NASCAR’s number-one clown has done it again, but his antics will probably have some legal consequences this time.
NASCAR team owner and driver Michael Waltrip has been charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident following a crash near his North Carolina home.
Waltrip’s car rolled over and crashed into a telephone pole in the wee hours of last Saturday morning around a mile from his home, according to North Carolina Highway Patrol reports. When officers arrived at the scene around 2:00 a.m. there was no one with the vehicle.
Officers tracked ownership records and then went to Waltrip’s home around 40 minutes after the crash, but no one answered the door. Waltrip was at home when officers returned to his house around 8:30 a.m.
ESPN’s “NASCAR Now” show broke the story nationally on Tuesday and by 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night Waltrip’s public relations team were sending out their own press release on the matter.
“Michael Waltrip uninjured in single car accident,” read the headline on top of the release. You’ll probably enjoy the rest of the story from his PR folks as much as I did.
“Cornelius, NC. (April 10, 2007) – NASCAR team owner and driver Michael Waltrip was uninjured in a single car accident Friday night near his home in Sherrills Ford, N.C. The 43-year old was returning from Charlotte, N.C. when he fell asleep at the wheel within a mile of his home and ran off the road, striking a telephone pole.
‘I am really embarrassed about the accident, but I feel fortunate that I wasn’t hurt,’ said Waltrip. ‘For 25 years I have had a great driving record. I consider myself to be a courteous and safe driver on public roads. I never expected to fall asleep behind the wheel of a car.’
The North Carolina Highway Patrol ticketed Waltrip for reckless driving (admitting to falling asleep at the wheel) and failure to notify authorities of an accident in a timely manner.”
I gotta tell you that little spin-the-news ditty produced the most laughter I have experienced in the last few weeks.
It is no surprise to see Waltrip, or his older brother Darrell for that matter, acting foolish. Acting like goofballs gets them more camera and microphone time and that gives them more opportunities to drop their sponsor’s names on television and radio and thus increases the size of their bank accounts. I’m not against being a clown for profit, but there comes a responsibility factor when you are the owner of a company that has employees and their families depending on your paychecks.
Waltrip is not acting like a responsible company leader. Do you think Jack Roush or Richard Childress would have fled the scene of the crash like Waltrip? I don’t think so.
If Chip Ganassi’s cars were not qualifying for most of the races would he be doing a radio show or under the hood of a race car? I think we all know that answer.
Waltrip’s two major sponsors in Atlanta were being mum on the subject Wednesday. A spokesperson at NAPA Auto Parts headquarters simply responded “no comment” and declined an offer for a radio interview.
UPS, the main sponsor for Waltrip’s No. 44 driven by Dale Jarrett, had no idea of the story and said my contact with them was their first notification about Waltrip’s hit and run incident that had happened four days before.
A May 14th court date has been set if Waltrip decides to fight the charges.
Texas: It is back to the old style race cars for this week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. The Nextel Cup and Busch drivers are at Texas Motor Speedway, while the Craftsman Truck Series drivers take it easy until an April 28th race at Kansas. The next “Car of Tomorrow” race will be at Phoenix next week.
The 1.5-mile speedway near Fort Worth celebrates a tenth birthday for NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup racing this year. The speedway opened in 1997 with one race date each year until 2005.
A legal battle between stockholders of the track and NASCAR resulted in the second annual Nextel Cup race being placed on the schedule.
There are no repeat winners at Texas Motor Speedway. The active drivers with victories there are Jeff Burton (1997), Mark Martin (1998), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000), Dale Jarrett (2001), Matt Kenseth (2002), Ryan Newman (2003), Elliott Sadler (2004), Greg Biffle (2005), Carl Edwards (2005), Kasey Kahne (2006) and Tony Stewart (2006).
As indicated by the winner’s names, Jack Roush is the most successful team owner at the Texas facility. Roush has carried home first-place trophies for five of the 12 races held at the speedway since it opened.
The top-five finishers of the April 2006 Texas race were Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Twelve drivers traded the lead 22 times during the 334-lap run. Tony Stewart collected the bonus points for leading the most laps. Stewart’s No. 20 was scored out front for 99 laps.
The other leaders during the race were Kasey Kahne (63), Carl Edwards (50), Greg Biffle (49), Denny Hamlin (41), Matt Kenseth (14), Mark Martin (11), Martin Truex Jr. (2), J.J. Yeley (2), Kevin Harvick (1), Jeff Green (1) and Elliott Sadler (1).
There were nine caution flag incidents and the event took just under three hours and 38 minutes to complete.
Kasey Kahne was also Bud Pole Award winner for last April’s race.
Georgia Boys: The two drivers from Georgia in the Nashville Busch race last weekend left town singing a sad country song. Richard Johns, of Gwinnett County, finished 34th in his No. 25 Ford for his debut Busch Series run. Johns was involved in a crash on the 131st lap.
Unadilla’s David Ragan had his No. 6 sent to the garage in an earlier crash at the Nashville speedway. Ragan started sixth, but the crash left him with a 36th-place finish.
Saturday’s Allan Vigil Ford 120 will air from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more race information visit our Fastcar Newsdesk at www.captainherb.net.
Saturday, April 14th: Douglas County Humane Society Car Show and Motorcycle Poker Run
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Clinton Nature Preserve
Ephesus Church Road ~Take Exit 30 off I-20 (Post Road) in Douglas County, Ga.
Street Rods, Hot Rods, Custom Cars, Custom Trucks, Classic Cars, Motorcycles, Dog Show and Exhibits ~ Hosted by Sam Memmolo of Two Guys Garage TV ~ $15 entry fee benefits the Douglas County Humane Society
www.ShadetreeMechanic.com, 770.489.7164, 678.838.9123
I am not surprised that Mike would pull something like this and frankly, I am really surprised that NAPA has not pulled their sponship from him like I personally think that they should.
If he is going to be this reckless off of the track, then he has no business running a business because people like Jack Rausch and Richard Childress would never have pulled stunts like he did.