New Season, Fresh Start has Sergio Peña Excited For Final Season With His Racing Mentor

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Cara Cooper

Racing has taken Sergio Peña places even he wouldn’t have expected.

After driving in the NASCAR Pro Series off and on for about five years, when that was over he still wanted to find a way to make driving a career.

Now, Peña’s day job consist partially of working as a security tactical driving instructor, training officials in the government, military, and “any 3-letter agency,” he said, on defense-level tactical driving before they deploy overseas or go to embassies around the world.

When he’s not in a police car or armored vehicle, Peña works as a performance driver, going to Formula 1 races in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and doing hot laps for Aston Martin. He also works as a stunt driver, and recently did a shoot for the newest Fast & Furious movie.

While he may not be in racing full-time, Peña is still at a race track almost every day of the week.

“It’s been crazy,” Peña said of his new career. “Racing is all I’ve known my entire life, from go-karts starting at 6 years old and moving up the ranks.”

Peña starting racing in the K&N Pro Series, now known as the ARCA Menards Series, in 2010 with Rev Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. He stayed with Rev on and off for three years, moving between the East and West Series.

He returned to the East Series in 2015, and got back into a late model with owner Sam Beaty.

“I never really thought NASCAR would be an option and getting the opportunity with D4D, and when all that was said and done, I didn’t quite finish college yet, I kind of went back and forth between a hundred different things,” he said. “And you hear the stories a hundred different times about drivers who didn’t quite make it to the top level, what happens next?

“I’ve been so fortunate to continue to use driving to pay my bills and stay active at race tracks Monday through Friday really. I’m at a race track almost every day of the week. Maybe not in a race car but in a police car or some type of armored vehicle. Regardless, it’s a great time.”

Peña still finds time to get into an actual race car on the weekends, with a new opportunity this year. He’s driven full-time at Dominion Raceway, a NASCAR-sanctioned .4-mile asphalt oval track in Thornburg, Virginia, the last two years, and plans to return when the track opens the season this weekend.

He’ll drive for owner Travis Byrd, who will also serve as his crew chief, in a brand new car built by chassis builder Forrest Reynolds. The team is sponsored by Peak Roofing Contractors, who Peña said “without them this wouldn’t be possible.”

Peña said the team will try to run for a track championship at Dominion, while also going for a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Virginia state championship and, hopefully, a national title.

“Primarly, just a new team, a fresh start,” Peña said. “It’s a brand new car with one of the best chassis builders around in late models… As far as this year goes, everybody is going for it 100 percent.”

Beaty will also be involved. Peña and Beaty have been working together since Peña was in high school a decade ago, before he began with Rev Racing. Before beginning with the Drive For Diversity program, Peña didn’t have any oval or short track experience, having grown up with a road course background. Beaty was the one who helped him get accustomed to a totally different style of driving.

This year will be Beaty’s last in racing, so not only is Peña trying to win a championship for his new team, he’d also like to send his 78-year-old mentor out with a bang. He said this year, “It’s all for Sam.”

“That’s the goal. Obviously you think about trying to do the best for yourself and everyone, but especially for Sam,” he said. “With work and all, I’m not able to always be there to help with the car and I travel with work a lot. And this guy, just by himself as an upper 70-year-old man, single-handedly builds these cars, puts them together, and keeps me active in racing, the last five or six years especially.

“I owe the world to him. There’s no way I could actually repay him for the things he’s done for me throughout my career. And the fact that he still wants to be a part of it and keeps pushing, it’s incredible.”

Trying to make his way in racing the last few years hasn’t been easy for Peña. He said he was running old equipment, not testing or practicing, mostly just showing up and racing. While he said it was fun and he appreciated getting to stay involved in the sport, he feels like he finally has all the pieces in place for something different this year.

Mostly, he’s just thankful to get the chance to spend more time in a car with people who have meant so much to him throughout his career.

“I think as a racer, at least for me, I don’t picture life without racing. And there’s never going to be a day I ever give up on it,” he said. “It goes beyond just racing. It’s family, it’s friends, the relationships you build throughout all of this. It becomes your life. I just couldn’t imagine life without it, really.

“I’m 28 years old now, and not racing full time. I’m not getting paid to race or anything, but I’m still able to have my name on the door of a race car and race on Saturday nights. It’s just incredible for so many reasons.”

Dominion Raceway will open the season on Saturday with late models, modifieds, Virginia Racers, Dominion Stock, UCars, Dominion Any Car, and Mini Cups.

RELATED: Dominion Raceway Website | Schedule

Sergio Peña signs for a fan at Virginia’s Dominion Raceway. (Dinah Marie Photography/Dominion Raceway)

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Paul Lambert

The last 30 years of Whelen Modified Tour action at Martinsville have provided short-track fans with all-time classics. Leading up to the Modified return to the track, here are selected some of the biggest and most important races in Martinsville history since 1990.

