Does DW Rub You the Wrong Way?
by Robyn Snell ~ April 15th, 2008 @ 8:30 pm. Filed under: Robyn Reacts!. 2,163 readsOK, so how can I trash a man like Daryll Waltrip, 3 time NASCAR Winston Cup champion, who has done wonders for our sport? Read on…
“Dew or Boo?”
From the early 1980’s to present day, DW has been a known face within NASCAR. He is the only man who can turn a crowd “booing” into a good thing! In Victory Circle long ago the crowd “booed” DW and he parlayed that itno a plug for his sponsor Mountain Dew by saying “Listen they are saying DEW!” Only DW could spin a boo!
The “Icky Shuffle”
This named dance was performed by Bengals NFL player Ickey Woods would do “his” victory dance every time he scored a touch down. DW copied Ickey’s dance during his celebratory victory of winning the Daytona 500 in 1989. Due to Ickey performing his dance in the end zone, the NFL was quick to announce penalties for such actions and Ickey had to move his celebration to the sidelines….
“Crash!”
Although 1998 was a major success for DW, the year 1990 brought issues. DW failed to find himself in victory lane at all that year. After a practice crash at the Pepsi 400 where DW spun out and got creamed by Dave Marcis, DW suffered 2 broken arms, a broken leg and a concussion. Jeff Hammond was his crew chief during this time and they managed to land 20th in points in spite of DW not driving many more races. DW was also voted most popular driver this season. Can this man make lemon aide out of lemons or what?
“Air Waves”
The year 2001 found DW his place on Fox for the Daytona 500. Michael Waltrip happened to win the very first race that DW was a commentator on. On the darker side of racing, this was the race we lost our leader Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Dw was quick to call a meeting with Mike Helton stating his concerns about 4 deaths within racing due to basal skull fractures. Helton told DW that he was acting like Mike Wallace from that tv show 60 minutes instead of a concerned NASCAR member. (Side Bar: Wonder if Helton will read this article to remind him of his initial stance on NASCAR safety then and now and re prioritize his stance on our current drug testing policy that he is so adamantly against…. )
It took DW 7 months of campaigning and demonstrating head and neck restraints that are mandatory within NASCAR today. Will DW be able to activate Helton into a drug policy? Only time will tell…
“Boogity Boogity Boogity”
Do you like that phrase or does it drive you nuts? DW started this saying because he was tired of his spotter saying “green green green”. Hence he developed his own saying of “Boogity Boogity Boogity”. DW has also invented other words that he uses on a weekly basis. These words include but not limited to “co-option” meaning drivers that are working together or s’purnce, meaning the driving skills of a veteran race car driver…How about “s’koshe” this is a unit of measuring something…like a car running hot…DW has not only transformed NASCAR into a safer environment for drivers and fans, he has also re invited the English language with his own catch phrases…
For a touch of the lighter side of an interview check out this you tube link that I ran across entitled Funny Interview with DW:
So when DW annoys the heck out of you, please remember that DW has changed the face of NASCAR in many ways from safety to the English language and beyond. Believe me DW annoys the heck out me of me however, I must give credit where credit is do. So when DW “rubs” you the wrong way…just remember this article and all of the contributions that he truly has made to our sport…
Thanks DW for all of your contributions within NASCAR…
Until next time….
Robny Snell
Senior Staff
April 16th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I refuse to listen to any broadcst that DW is involved with. I give him credit as a driver and he may have had influence in positive ways in Nascar. However, DW thinks DW is really funny, and that is the problem. People who think they are funny, seldom are. This is DW’s problem. He tries to be funny.
