit NASCAR charities. After leading the first two laps, he was not a factor in the race and finished 26th. Waltrip made his 1,000th NASCAR touring series start at Atlanta in October. He is second only to 7-time champion Richard Petty in most career starts spanning all of the top divisions in NASCAR.
In early 2009, Waltrip announced that he, Scott Speed, and David Reutimann would be splitting the #99 Nationwide Series Aaron’s dream machine Toyota throughout the year. On May 25, 2009 Michael Waltrip scored his first win as an owner in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, with David Reutimann winning his very first race. On July 7, 2009 Waltrip announced he would be driving part-time in the 2010 season starting with the Daytona 500. Waltrip also announced Martin Truex Jr. will be joining Michael Waltrip Racing as the driver of the #56 NAPA Toyota full time in 2010. One thing Michael did for fun in 2009 was he appeared on an episode of My Name is Earl entitled "Inside Probe”.
For the 2010 Daytona 500 Michael is racing the #51 in tribute to previous car owner and friend Dale Earnhardt; Dale won the daytona 500 in the #15 so Michael is running it in reverse.
He currently lives in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina with his wife Buffy in a 200 year old farmhouse.
In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything
Wikipedia:Michael Waltrip
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