1992: Four for Fuller

En route to the Tour championship that year, late-race heroics in the Hanes 150 on April 25 got Jeff Fuller his fourth win at Martinsville. Fuller led only five laps on the way to victory over Mike Stefanik — who had led 123 laps — and Jan Leaty. Satch Worley, who won a month earlier at Martinsville, finished fourth.

Fuller added to his wins in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

2000: The Reg vs. TC

In the midst of a tight championship battle between Reggie Ruggiero and Jerry Marquis, fireworks changed the course of the Goody’s Body Pain 200 in the closing laps. First Jerry Marquis spun himself trying to pass Ruggiero for third, erasing Christopher’s sizable lead and setting up a late-race dash to the checkers. Then, with 10 to go, Ruggiero made contact with Christopher going for the lead.

Christopher went into the wall, while Ruggiero went on to the win.

Marquis would finish second in the penultimate race of the year, and clinch his championship at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway by a 36-point margin over Ruggiero.

WATCH: Looking Back: The Reg vs. TC at Martinsville in 2000

2002: Run of first-time winners begins

Between 1989-2001, Jeff Fuller (four wins), Mike Ewanitsko (four wins), Mike Stefanik (four wins) and Reggie Ruggiero (three wins) dominated, with Satch Worley and Tony Hirschman Jr.

Then along came a 28-year-old from Dushore, Pennsylvania: LW Miller.

Miller, who had four career top 10s in 69 previous career starts, qualified seventh and led the final 50 laps en route to his first — and only career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory. Miller’s win began a streak of eight different winners in eight Tour races at the track.

Miller went on to win the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship and is currently Director of Motorsports for JR Motorsports.

2005: TC finally gets Martinsville win

Ted Christopher finally got his Martinsville Speedway win in 2005. (Howie Hodge/NASCAR)

After a three-year absence from Martinsville, the Tour returned to the track under the lights for the first time on Labor Day weekend. It was Christopher who beat fellow Modified legend Mike Stefanik on a Saturday night to take his only win at Martinsville.

Christopher started on the pole and led 164 laps in the Made In American Whelen 300. It was the first of three straight tour wins in 2005 for Christopher.

John Blewett III, Eric Beers and Doug Coby rounded out the top 5. Brian Loftin was the highest finishing driver of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, in its first year.

2008: Ryan Preece Picks Up First Win In DQ

It appeared as if Burt Myers had picked up his first Whelen Modified Tour win when he crossed the finish line ahead of 17-year-old Ryan Preece in the Made In American Whelen 300, and make the North Carolina veteran the first Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver to win the combination event.

However, post-race inspection, however, would lead to a disqualification for Myers, and hand Preece his first victory on the Tour. Preece was driving the famed No. 3 ‘ole Blue.’ Preece joined Bugs Stevens in delivering a Martinsville win to Boehler Racing.

Matt Hirschman was credited with second, followed by Ruggiero, Christopher and Todd Szegedy.

Preece has gone on to win the2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title and finish tour runner-up four other times en route to his current ride in the the NASCAR Cup Series.

2010: Santos adds to family legacy

The win in the 2010 Made In America Whelen 300 was special for Bobby Santos III in a number of ways.

It was Santos’ third win in the first four races of the season, along with a runner-up finish, as he drove to his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in his first full season driving for longtime Modified car owner Bob Garbarino. Santos joined Satch Worley (1992) and Donny Lia (2007) in winning at Martinsville for Garbarino.

To top it all off, Santos’ grandfather, Bobby Santos Jr., won the Cardinal Classic 250 NASCAR Modified Division event on Oct. 16, 1972.

Then 22-year-old rookie Justin Bonsignore finished second, followed by Szegedy, Stefanik and Myers.

Bobby Santos III, driver of the #4 “Mystic Missile” Dodge, and his team celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Made in America Whelen 200 at Martinsville Speedway on June 6, 2010 in Martinsville, Virginia.(Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Posted on April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 by NASCAR.com

Name: Jesse
Current City: Shackle Island, Tennessee
Member Since: 2020

Getting to KNOW Jesse:

Q: How did you first become interested in NASCAR?

“I was bartending at a place where ALL the regulars loved racing. Learning how to talk the talk was crucial to earning their friendship and repeat business, not to mention tips! So I did my homework and sat down to watch the Daytona race in the summer of ’03, and I absolutely loved it. Life led onward from those salad days, but my NASCAR fandom is here to stay.”

Q: What is your favorite part about NASCAR?

;The marriage of man and machine. No other sport has such a premium on equipment. I love how a great driver in a bad car is irrelevant, and a great car with a weak driver is useless. But a great car plus a great driver is a beautiful thing on the track! I watch to see those combos go head-to-head every week.”

