Michael Waltrip’s Daytona 500 top moments

2017: Michael Waltrip has announced that the 2017 Daytona 500 will be his last as a driver. It will be his 56th career start at the superspeedway and his 30th Great American Race. He will pilot the No. 15 Premium Motorsports 'Thanks Mikey' Toyota. Take a look at Waltrip's most notable Daytona 500 appearances.

1987: Waltrip's first Daytona 500 was in 1987, but it was his second race at the famed speedway after competing in the 1986 Firecracker 400.
Bill Elliott took the checkered flag in 1987, and Waltrip finished 22nd after starting 18th, driving a Chevrolet for Bahari Racing.

1990: Waltrip earned his first top 10 in the Daytona 500 in 1990, finishing 8th. Waltrip was still with Bahari Racing but in the Country Time Lemonade Pontiac. Bahari moved from Chevrolet to Pontiac in 1988.

1991: In his first year with Pennzoil as primary sponsor, Waltrip had his first dose of bad luck at the Daytona 500. He finished 38th in the No. 30 Bahari Racing Pontiac after a piston failure. Waltrip had started 13th, his best starting spot for the season opener to date. Waltrip would finish in 15th place in the 1991 driver standings, his best showing in his full-time premier series racing career thus far.

1996: Waltrip moved to Wood Brothers Racing in 1996 and debuted with the team in the No. 21 Citgo Ford Thunderbird at Daytona. He finished 10th, his third top-10 finish in the season opener at the time.

1999: Waltrip moved to Mattei Motorsports in 1999, capturing his first top 5 in the race in 1999. Then began an ill-fated time for him in terms of racing at Daytona. He wrecked in both the 1999 and 2000 Pepsi 400s, and in the middle crashed out of the 2000 Daytona 500.

2001: Waltrip's first Daytona 500 victory came in 2001, his first year driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., in the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The race was also tragic, as team owner, friend to Waltrip and racing legend Dale Earnhardt was killed in a wreck on the race's final lap.

2003: Waltrip's second (and possibly last) Daytona 500 victory came two years later, in the No. 15 Dale Earnhardt, Inc. NAPA Chevrolet.

2007: In his first Daytona 500 as an owner, Waltrip drove the No. 55 NAPA Toyota. Before the race, he took photos with Buffy Waltrip and their daughter Macy. Waltrip finished 30th after starting 15th.

2009: Waltrip scored his first top-10 finish in the Daytona 500 as an owner, coming seventh after starting 27th. The No. 55 NAPA Toyota suffered damage in practice during Speedweeks. This was his first top 10 at Daytona since 2003.

2010: By this season, Waltrip was racing only four times a year at maximum, primarily at Daytona and Talladega superspeedways. While he earned a fifth-place result in the July race at Daytona in 2013, his best Daytona 500 result during the 2010-2015 period was an 18th-place finish in 2010.

2016: Waltrip shuttered his race team after the 2015 season but entered the 2016 Daytona 500 piloting the No. 83 Maxwell House Toyota for BK Racing. Waltrip started 36th and finished 30th.