I know a lot of people over the last few years have really dogged Michael Waltrip about his inability to perform on the track. True, Michael was never the most successful driver and has not even been a remote threat since leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. But watching today while Martin Truex, Jr. was announced to take the #56 ride while Michael settles into semi-retirement, I began to truly appreciate what Waltrip has done over the last five years.
We have seen many of the sport's best drivers - Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, and Bill Elliott - struggle as recently as the mid-1990s to accomplish their normal level of success. Ten years later, the cost of doing business has greatly escalated and it seems nearly impossible that an owner-driver will ever win another major championship (with the possible exclusion of Tony Stewart, who in all honesty isn't as involved daily with his team as the afore-mentioned names are).
But not only did Waltrip start a three-car team in 2007 from scratch, but look at what else Waltrip has had on his plate.
- Being a father.
- Being the owner of a three-car team.
- TV Contract with SPEED.
- NASCAR Advocate.
- One of the most active sponsorship/endorsement circuits.
- Being one of the biggest fundraisers for the Victory Junction Gang and NASCAR Foundation
The amount of mental and psychical concentration is takes to do these duties is astounding. One might comment that none of this should matter once a driver climbs into a race car; after all, we've seen drivers with family deaths or severe illness/injury perform well in many races. But to write off the tolls of his day-to-day activities, especially over a grueling 36-race season, is pure nonsense. I am not in a position to conjecture what Michael's condition is like, but I bet money that he isn't getting as much sleep or relaxation time as most of the drivers in the garage.
Yes, Michael still probably hasn't performed as well as he could have the last few years and much like his brother, Darrell, should probably have been riding off into retirement two or three years ago. But when we examine his career and impact in five or ten years, I hope we can view these final frustrating years as a driver as an overreached man highly committed to both his team and sport instead of simply being an also-ran. After all, he is a two-time Daytona 500 champion,