Michael Waltrip to make 300th consecutive Winston Cup start.
McLean Marketing, Doug Cox, (704) 662-0111
Bristol, TN
Michael Waltrip is scheduled to make his 300th
consecutive Winston Cup start Sunday, in the Food City 500 at Bristol
International Raceway.
The milestone would put Waltrip, an 11-year veteran in his first year
as driver of the Wood Brother's CITGO Ford, in the elite company of Terry
Labonte, Dale Earnhardt and four other active drivers who have streaks of 300
or more consecutive starts intact.
"It's a real accomplishment," says Waltrip, 32. "I've had a couple of
close calls and used a few provisional starts over the past 10 years, but I've
been fortunate to make all the races. I hope to add another 300 starts. It
would be fitting to celebrate Sunday with my first Winston Cup victory."
Waltrip's streak began obscurely and inauspiciously at the old Richmond
(VA) Fairgrounds Raceway on February 23, 1986. The big-league rookie and
younger brother of three-time champion Darrell Waltrip, started 21st in a
Pontiac owned by Dick Bahre at the .542-mile track and retired after 313 of the
400 laps with a blown head gasket, finishing 25th.
That was the race, Waltrip recalls, in which his brother and two other
lead-lap cars were taken out of contention in a controversial late wreck with
Earnhardt, enabling his good friend Kyle Petty to maneuver his Wood Brothers
Ford through the carnage to his first Winston Cup victory.
On two occasions, Waltrip's streak seemed jeopardized by accidents.
Ironically, at Bristol in April of '90, before a hushed crowd that feared the
worst, Waltrip crawled unscathed from a pile of sheetmetal that had been his
Busch Grand National car. "I was ready to go the next morning and drove the
entire Winston Cup race," says Waltrip, who was hospitalized overnight. "I was
glad to get back to the track to see everyone (and for them to see him)."
In '92, Waltrip was banged up in a crash at Michigan International
Speedway and hospitalized, but was able to start the race the next day.
In compiling his streak, Waltrip, who has 304 Winston Cup starts dating
to 1985, made 57 consecutive starts over two seasons for Bahre, founder of
Bahari Racing, and 237 straight for owner Chuck Rider, before joining the Wood
Brothers and CITGO this season.
Richard Petty holds the record for consecutive Winston Cup starts at
513, set from November 14, 1971 through March 19, 1989. Terry Labonte, with
511, can set a new standard with starts Sunday, April 14 at North Wilkesboro
and April 21 at Martinsville.
Among other active drivers going into the Food City 500, Earnhardt has
488 consecutive starts, Ricky Rudd 449, Bill Elliott 391, Rusty Wallace 358 and
Ken Schrader 328. An impressive streak by Darrell Waltrip ended at 431.
Former drivers Bobby Allison and Benny Parsons had streaks snapped at 374 and
321, respectively.