Q: What is your favorite NASCAR memory?

“Watching Parker Kligerman plant the checkers in the grass at Talladega after a Truck win in 2017. We had driven down from Nashville for that race, in no small part because kids get in free to Truck races. During the race, a plane landed beyond the backstretch, and I though [my son] would literally go crazy with joy. We still have a checkered flag blanket from that race, and he talks about the flag-plant every time we see PK on TV.”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Current Driver: “Aric Almirola.”

Past Driver: “Carl Edwards.”

Up and Coming Driver: “Ross Chastain.”

Track: “Watkins Glen International.”

Sponsor: “GoBowling.com. I love the races at the Glen, and I love that they sponsor a car or two in addition to getting naming rights. We went bowling at a little place in Watkins Glen where Denny Hamlin had bowled, and it’s a great memory.”

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

“Do the crossword puzzle and listen to classical music.”

FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK JESSE FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2021! Look for Jesse on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.

Posted on April 2, 2021April 10, 2021 by Zack Albert

NASCAR’s feasibility test for wet-weather tires in a short-track setting went off as planned on a chilly Thursday at Martinsville Speedway, as drivers Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson made laps on the dampened paperclip layout.

Words such as “positive” and “promising” were among the descriptors used by NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation John Probst, as the one-day session drew to a close. The test, he said, wasn’t a tipping point toward a full-fledged yes or no on going forward with wet-weather tires on shorter oval tracks in certain conditions, but it was key to gathering data and feedback for further assessment.

“We’re in evaluation right now,” Probst said Thursday afternoon. “I would say that we could have come in here today and had a complete disaster and walked away from it saying, ‘no, this can’t be done.’ I think what we learned today was positive for sure. I think that we just need a little bit of time to go through all the data to figure out what are the next best steps. I would say that we continue the journey, and it looks positive for now. Today could have ended it, but it certainly didn’t do that. I feel like everyone involved felt like it was a very positive test, but it’s still fresh and certainly a very, very good first step.”

The test culminated what’s been a busy on-track week heading into an idle weekend on the racing calendar. The NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series held Monday races at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt layout after a weekend of rainy conditions, and officials arrived Tuesday at Martinsville for two days of testing for the Cup Series’ Next Gen car for 2022.

Thursday’s test, announced by the sanctioning body a day before, brought together Buescher’s Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford team and Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet outfit to try a number of different tire setups on damp pavement. NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said Wednesday that the test’s goal was to explore ways to get back to racing sooner and hastening the drying process in inclement weather.

Tyson Winter | NASCAR Digital Media

After an initial shakedown of the two cars in the dry, a water truck doused the .526-mile oval as crews switched among dry-weather slicks, existing wet-weather tires for road courses, and different track-specific compounds from Goodyear that were grooved to transfer moisture away.

“We had some Sonoma compounds and then actually some Martinsville compounds that were carved to the tread profile that we’d anticipate the 18-inch tire (for the Next Gen car) would be molded to,” Probst said. “So we tested different compounds and different tread layout. Like I’ve said, we still have a lot of data to go through, but the one thing that’s pretty clear is, either of the treads versus a slick seems to dry the track much quicker.

“We’ve got to go through the driver feedback and some of the friction data to make concrete conclusions with respect to the treads and compounds, but I would say on a whole, the rain tires that we have today worked pretty well. If we decide that this is viable option for us this year, that is the most likely candidate just because we have those and those are in existence today. For now, it’s looking pretty positive but I caveat it all with we’ve got a lot of data to look through.”

Besides the data and observations, Probst said competition officials will also weigh the input from the drivers and the teams before deciding the next steps.

“I don’t really have much wet-weather experience, so it was kind of cool to figure that out,” Larson said. “Honestly didn’t drive way different. You could still slow down good, turn good. Drive-off was easy to spin your tires, but other than that, it was kind of fun to chase the grip throughout the portions where it would start drying. So it was pretty fun and yeah, I think they’ve got a pretty good product that we could honestly start racing with right away if we needed to on these short tracks.”

Said Probst: “First off, thanks to those guys for making the time to do the test. We’re going into an off weekend, so certainly the guys at Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing and their crews, this is a week that a lot of guys look forward to getting some time away, and they were nice enough to work with us through this project. Very positive feedback from both drivers, and very similar feedback from both drivers. Could definitely feel the differences in what we put on the car for them. … I think in general they — like everyone else there — were pleasantly surprised with what can be done on a wet track.”

Those first-blush reviews prompt questions about the timeline for a potential implementation. The NASCAR national-series schedule is off this weekend, but the next two stops for the circuit are at Martinsville (April 9-10) and Richmond Raceway (April 17-18) — two short tracks where rain tires could potentially be used in the right weather scenarios.

