Darrell Waltrip Motorsports

Darrell Waltrip has owned race cars for most of his career, including the machine he drove to his first Winston Cup victory in 1974. In 1979, Waltrip incorporated DarWal as his racing business. Seventeen years later, it has evolved into Darrell Waltrip Motorsports with its own in-house engine program for his Winston Cup and NASCAR Craftsman truck teams. Waltrip acknowledges the biggest expansion came when the Winston Cup team was formed in late 1990 and debuted in 1991 with sponsorship from Western Auto.

Shortly after his first victory, Waltrip joined the DiGard Racing team where he stayed through the 1980 season. Twenty-six of Waltrip's 84 Winston Cup victories came with the DiGard operation.

In 1981, Waltrip joined forces with Junior Johnson. He spent six very successful seasons with the former driver, who is among the pioneers of the sport. The Waltrip/Johnson combination yielded 43 victories before Waltrip moved to Rick Hendrick's stable in 1987. Waltrip won nine races, including the 1989 Daytona 500, in Hendrick's cars.

With Hendrick's assistance, Waltrip assembled the pieces of his current Darrell Waltrip Motorsports operation, now backed by Winston Auto's Parts America.

Waltrip's 33,000-square-foot Winston Cup race shop and 6,000-square-foot Craftsman truck race shop are located in the shadow of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Harrisburg, N.C.

Even during the years Waltrip drive for other Winston Cup car owners, the DarWal operation was active, fielding a variety of short-track cars and a NASCAR Busch Grand National entry in selected races. However, at the conclusion of the 1993 season, Waltrip opted to sell the Grand National and short-track portions of the corporation in order to concentrate on his Winston Cup effort.

In his sixth year as an owner/driver, Waltrip continues to adapt to his position and responsibilities of trying to put the right pieces in place to get back to the winner's circle. After a series of internal re-organizations, he believes that he now has the right components to field a successful team in NASCAR's premier division.

"Putting a winning team together is like a puzzle," Waltrip said. "Finding the right pieces isn't easy, and sometimes the pieces you think should fit, don't. That's difficult because I'm not only one of the pieces, I'm also responsible for putting them together. I accept that and have surrounded myself with people like Waddell Wilson (general manager) and Jeff Hammond (crew chief) who know what it takes to win. Combine that with my experience and the support from Western Auto's Parts America and we have the foundation for a winning team - whether I'm wearing my driver's helmet or my owner's hat."