MICHAEL WALTRIP ON DW’S HALL OF FAME ELECTION
Michael Waltrip: “I know Darrell, and I know his story. I know how he started. He was about 10 years old driving by a go-kart race in a parking lot in Owensboro, Kentucky . He was just mesmerized. It was all he could think about. He somehow talked my dad into buying a go-kart. He said he would mow yards to pay for the go-kart. My dad bought that story and then bought Darrell the go-kart. I don’t think many yards got mowed, but that was the start to the road that led Darrell to where he is today, the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“I guess this means more to me than maybe it does to a lot of people, because I know the road that he traveled to get to the Hall of Fame. I’m so happy for him. We all have role models especially as kids, and sometimes those role models let us down. Darrell has always been my role model and my hero ever since I was a little boy, and he’s never let me down. To me, he has been in the Hall of Fame for a long time.
“I told him that being a future Hall of Famer makes him sound younger, now it’s official he is a Hall of Famer. At least he is still young at heart.”