MORE: Martinsville race info

Probst mentioned, though, the time needed for Goodyear to make enough rain tires for every team, in addition to the evaluation period for competition officials. How the rain tires would fit into race procedures — whether officials would mandate wet-weather starts or leave tire options up to teams — would also need to be determined.

“It’s certainly ambitious,” Probst said. “… I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but there’s a lot of data we need to go through. We need to not only look at can it be done, but what tracks lie ahead, and there’s a whole lot of different variables that get brought into the mix, including the weather. … I wouldn’t say no, but I certainly wouldn’t sign us up for it either — just yet.”

Cool (literally cold 🥶) test today @MartinsvilleSwy in the “wet.” This could open up some options in the future 👍🏼@GoodyearRacing @NASCAR

Proud of the @Hendrick5Team

— Cliff Daniels (@DanielsCliff) April 1, 2021

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Zack Albert

NASCAR’s Thursday test of wet-weather tires in damp short-track conditions may have drawn the most intrigue heading into an off weekend for the national-series schedule, but another test that preceded it at Martinsville Speedway also represented a crucial step forward.

Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota — the sport’s three original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) — each brought prototypes of their Next Gen models for the 2022 Cup Series to the track for the first time this week. Cars were fitted with wheel-force transducers for data collection at the closed test, which ran Tuesday and part of Wednesday until rain halted the second session at the .526-mile track.

“That was the first test that was not NASCAR-led. That was led by the OEMs so it’s sort of the transition, if you will, of the car, continuing out of the development phase and now into the implementation phase with the teams,” NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation John Probst said. “The OEMs are the last step in the process, and as far as them prepping the cars, the feedback was pretty positive. Obviously, there’s little things that we’re working on and we’ll continue to work on, but none of the cars missed any track time due to mechanical problems or anything. Some of the best feedback that we get is, ‘it’s a race car.’ ”

A mix of current and former drivers participated. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman represented Chevrolet, veteran David Ragan drove Ford’s prototype, and test driver and spotter Drew Herring was on hand for Toyota.

RELATED: 2021 NASCAR schedule | Martinsville news

All three Next Gen cars had the automaker-specific bodies that they’ll use in the model’s 2022 competition debut, but with busy, patterned wrap designs intended to obscure details of their appearance before their official public debut. Even with the car bodies somewhat cloaked by their paint schemes, Probst said he liked what he was able to see.

“With all of the branding now that the OEMs have put on those cars, we’re very happy with how that first test went,” Probst said. “Obviously the cars are heavily camouflaged right now, so it’s hard to see all of the detail that’s gone into it, but I think when the fans get the opportunity to see all of the production characteristics that have gone into these race cars, they’re going to be really happy with the end result.

“The first on-track test was a massive success from our perspective. The focus was on collecting data and making laps, and it wasn’t on trying to sort the car out. So I feel like from that perspective, it was a home run on our first test with the OEMs.”

It’s another part of the process for the Next Gen project, which was delayed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago. On-track testing resumed last August, and NASCAR officials announced in a preseason competition briefing Feb. 1 that the development stage of the car was complete.

What remains is more testing for Goodyear tire configurations, wheel-force data collection and organizational test sessions. A full unveiling of all three manufacturer-specific cars is set for late spring.

“I think it’s 100 percent still on schedule. We feel really comfortable with how the car’s performing and we continue to learn, but I would say now it’s smaller tweaks,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “The focus for the remainder of the year is getting more and more cars on track, more and more drivers out there getting a feel for how the car performs — not only on their own, but with some other cars out there on the track. That’ll be the focus as we continue throughout the year, and then parts and pieces will start to be distributed and we’ll be ready to roll for Daytona.”

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Marcus DiNitto

We talk frequently in this space about professional and public bettors. The former, often called “sharp” bettors or “wiseguys,” are a small group – about 1-2% of bettors are considered sharp. These are people who earn a living betting on sports and whose opinions bookmakers respect. A bet from a sharp often prompts a bookmaker to change the odds.

Most of us fall into the latter group – public, or recreational, bettors.

Pros and the public tend to take different approaches to betting. Pros play the long game, betting very small edges to grind out a profit over time. Public bettors like to swing for the fences, risking a small amount of money for the chance at a big score.

When it comes to NASCAR, wiseguys typically play matchups (one driver to beat another), while public bettors take their shots in the outright market (betting on a driver to win the race) and parlays (bets that pay off at high odds if you are able hit multiple legs without a loss).

“The matchups are probably 90% sharp money, and scalpers and arbitrage players. The odds to win is probably 80% public,” said Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management at SuperBook USA. “So for the most part, (we) try to keep (our) own on the matchups – break even, win a little, lose a little – and all (our NASCAR) money is made in odds to win, group matchups, things like that.”