You highlighted another of the problems in your article. He isn’t original. The Icky shuffle was not his idea, the dreaded BBB can be heard in the original Smokey and the Bandit movie and the the song “The Streak” by Ray Stevens. He could potentially bring much to the broadcast booth, but as long as his prime objective is to entertain his partners who break their arms patting him on the back and yucking it up over his inane comments, he will be a second class broadcaster. He should watch everything he can find that Buddy Baker and Benny Parsons ever said as broadcasters and he might become tolerable. The were original. My friends are amazed at the fans he has and cannot understand what people like about him.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:05 am
DW is the John Madden of NASCAR announcing. His vast knowledge as a former driver translates into an informative and entertaining broadcast each and every week. The above comment states their “opinion” that DW is neither funny nor original. I, for one, find DW to be funny most of the time, and entertaining all of the time. I dread when race coverage transitions each year away from Fox because Fox has the best race commentators and best race coverage. Also, while it’s correct that DW did not invent the Ickey Shuffle, but that’s why it was good TV, because he did it in Victory Lane at Daytona, and he did it badly. That’s funny. That’s good TV. If it wasn’t, then he wouldn’t be remembered for it to this day. DW didn’t create the Ickey Shuffle, he just used it in the heat of the moment because he had finally won the 500. But, as far as that goes, how do we know if Ickey even created the dance? As far as we know, Ickey’s cousin could’ve created it at a school dance in 1982 but Ickey just had the opportunity to use it on TV. Bottom line, who cares who created it? DW never claimed to create that dance, so why is it even an issue? DW also never claimed to have created the word “Boogity,” he just made the use of saying the word “Boggity” three times in succession to begin a race to change up the tired old “green, green, green.” Every person who uses the English language uses words they did not create each and every day. Why is it an issue if DW uses words he didn’t create? It seems to be a very petty argument, to say the least.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:35 am
One of the reasons I no longer watch NASCAR is because of DW. His mundane and often jaded opinions are disgusting. At first I just hit mute at the start of every race so I didn’t have to listen to his childish mantre. Now I just don’t watch anything but the highlights on the internet. I miss Buddy Baker and Ned. They could call a race with precision and unbiased observations. It’s no wonder a few years ago when Tony Stewart called him nothing short of an idiot on live tv during an interview. DW, get a new act. We’re tired of this one. Oh, grow up while you’re at it.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:05 am
He’s alright by me, just keep his brother out of the booth. Funny clip.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I love DW, and will miss him when coverages leaves FOX in a few weeks. My daughter and I both look forward to hearing BBB every week to start the race.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:17 am
My opinion………..THE WALTRIPS ARE THE BEST THING NASCAR HAS GOING FOR THEM !!!!!!
April 16th, 2008 at 9:18 am
To me, the name Waltrip automatically implies a self-promoting jerk. At my house, the mute button is best described as the Waltrip button. The name Waltrip and objectivity will never meet.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:18 am
JT is correct . Waltrip should watch all he can find of Baker , Parsons, Bonnett and Jarrett . In fact we all should , and then we would realise how pathetic the FOX broadcasts really are . But the problem is , FOX has a contract , so they will continue to broadcast races over the loud complaints of the viewing audience . And the people in charge at FOX think that the horrible on- air talent ( every one of them are the worst in all of race broadcasting ) along with the sophmoric camera work and high school football game directing quality are just fine .Plus all of those people also have contracts . Bottom line - we’ll be stuck with the FOX trainwreck until the contracts are up . Only then is there any hope of bringing talented , interesting people and hopefully a different network to NASCAR broadcasts .
April 16th, 2008 at 9:30 am
And where would you send the coverage? ESPN isn’t a good spot. And I won’t even mention NBC/TNT’s coverage without Benny (and even before he died, we had to listen to Bill Webber). I enjoy watching the races on FOX, and can’t stand the other nets that have contracts to cover the sport.
I hadn’t realized how much some people don’t like DW and FOX. I think they’re both great!
April 16th, 2008 at 9:38 am
DW is an institution to this sport and has done more for it than any one ever will. Love him or hate him, you have to admit he is very intelligent all things NA$CAR. I don’t see what’s wrong with going through life with a good attitude and a humorous spring in your step.
I have watched this sport for forty years and have noticed in the last decade one very important thing. Loss of respect. There’s no respect for the new drivers to the veteran drivers and there’s no respect from the new fans to the veteran fans.
I’m not going to stop watching something I have a passion for because of someone taking five seconds at the beginning of a race to yell out “boogity, boogity, boogity” no more than I stopped last year watching a sub-par Rusty Wallace who was one of the worst announcers in the history of NA$CAR broadcasting.
The difference is, I still respect Rusty because he’s a veteran driver and a human being.
So if you ‘fans’ stop watching racing because of the announcer, you’re not really a NA$CAR fan.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Regarding DW….
I enjoyed watching DW as a driver, but now as a commentator I can’t stand him. In fact I cannot stand the entire FOX team, with the exception of Mike Joy and a couple of pit reporters.
Ol’ DW thinks he is THE voice of NASCAR,you would never know that he actually works for FOX. The BBB is way more than I can take, thank God for the mute button.
..and don’t even get me started on MW
LeRoy Zimmerman
April 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I agree with the comments from Dewey and Steve. Furthermore, DW is just being himself. I met him in the late 60’s in Nashville where he told track promoter Bill Donoho that Bill was looking at the next star in NASCAR. DW proceeded to dominate Nashville over the next few years and then went on to a dominate career in the CUP series. As Reggie Jackson put it, “if you can do it, it ain’t bragging.”
