Waltrip Gambles And Victory Is His — At Last
Reprinted February 23, 1989 edition of Grand National Scene
By Steve Waid

For years, all that Darrell Waltrip has been dealt by Fate in NASCAR Winston Cup races at Daytona International Speedway has been a backhand to the face.

But in this year’s Daytona 500, he got a warm embrace. For once, luck was with him and had it not been, he likely would not have emerged as the winner of the classic stock car race for the first time in his long and illustrious career.

Waltrip won a nerve-wracking gamble over fuel consumption and as a result drove — make that carefully drove — his Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet to a 7.64-second victory over powerful Ken Schrader. In 85 starts on the 2.5-mile Daytona track, the 42-year-old Waltrip now has 14 wins. But it wasn’t until this year that he got his first one in Winston Cup competition. Even when armed with the fastest car, some unfortunate circumstance robbed him of victory.

Never doubt the strength of Waltrip’s desire to win the Daytona 500.

“I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!” the ecstatic, nearly-delirious Waltrip yelled in victory lane. “Don’t lie to me, this is Daytona isn’t it? I’m not dreaming, am I? Thank God!”

He can also thank an efficient fuel system, some precise gas mileage calculations and his own shrewd driving as well. Without them, Waltrip might not have been able to do much more than watch Schrader and Dale Earnhardt clash for the victory. Instead, he covered 132.5 miles of racing on 22 gallons of gas.

While Waltrip had his moments during early portions of the race, Schrader was living up to his billing as the driver with the strongest car in the field. He led 114 of the race’s 200 laps and, as the race began to enter its closing stages following the last caution period of the day, he and Earnhardt were pulling away from their rivals.

The seventh and final caution began on lap 146 after Phil Barkdoll’s Oldsmobile made contact with Rick Wilson’s Oldsmobile on the backstretch and slid into the infield, coming to rest on its right side.

The remainder of the field darted into the pits. On lap 147, Waltrip stopped for tires and fuel. He didn’t know it at the time, but it would be his final stop.

On the restart with 51 laps remaining, Rick Mast, who was fashioning a stellar performance in his first Winston Cup race with the Mach One team and crew chief Travis Carter, was in the lead. Six laps later, Schrader and Earnhardt went by and slowly but surely began to pull away.

By lap 185, they were 7.2 seconds ahead of Mast, with Waltrip further in arrears. But fuel was running short, and nearly all in attendance figured their final stops for a splash of gas would be a big factor in the outcome. They were, but not in the way everyone expected.

On lap 190, Schrader and Earnhardt made their stops. Earnhardt’s was 2.5 seconds quicker and he was out first. However, Waltrip opted to stay out on the track and eventually fell into second place behind Alan Kulwicki, who also kept his Zerex Ford off pit road.

“I radioed to Jeff (Hammond, crew chief) that I could make it,” said Waltrip, whose victory was worth $184,900. “I said, ‘Jeff, I can make it! I promise you, I can make it!’”

“I thought maybe we could catch Kenny and Dale, but I saw there wasn’t any way we were going to do it,” said Hammond. “I asked Darrell what he was thinking and he said, ‘Let’s do it.’ after that, we went to plan B. It was ease up on that throttle and draft, draft, draft. We just kept hoping and praying.”

On lap 197, Kulwicki surrendered his lead to Waltrip in the second turn when a right-front tire began going down. It was unfortunate for Kulwicki, who maintained he still had gas in his tank.

Once in the lead, Waltrip followed his strategy and drafted off slower cars, such as those of Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace and Terry Labonte. At one point, he held a 9.08-second lead over Schrader and Earnhardt. Schrader had passed Earnhardt’s GM Goodwrench Chevrolet on lap 195 to inherit second place.

Waltrip’s lead dwindled, but as he went into the third turn on the last lap, it was clear it was still enough for him to win even if he did run out of fuel.

“I think with two laps to go, the fuel pressure bottomed out twice, but then it came back up again,” said Waltrip. “I said on the radio that it was gone, but it picked back up again and I could go on. I don’t know what happened. Somehow, somebody gave us some fuel.

“After Kulwicki left, I knew I was the next to go. I just didn’t know how many more laps I could go. When I came by to take the white flag, I was drafting off Terry. I thought I could make it then. The pressure was seven pounds and it was fine. See, when our cars run out of gas, they just don’t come to a stop, like you’ve dropped an anchor. They cough, sputter and spit.

“So I was figuring I had enough to carry me around. Then when I got into the third turn, I knew I had it. But I tell you, I did a lot of praying.”

Schrader, who had won the pole, the Busch Clash and a 125-mile qualifying race during Speed Weeks, earned $182,700 for his second-place finish. The figure included a $10,000 bonus for leading at the halfway mark.

“We had no choice, we had to stop for fuel,” said Schrader. “But when I saw Darrell legging it, I knew we were in trouble. When there were only three laps to go, he had to go for it. That’s all he could do.”

“I sure didn’t think Darrell would make it,” Earnhardt said. “Me, I had to follow in the draft. I couldn’t run up front.”

Following Earnhardt in fourth place was Geoff Bodine, which meant that three Hendrick Chevrolets — those of Waltrip, Schrader and Bodine — took three of the top four finishing positions. Earnhardt’s finish gave Chevrolet a sweep of the top four spots.

Phil Parsons was fifth in a Leo Jackson-owned Oldsmobile while sixth place went to Mast, a Champion/Sears Rookie of the Year candidate. Kulwicki dropped to seventh place, eighth place went to Rick Wilson in an Oldsmobile, ninth to Terry Labonte in a Ford and Eddie Bierschwale was credited with 10th place, although Kyle Petty drove in his place for much of the race.

Accidents accounted for all of the caution flags. The first was thrown just five laps into the race, when Neil Bonnett’s Ford suddenly erupted in flames in the first turn after a broken fuel line dumped gas into its interior. Bonnett was not injured.

On lap 73, seven cars were involved in an accident in the second turn when Jody Ridley, driving in relief of the injured Bill Elliott, suddenly broke loose and hit the second-turn wall. Several cars scattered behind him and involved were Dale Jarrett, Chad Little, Lake Speed, Mike Alexander, Rodney Combs and Labonte. All walked away from the infield medical center except for Combs, who was taken to Halifax Medical Center and released after a CAT scan proved negative.

Also hampered by accidents, yet able to continue racing, were Davey Allison, Ronnie Sanders and Bobby Hillin. Charlie Baker, Mark Martin and Barkdoll were eliminated in mishaps.

A.J. Foyt led four laps but retired with a broken shock mount in his Oldsmobile after 41 laps. Wallace suffered a broken wheel bearing and lost four laps in repairs. He finished 18th, three laps off the pace.

Waltrip was one of 15 drivers to swap the lead 30 times. That tied with Daytona 500 record set in 1974. He won with an average speed of 148.466 mph.

The victory was the 74th of Waltrip’s career. There is no doubt it is the sweetest.

“There is nothing like winning the Winston Cup championship,” said the three-time champ. “There’s nothing like coming off the ninth turn at Riverside, Calif., and seeing them hold up a sign that says you are the champion.

“But for one single race, there is absolutely nothing like this.”

See Also:

1989 Daytona 500 Photo Gallery (coming soon)