Added Johnny Avello, Director of Race and Sportsbook Operations at DraftKings, “People look for plusses (odds that allow bettors to profit more than they risk), big plusses. Guys will look for these real long shots to win a race, like Daniel Suarez or Erik Jones at 150-to-1. I notice we take a lot of action on those drivers.”

This strategy paid off for a few lucky bettors early in the season, with underdogs Michael McDowell (80-1 to win the Daytona 500), Christopher Bell (80-1 at the Daytona Road Course), and William Byron (30-1 at Homestead-Miami) winning the first three races.

Blake Phillips, a sharp NASCAR bettor, has noticed the daily fantasy craze has led some public bettors into matchups.

“I do think that a lot of recreational players pay attention to the matchups, too,” Phillips said. “There’s a lot of recreational players that do DFS, so they follow a lot of DFS people on Twitter – and I wouldn’t necessarily consider these people to be winning DFS players, just more recreational guys – and a lot of these Twitter followers have moved into the matchups (as well as the) outright markets, so there’s at least exposure to that. So I think your average recreational NASCAR bettor is focusing mostly on outrights but may dabble in some matchups and props here and there.”

Zack White, a professional bettor who counts NASCAR among his specialties, sees new opportunities opening in the sport as legal betting expands in the U.S.

“For a while, matchups and outrights were the only ways to bet each week. Only a few books took (NASCAR) action, and most either ignored it or put it up with small limits of $100 or $500,” White said. “But as legal gambling has expanded, you see these top-five markets and top-10 markets (where you bet a driver to finish in the top five or top 10), and groups, manufacturer to win, top team, top driver out of his team — a lot more proposition-style stuff. We just never saw that before. You can bet on stage winners now. That was not even a thing a few years ago. So it’s definitely evolving, there’s more ways to get down on it, and there’s definitely opportunities that keep popping up.”

Group matchups – props asking bettors to pick one driver to finish ahead of two or three others – attract both pros and public bettors, although their approach is still different. If a bookmaker slips up and misprices these props, sharps will pounce. Public bettors, on the other hand, look to parlay such bets, requiring them to pick the winner of multiple groups.

Salmons said about 90% of the money on group props at the SuperBook is parlayed action. “You bet a three-teamer with those at +280, plus three dollars (+300), it’s a big payday with just a little amount bet if you can hit it. It’s easier said than done though, obviously,” he said.

To exemplify Salmons’ point, if you played a $100 “three-teamer” in last week’s Food City Dirt Race using Tyler Reddick at +305 (to win a group that included Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Stewart Friesen), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at +270 (vs. Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney) and Denny Hamlin +270 (vs. Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Mike Marlar), you would have collected $5,444.45 (plus your $100 investment).

But, as the Vegas veteran says, that’s easier said than done.

Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 by Zack Albert

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career in NASCAR’s top circuit began in 1999 with a five-race audition for the big leagues. One year later, his winning ways in that series found a launching pad.

NASCAR.com rekindles those 20-year-ago memories Thursday with a full-race replay of the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway from April 2, 2000. Earnhardt led a race-high 106 of the 334 laps for the first of his 26 victories in what is now called the NASCAR Cup Series.

Earnhardt outran runner-up Jeff Burton down the stretch and secured his first win in just his 12th Cup Series start. The feat touched off a special celebration in Victory Lane with his father, who owned his son’s No. 8 Chevrolet and came home seventh in his own iconic No. 3.

Earnhardt wound up winning twice in his first full season, adding a Richmond Raceway triumph later that spring. He finished second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year hunt to the promising Matt Kenseth, who broke through in the Coca-Cola 600 that May.

Check out the scenes from Texas Motor Speedway and watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. notch his first Cup Series victory with this Classic Race Replay of the 2000 DirecTV 500.

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Jerry Bonkowski

Since retiring nearly two years ago, Darrell Waltrip remains as popular as ever — but he’s also developed somewhat of an identity crisis.

“You should see my desk, I get more mail today than I’ve ever gotten in my life,” Waltrip cheerily told NASCAR.com recently.

Then he quickly adds with a woeful lament, “but here’s the thing: a lot of people don’t know I ever drove.”

That’s right, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history is known by many of today’s especially younger fans more for how he wielded a microphone than how he wheeled a race car.

“It’s amazing to me the number of people that think all I’ve ever done is TV, and I’m only famous for saying ‘Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let’s Go Racin’ Boys,’ ” Waltrip said.

For nearly 20 years, Waltrip was the most popular and recognizable member of the NASCAR on FOX broadcast team. His excitement, knowledge of and passion for NASCAR racing shined through over 300 Cup telecasts.

But he’s turned that relative anonymity as a racer to many fans into a teaching moment of sorts.

“(For every fan letter he responds to) I send a postcard with the results from when I drove,” Waltrip said. “When I was in that movie ‘Cars,’ I was Darrell Cartrip. A lot of young kids think I’m just some guy that was in a movie.

