Michael Waltrip says he likes to hide out whenever possible. Credit: Autostock

10 Questions: M. Waltrip

Michael Waltrip may be accomplishing more than a virtuoso circus performer this season.

He's juggling ownership of a couple of NASCAR race teams, managing the creation and transition of the 2007 Toyota versions of same while also continuing as a driver at NASCAR's highest levels -- and mixing in a bunch of media roles.

How does he keep all of those things straight?

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Michael Waltrip at Talladega Starts 41 Wins 1* Top-fives 7 Top-10s 13 Poles 0 Laps Led 189 Avg. Start 19.3 Avg. Finish 19.4 Lead-lap finishes 19 * -- Fall 2003

Waltrip took a break to answer 10 questions not necessarily connected to his racing career.

1. What's at the bottom of your "honey do" list?

Waltrip: That's a huge list. I would say it would be going on vacation. That's something that [wife] Buffy would really like to do and it's something that I can't get passionate about.

So the bottom of my honey do list is taking her somewhere this winter. And somehow, Dave, you've got to help me elevate it.

It's just that I love Sherrills Ford [N.C.], I love my backyard and I love my race shop that we're building. Every day that I'm away from it, it makes me wonder, "what happened? What's it look like today? What are we doing?"

So I'm a little bit of a homebody.

2. What are your favorite recent movie and your favorite all-time flick?

Waltrip: My life is sort of dramatic, with all of the stuff that I have to do, so I like to laugh when I watch a movie. I loved watching Ricky Bobby [in Talladega Nights]. So that's the best movie I've seen lately.

Except, I watched Wedding Crashers for about the 17-hundredth time last night, and that movie makes me laugh.

All-time, you know, they're just too numerous. When you go to the movie just for entertainment -- and just to laugh -- I can name a hundred going back to Spies Like Us with Chevy Chase and Arthur.

My favorite memory though, of a movie is when my I took my mom and dad to see As Good As It Gets. That's the last movie I ever took my dad to and he thought that was a pretty good movie, so As Good As It Gets is up there for sentimental reasons.

But there are a zillion of 'em that make me happy because they're just funny.

3. What is the most embarrassing moment you'll own up to, either in or out of racing?

Waltrip: I guess it would be -- no, I hate to bring that up. I got one, but I won't own up to it [laughing].

But I guess I'm most embarrassed about the incident I had with Lake Speed in Michigan, a hundred years ago [June 1995, when Waltrip blocked Speed's car to stop it on pit road at the end of the Miller Genuine Draft 400, then got out and punched Speed while he sat in his car]. That was embarrassing.

This might be a passionate sport that wipes out all reason, but there was still no excuse for it. There are a hundred times when something can set you off, and that just set me off.

My main thing is, I would never punch anyone -- and I just hit his helmet. I knew it wasn't gonna hurt [him] - it would probably hurt me more than it would him [laughing]. So I just was mad and I hit his helmet.

4. Which athlete outside of racing do you most admire?

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Waltrip: I would guess that it would be Arnold Palmer, because he was the man. He seems to really appreciate and respect his sport and to appreciate and respect integrity in life.

I always try to put people that I know a little bit, but that are better than me -- or that do a better job at living life than I do -- at the top of my lists, so that I can hopefully aspire to straighten up and live more like they do, one day.

5. What is "must see TV" for you?

Waltrip: It's Spin City. Spin City has been TiVo'ed about a hundred different times. I loved it when Charlie Sheen came on. I liked it good with Michael J. Fox -- but Charlie Sheen is the man.

That's must see TV for me and it drives everybody around me crazy, because that's all I do when I have a few moments, is watch an episode of Spin City.

6. If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be, and why?

Waltrip: I would trade places with President Bush because there are so many things going on in this world, and I'd like to know what he knows about it all.

Because I think when some people are critical of him, that they don't have all the facts. So I'd like to know how he deals with it and what it's like to have all the intelligence and information that's led him to make the decisions he's made.

If I could solve one thing in a day, what would it be? I think the thing that I'm most interested in, is world peace; and that's probably something that's not going to get done in a day.

I'm all for where we are today and the way that we as a country have said, 'we've got to do something. It has to be done.' So I know that's his goal, to get it to where we know no one's going to come blow us up.

And if I could do that, that would be great. You're not going to solve it in a day, but that should be what you work toward every day, and I know that President Bush does.

7. What were your first job and your most vivid memory of it?

Waltrip: Well, the first one I ever had to punch a time clock at was Quality Cleaners, which was a dry cleaner in Owensboro that my dad's buddy owned.

And I had to clean the cleaners. So that sucked because it was about 175 degrees in there in the summertime with all the steam cleaners and things, so that was my first job. And oh, yes, the heat was the biggest memory of it.

And also the fact that my dad was friends with the guy that owned it, so I knew that I had to go do the job, or it wouldn't be good.

Before that, I mowed yards. And I tried to talk mom and dad into letting me have a paper route, but they thought that maybe that would wind up meaning that nobody would get their paper in the neighborhood. So I didn't get that job.

8. What would you consider to be your biggest vice?

Waltrip: I have so many. I think my biggest vice is -- wow, there are so many to deal with. Let me think for a second.

I've never thought of them as vices, or categorized them or ranked them. I just figured, if you have a vice, then you need to fix it -- so I guess my biggest one is the hunt for cover.

I always seem to want to go somewhere where no one else is and spend some time with me. That means you hide sometimes, and that's not good, so if I could change anything about myself, I would not internalize so much.

So I guess that's sort of complex, but I like to run off and hide sometimes.

9. If you could go back in time, what period in history would you like to live in, and why?

Waltrip: I sure would have liked to have been one of those 12 dudes that wandered around with Jesus, to see what that was like. You know, that is sort of the foundation of who we are, and what my world's all about, so I'd say I would have liked to have lived then.

Plus, you got to wear sandals and a leather skirt -- without feeling like there's something wrong with you -- and that sounds pretty cool.

I might just get me some sandals and a leather skirt someday and go to the drivers' meeting that way -- just walk out across the garage area and say "Hey, I'm Mike and I'm comfortable with who I am."

10. What have you learned about yourself in the last year?

Waltrip: I've tried to say that I'm a dad and I'm a husband -- that's who I am, and my job is that I'm a racecar driver.

And I've always tried to say that I'm not going to let that job mess up my life or make me have a bad day.

But after many bad days recently, I've come to understand that I need to continue to work on defining who I am and what makes me happy.