While I’m at it, a couple of other things. One, many have complained about the “lack of quality” of the races this year. In case you haven’t noticed, there is no sport where you are always going to get a nail-biting finish. However in racing, there is always the chance of a late race mechanical failure or crash that can change the outcome. Two, I’m tired of seeing all the complaints about the coverage. Sounds like lots of spoiled brats. They should have been fans when there were no races on live TV, and only a handful that got maybe 30 laps of coverage on Wide World of Sports and that was often several weeks after the actual race. In fact, you were lucky to find a radio station that covered the race. Be glad we’ve got the coverage we have.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I think it’s a mixed bag with DW. He makes some good points and provides interesting insight from the driver’s perspective, but his hamming it up during race coverage gets annoying, as does his bias for certain drivers. The problem exists across all of the networks handling Nascar, though. With the exception of a few commentators such as Jarrett or Andy Petree, the coverage and commentators are sophomoric. Just compare any Nascar coverage to F1 coverage on Speed or NHRA coverage on ESPN2, both of which treat the sport professionally and leave out all the schtick. I don’t know if its because the networks don’t understand the sport, they think we don’t understand it, or they’re trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but it gets aggravating. Thank god for Trackpass and radio.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Get your facts straight. It was 2001 that we lost Dale and Mikey won the 500 not 2000. It’s Dave Marcis not Marcus.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:34 am
The spelling of Dave’s last name and the year have been corrected.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:37 am
My comment is this:
DW was tagged years ago with the nickname of “Crybaby Waltrip”. If he wasn’t crying about other drivers, it was why he couldn’t win races or everything was someone elses fault and he still does it today. I would rather see Allen Beswick up in the booth. When he did winners after Neil Bonnett died i thought he was good but as DW was being DW, his head got to big for his shoulders. And it’s not only him. Most of these announcers we have today want to tell you about everything about everything but the race. They must think that we as viewers don’t know the front of the car from the rear.
And whats all this stuff about Kyle Busch lately??????? Last year this kid was a maniac, this year he can do no wrong, but that’s only their view.
I would like to turn on the broadcast and not hear Crybaby yelling boogity, boogity, boogity and have the announcers talking to the viewers instead of talking between themselves. Tell us more about the race instead of the top 10. there are other drivers out there besides Johnson, Earnhadt, Gordon, Busch and Stewart.
And Steve this is for you.
There is no Nascar anymore. It’s big money plain and simple. And pray tell me exactly what has DW done for this sport? Tell me about safety or let me tell you about safety. these cars of today are made of tin, a skin laid over roll bars.Years ago cars were taken off the showroom floor and roll cages put in them. My point is this, no one ever said this sport was safe and no matter how safe you may think it is, drivers are still going to be hurt or even lose their lives.
Jr. Johnson, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott and many others have done more for this sport then DW could ever think of doing. All that’s left now are memories of what Nascar used to be. What it is now is a farce.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I love DW and hope he continues to get to say his piece. Some things I might not agree but he has been around and seen much in the sport and his opinion counts. Are there not people out in the world that always have an opinion? And put it out there daily to whomever? Some of you can’t handle it because you think its forward or brash. I am this way and wouldn’t be any other way because it cuts the bs and people know where you stand right out of the box. So to bad if you don’t like him because of that. I do and will continue to support DW.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
He isn’t a bother to me. He isn’t perfect and thats whats great about him. I like him better in the booth than Jimmy Spencer on Race Day. I like what he brings to television. Not a huge fan of the boogity boogity boogity deal. But that is minor.
I like ol DW
April 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I have to agree that DW is a mixed bag. I have to admit that I too hit the mute button at the beginnig of the race, but to add insult to injury FOX now uses “BBB Lets Go Racing Boys” as their NASCAR theme song which they not only use at the beginning of the race, but keep interjecting during the race. It’s not fair, you can mute at the start, but how are you going to protect yourself when you don’t know when they are going to strike again!
As for the TV coverage, I’ve been watching racing on TV since 1962 and all I have to say is you compainers are a bunch of whiners. Be thankfull that you have the chance to see them live instead of condensed to a 1/2 hour 2 weeks after it’s taken place. If FOX’s coverage is so bad, why do the keep winning EMMYS?