“So it’s kind of an opportunity for me to share a little bit, enlighten a little bit and brag a little bit. I get a chance today to do things that maybe I never got a chance to do before. But I enjoy it.

“There was a time when it would have annoyed me that someone would not know about my driving career. But in actuality, I think it’s a great opportunity for me to share what I’ve done in my career as a driver, my career as a broadcaster and TV, I’ve written books, I’ve traveled with and known presidents and governors, and our car business is going great, we sell more cars than we ever have. I’ve just done a lot of things.”

Indeed, the self-proclaimed “Old DW” has done so many things and worn so many hats — and helmets — in his illustrious career that he’s run out of things to still achieve in his life.

Ask him what’s on his bucket list and he chuckles, “There’s not any awards out there that I’m aware of that I haven’t won or at least participated in. So no, I don’t have a bucket list. My bucket’s empty.”

******************

Waltrip was 72 when he hung up his microphone for the final time in 2019. After nearly 50 years of racing and broadcasting, he retired to spend more time with his family.

But retirement isn’t all Waltrip thought it would be. He readily admits he misses the action that racing and being at race tracks brings.

“I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed being retired,” said Waltrip, who turned 74 last month. “But by the same token, when I look back and COVID-19 hit and the way they had to do TV last year — they did all the races from a studio in Charlotte — I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed that because I’m a see it, feel it, touch it, hear it, smell it kind of guy. I like to be at the track.

“So I guess the good Lord was looking out for me and the timing was probably better than I thought. I did go to a couple of races last year. I went to the Daytona 500 with President Trump and that was a fun day. And the only other race I went to was the All-Star Race in Bristol and I went with Governor (Bill) Lee, our governor of Tennessee. Other than that, I haven’t been to any tracks or any races, I watch them all on TV.”

But one thing is very clear when talking to Waltrip: you can take “old DW” out of the booth, but you can’t take the booth out of “old DW.” In a way, he’s still calling races today, only now it’s talking back to his TV rather than a camera.

“I do it all the time,” Waltrip said with a big laugh. “I’m constantly saying, ‘Tell ’em this, tell ’em that.’ Why? I’m a race fan at heart and if there’s a flat tire or a wreck, I’ll say, ‘Why do you want to sugarcoat it? Tell it like it is. Guy had a flat tire, he spun out. Guy ran into him, spun the other guy. Look at his nose, look at his rear quarter panel.’ I’m real guilty about that.

“I’m opinionated, always have been. I guess in a lot of ways, I’m a perfectionist. And so when you’re a perfectionist, you’re a miserable person all the time because nobody does it the way you would do it, or nobody says what you would say. But I guess that’s part of being a fan. I know so much. I was in the booth for almost 20 years and drove for 30 years before that and I’ve been around racing my whole life. And so I see things and I know things.”

Waltrip misses his old buddies, Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon, in the FOX booth. But he’s also enjoying Clint Bowyer’s first season as his heir apparent, even seeing some of himself in Bowyer.

“He’s kind of lit up the studio a little bit,” Waltrip said. “I enjoy listening to him and his antics.

“They needed him. I mean, Mike Joy is a pro, been doing this his whole life. He was always our leader. And Jeff (Gordon) needed somebody to kind of lean on and bring out some of the fun qualities he has. So I think Bowyer has done a great job of getting those guys excited.

“When I watch Bowyer, I kind of hold my breath because it always reminds me when somebody once told me you can say anything you want to on TV — once. I’m always waiting kind of for that one moment, but I think (Bowyer) actually was a lot like me: his career kind of stalled out and he wasn’t having any fun. And now he’s part of a team that you can go and enjoy yourself and have a good time without all the headaches and all the heartburn driving a race car brings. So I think overall, he’s done a really nice job. I’ve enjoyed seeing him in the booth.”

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The Owensboro, Kentucky, native had the kind of racing career most drivers only dream about with three NASCAR Cup Series championships, 84 wins (tied with Bobby Allison for fourth-most in Cup history), was elected into the third class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012, and drove for some of the sport’s most legendary names including Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt.

RELATED: Darrell Waltrip career stats

Either from behind the wheel of a race car or in front of a TV camera, Waltrip saw the sport evolve over nearly six decades, starting in 1972 when he made his first start in a Cup car.

But it was in the FOX booth that he saw the sport in a totally different light. He began preparing for a post-racing career in TV in his waning years in Cup, but nothing could have prepared Waltrip for the most bittersweet day of his life, one both joyous and tragic: February 18, 2001.

It was his first day in the FOX broadcast booth for a Cup race.

Driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Waltrip’s younger brother, Michael, earned his first career Cup win on the sport’s biggest stage, the Daytona 500. Darrell was beside himself in the booth, excitedly screaming and with tears of joy in his eyes as his sibling crossed the same start-finish line where Darrell had captured his only win in The Great American Race nearly 12 years earlier (Feb. 19, 1989).

