| | Associated Press
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Darrell Waltrip's farewell tour will
continue for sure at the Southern 500.
Darlington Raceway officials said the former Winston Cup
champion, whose last victory was the 1992 Southern 500, has earned
a provisional start that will put him in Sunday's field if he
qualifies in time trials or not.
"It's a little sweet and sour," Darlington Raceway President
Jim Hunter said. "He's been such a great competitor and ambassador
for the sport, but he's not running well. It's been a struggle."
Waltrip, who with 84 career victories is making his final tour
of the Winston Cup circuit, has not always had the goodbye season
he wanted.
There have been highlights like the front-row qualifying run at
the Brickyard earlier this month that had the Indianapolis crowd up
on its feet and DW dancing in the infield. And low points like his
failure to qualify at Michigan and his 42nd-place finish last week
at Bristol, where he has won a record 12 times.
Maybe there's another magic Darlington moment ahead.
"Darlington is one of my favorite places," Waltrip says. "I
always look forward to going there. All of the history, and the
track's reputation make it one of the best."
And for Waltrip, one of the most fun.
He was a loose-lipped, hotshot youngster who had won only three
times before taking the Rebel 500 in the spring of 1977.
"I'll tell you what one win can do for you," Waltrip says.
"The next week, I won again. Two weeks after that, I won again. I
had never won one before, but after I won here, I won six more that
year."
Waltrip remembers a last-lap duel with King Richard Petty at the
1979 Rebel, won by DW, that he said he thought helped him gain
Petty's respect.
But Darlington wasn't only about success for Waltrip. Cale
Yarborough tagged him with the nickname "Jaws" at the racetrack
for his brash comments. In the 1979 Southern 500, Waltrip had
lapped the field and kept on charging despite crew chief Buddy
Parrott begging him to slow down and take care with the track's
tricky layout.
"Next thing I knew, I had hit the wall twice within 10 laps and
(David) Pearson ended up winning," Waltrip said.
He capped his career in 1992 with the Southern 500 title,
winning the rain-shortened race. Hunter says he can still see
Waltrip doing a dance in the pits for the rain to fall and give him
the victory.
"He is one of the sport's great personalities," Hunter said.
He's still outspoken. In April at Martinsville, Va., Waltrip
complained about NASCAR's second-round qualifying format.
Waltrip, 53, is leaving the track for the broadcast booth next
year. "He'll bring that same attitude and style to TV," Hunter
said. "It'll be great for the sport."
Nashville songwriter Jimmy Travis, who has composed three tunes
about Darlington Raceway, is working on a farewell song to Waltrip
that will be played at a Union 76-Darlington Record Club dinner
Friday night.
Then comes a final chance at Darlington. But Waltrip says he
feels his win here eight years ago fulfilled a lifelong dream. "If
I hadn't gotten that Southern 500 win, I would have felt like a
part of me was missing," he said.
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