April 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
At one time I enjoyed watching D.W. drive, not as a commemtater. When Dale had his accident D. W. said that Sterling Marlin hit Dale Sr. and caused the accident. A few days later Dale Jr. came out and told everyone that it was not Sterlings fault. D.W. remarks caused some to threaten Marlins life. I have not read or heard any apology to Sterling. Cannot wait for espn,abc to broadcast. Maybe I’ll start watching dirt as they have racers not D.W.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Yes, DW makes me crazy. Yes, he is very informative re. NASCAR. YES, he still makes me crazy. Please get rid of him, please.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:57 am
DW’s OK, it’s Mikey I can’t take. He (DW) turned it all around when Rusty took hiom out of the “Winston”. And no disrespect for Benny, but as a braodcaster he usually got it wrong! SO bad, everything he said, the opposite was usually right!
Rich
April 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
AS I recall, Cale Yarbrough called him “Jaws” for his often excessive remarks about this that or the other. He was a good driver in his day.
AS is true in most cases, former drivers are nowhere near broadcasting abilities of Mike Joy or Barney Hall. I know that they have their favorites and the broadcasts show that. I wish that they would keep their preferences to theirselves and just state and show everyone driving, not just J Gordon, johnson, or just any of the current top teams.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
DW’s love of cousin carl and Kyle Busch gets really old after a while. Maybe Fox needs 20 or so more guys to broadcast the race so we get a little better balance regarding the rest of the invisible drivers because obviously Darrell is a little bit too infatuated with the 2 drivers mentioned above.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I am tired of the Waltrips talking about Waltrips!
All the ever do is promote themselves, both DW AND MIKEY. If i want the opinion of the Toyota camp I can watch FOX because all their people except Mike Joy are afflilated with Toyota. The radio is still the best option for getting information about the races.
April 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Why do so many people see the need to drag others down, does it make them feel better about their own lives? DW paid his dues and has a job to do, if you don’t like the product don’t watch. The personnal attacks on both DW and Michael (and others, insert any name) make me sick. Why do people use these type of forums to make personnal attacks on others? Makes no sense to me!
April 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
This reply is for Steve. In regard to your comment about if you don’t like the product don’t watch it. My suggestion is, look at what you just said and apply it to this blog. If you don’t like what you are reading then go elsewhere where everyone is in agreement with you so you can make sense of things. How dare people confuse you with different points of view. I doubt that DW gets upset because people don’t agree with something he says. He would probably laugh at these comments, all the way to the bank!
April 16th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I watch Racing on fox because of DW not inspite of him. After watching the races on Fox and TNT and then going to ESPN and Rusty…. Yikes…. B O R I N G!! DJ brings much to the broadcasts, to bad Rusty did not just fade away.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
How desperate for a record deal must that poor girl have been to agree to record that idiotic song ? Maybe she did it for the TV exposure on the worst and least watched network in broadcasting . That song and ” Digger ” pretty much sum up the quality of the FOX race broadcasts . The F1 race coverage is far superior to anything FOX or ESPN is doing in their NASCAR coverage . And the reason the F1 broadcast is better is the proffesionalism of the camera crew , the director , and the analysts , who aren’t all hell- bent on self promotion like Mike and Larry , and Darrel, along with Hammond and Myers , the Hollywood Hotel empty talking heads . And there is no excuse for them being so terrible . All they need do is watch some of the past broadcasts and watch Benny and Neil , and Buddy ,and Ned , and the other greats like Bob Jenkins doing the job not only correctly , but with passion and a genuine love for racing .
April 16th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Another excellent review of an important NASCAR issue, Robyn. Thanks for sharing your views with us. I love DW and get a kick out of other people’s reactions to him. The fans on the Dale, Jr. sites are upset because he ignores their man while those on other sites are upset because all he talks about is Dale, Jr. and his brother, Michael Waltrip.
I find DW’s commentary to be elucidating and helpful in enjoying my race day. He loves racing, has contributed hugely to safety as you pointed out. I hope he continues to work on Helton, et al, to improve the drug testing policies of NASCAR.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I enjoy DW’s enthusiasm. BTW, it’s coopetition which is a way of says cooperative competition.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I must admit that DW can get on your very last nerve at times but I must remember that he is, after all, my Hero’s brother !!!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I think DW should have kept his mouth closed regarding who Dale Jr was going to vote for in the All star race. Now all of Jr’s fans will vote for who Jr wanted and not who they would have voted for to begin with. This is an unfair advantage and if dw is going to make a comment, he should remember his brother is trying to get in that race as well.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I canceled some of my programing on direct tv. I can’t stand D.W. and his over the hill reporting of the races. I have heard the last of his BBB. Dirt racing on saturday nights.