But those joyful tears quickly turned to tears of profound sadness when, at about the very moment Michael took the checkered flag, several hundred feet away, Earnhardt, one of Waltrip’s closest friends and toughest rivals, was killed at the age of 49 in a crash.

“Where it started off, I mean, does it start off any better or worse? I don’t know which way you want to look at it,” Waltrip said. “Our first race (with FOX) was the Daytona 500. We started with our Super Bowl, so you don’t have any practice. You don’t really get a chance to warm up. You just had baptism by fire.

“(It was a) great race, exciting race to do, Larry (McReynolds), Mike (Joy) and I were hitting on all eight cylinders. We were covering it like we’d been doing it our whole life. And then the way it ended, my brother, who had never won a race, he wins in Dale’s car, Dale loses his life and away we go.

“That’s been 20 years ago, and it’s like it was just yesterday.”

******************

When the COVID-19 pandemic began last March, no one could have predicted how NASCAR would fare. But unlike other professional sports leagues that managed only partial schedules — if any at all, that is — NASCAR ran a full 36-race campaign. Sure, it took a number of changes that the sport, its leaders, teams, tracks, TV networks and fans all had to adapt to, but Waltrip gives high praise for what resulted.

“I thought the leadership did a nice job,” Waltrip said. “But you have to give credit to the teams, too. It doesn’t matter what the rules are. It doesn’t matter what kind of changes NASCAR makes. The teams have to make it happen.

“What I saw was a bunch of guys that are passionate about racing, just like I am. They were eager to get back to the track and get back to some sort of normalcy.

“And even though we haven’t had a lot of fans able to go to the race track, we’ve been able to pretty much maintain some sort of a normal show on Sunday for television, which is important.

“So I give NASCAR leadership an ‘A’ for getting it done like they did, but I give the teams an ‘A-plus’ for buying into what NASCAR wanted, the protocols, restrictions and mask mandates they had to go through to show up and be able to compete.

“Overall, we couldn’t ask for much more out of the situation that we were in last year. Pretty amazing that we were able to do what we did.”

Equally impressive, Waltrip added, was how the pandemic also prompted the sport to try new things that it otherwise might never have done.

“There were a lot of things we learned because of the pandemic,” Waltrip said. “We learned we don’t have to have practice. And I haven’t noticed any effect on the races or in the quality of the races because we don’t have practice. The races are actually better, in my opinion, without practice.”

“We were spending way too much time at-track, showing up on Thursday and being there Friday, Saturday, Sunday, go home and then right back to the track again the next week. So we learned how to condense the schedule without all the practice.”

Waltrip also likes how the schedule has evolved.

“I’ve always said that the thing that needed the most attention was the schedule, and again, because of the pandemic, NASCAR took a hard look at it,” he said.

“I think we’re going to learn a lot about who we are, and how we do business. And it was because we were forced into it. Had we not been forced into doing some of the things we’re doing, I’m not sure we’d ever have done them. But because we have been forced into it. I think we’re learning a lot and I think it’ll really help us down the road. So I’m anxious to see where we go in the years to come.”

The Darrell Waltrip file:
https://www.racing-reference.info/driver/Darrell_Waltrip

* Age: 74

* Hometown: Owensboro, Ky. Has lived in suburban Nashville for more than three decades.

* NASCAR Cup career: 809 starts, 84 wins (tied for fourth on the all-time Cup wins list), 390 top-10 finishes (nearly half of his overall starts), three Cup championships (1981, 1982 and 1985)

* NASCAR Xfinity career: 95 starts, 13 wins, 53 top-10 finishes (more than half of his overall starts)

* Best NASCAR season: 1981 (31 starts, 12 wins, 21 top-five, 25 top-10 finishes, earned his first of three Cup championships)

Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is writing a number of Where Are They Now? stories this year for NASCAR.com. Check out stories he’s already done on Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya. Also, follow Jerry on Twitter @JerryBonkowski, his @TheRacingBeat podcasts and his email newsletter, TheRacingBeat.substack.com.

Posted on March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 by Zack Albert

NASCAR competition officials said they plan to hold a test session Thursday at Martinsville Speedway to assess the feasibility of using rain tires on the circuit’s shorter ovals.

Plans for the test were announced Wednesday, with Kyle Larson scheduled to drive the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Chris Buescher set to drive the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford on a dampened track. NASCAR officials are currently at the .526-mile Virginia venue for testing of the Next Gen car for the 2022 Cup Series, with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota all putting their manufacturer-specific models on the track for the first time.

NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said the test’s intent is to explore a wet-weather tire’s short-track potential, with the goal of returning to racing sooner in inclement conditions. Martinsville is the shortest paved track on the Cup Series schedule; O’Donnell indicated that if the test yields encouraging results that competition officials could explore using the tire in damp conditions at flatter tracks up to approximately 1 mile in length, such as Phoenix and New Hampshire.

“I think the overall goal is anything we can do to speed up the drying process, regardless of the technology, to allow us to get back to racing more quickly is a benefit to the fans,” O’Donnell said. “We’re always trying to innovate, and you saw that with what we’ve done around the track-drying system and that’s worked out well. We’ve always looked at what’s the next iteration. If you’ve looked at what the teams have been able to do with more road racing coming into the fold, the idea of short tracks and could we work with Goodyear to find a tire that would allow us to get back to racing sooner under wet-weather conditions.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Rain tires made their national-series competition debut in 2008 during an Xfinity Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The NASCAR Cup Series’ first use of rain tires during race conditions came just last season, during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval event in October.

Both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series were affected by rain that weekend, but the performance of Goodyear’s wet-weather tires on the oval portions of the Roval course prompted a conversation between O’Donnell and NASCAR CEO Jim France, “just thinking about the what-ifs and how do we get back to racing, and Martinsville became that focus for us,” O’Donnell recalls. “We had a conversation with Goodyear and they’re on board as well, so I think that’s why the timing just lined up for us of let’s try to innovate, let’s try this and see what we can learn.”

After an initial shakedown of the two cars Thursday, test organizers plan to wet the track to gauge traction levels, using feedback from Buescher and Larson to evaluate the performance of the tire, which has different characteristics than the current rain tire for road courses. In a twist of scheduling fate, Wednesday’s weather forecast calls for significant rainfall at Martinsville with clearing on Thursday’s test date. Rather than test during a Wednesday downpour, however, competition officials opted to stick with Thursday to test the tires under controlled conditions.

“I think at this point, we’re not talking about if it’s actually raining,” O’Donnell said. “It’s more so, can we get back more quickly than the track being completely dry, which is what we require now. That’s part of the test, looking at where’s the limit, where we would feel comfortable for the drivers. We want this to be safe, so that will be part of this test — talking to the drivers, what are they comfortable with — then obviously talking to Goodyear and (director of racing) Greg Stucker and his team about how they feel and how the tire performs, what if any tweaks we could make to that tire coming out of Martinsville, so there’s a lot that we’re hoping to learn here in terms of grip levels. Each track is unique, so this is something we’ll have to look at for multiple venues.”

The 2021 NASCAR schedule is idle this weekend for the Easter holiday, then resumes next weekend at Martinsville with the Whelen Modified Tour, Xfinity Series and Cup Series in action April 8-10. Depending on the outcome of the test, Thursday’s trial run prompts the question of how soon an oval-track rain tire could be made available for racing — at Martinsville or elsewhere.

“Too early to tell, but I would say if this worked and we felt comfortable with it — and that would be both Goodyear and reaction from the drivers and teams — this is something we would look to implement as quickly as we could,” O’Donnell said. “We all know that if we can deliver a race on time or shorten those delays, that’s a benefit to the entire industry.”

It’s worth acknowledging that the date of the test coincides with the first day of April, when pranks and hoaxes tend to raise skepticism levels. O’Donnell has some reassurance that the idea behind the test isn’t an elaborate April Fools’ ruse.

“It just happens to fall on April Fools’ Day. You can’t make that up,” O’Donnell says with a laugh. “But no, this is a real thing and a real test, and we’ll be happy to report back April 2nd on how it went.”

NASCAR officials have tested wet-weather tires before at Martinsville, with Terry Labonte making a handful of laps in another Hendrick No. 5 in September 1995. That short session came just one month after race officials first put rain tires to the test on the road course at Watkins Glen International, with fellow Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin taking turns with a set of treaded Goodyears.

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Staff Report

NASCAR restored the membership of Josh Reaume and Mike Wallace on Wednesday, saying that each driver had “successfully completed the terms and conditions mandated for reinstatement.”

Wallace was issued an indefinite suspension Sept. 10, and Reaume was suspended Nov. 10. Both drivers were penalized for social-media posts that violated member conduct guidelines in the NASCAR Rule Book (Sections 12.1, 12.8 and 12.8.1.e).

The guidelines of Section 12.8.1.e specifically cover “public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”

Wallace’s behavioral penalty was upheld after two appeals — the first with the National Motorsports Appeal Panel on Sept. 23 and the final with the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer on Oct. 7. The 62-year-old driver has more than 100 starts in each of the three NASCAR national tours, the most recent of which came last season in the Xfinity Series.

Reaume made 12 Camping World Truck Series starts and two Xfinity Series appearances last season. His Reaume Brothers Racing team has entered two trucks — the Nos. 33 and 34 Chevrolets — for various drivers in each of the series’ five races this year.