Waltrip relives gut-wrenching days after Earnhardt’s death: “I couldn't..."

Talking on the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour podcast, 2001 Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip discussed the emotions he carried after he won the legendary race, the same race NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt sadly lost his life. Admitting that the following race was "hard", he remembered the days following the passing of his mentor. 

Driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., the day started positively for the driver who was out to take the win, but quickly became the "worst day of my life," after the race turned bad. On the final lap of the race, Waltrip led Earnhardt Jr. as Earnhardt Sr. was following in third. Defending his two leading cars, Earnhardt Sr clashed with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader before hitting the outside wall at high speed. 

Ty Norris, the then vice president of DEI, said at the time:

"Dale Sr. was just trying to hold everybody else off so the three of them could race for the win at the end. A lot of people have said Dale spent the entire race blocking. It certainly looked that way, but he just wanted to get the end of the last lap where the three of them could compete for the win."

The crash saw the driver taken to Halifax Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Waltrip, having no idea on what was happening, celebrated in Victory Lane at the time. In fact, it was one whole hour before he was told about the outcome of the crash.

NASCAR continued its season after the Daytona 500, with the circus arriving at Rockingham in North Carolina a week later. According to Waltrip, the race almost didn't go ahead.

“Yeah, I thought there was - in my mind - there was going to be indecision," he told Harvick. "Do we go to Rockingham or do we sit it out in honour? And we decided, collectively as a group - and certainly correctly - Dale would be pissed if we didn’t go to Rockingham.”

Dale Earnhardt leads the field

Photo by: Sutton Images

This race would turn out to be difficult for the driver, who was unsurprisingly affected by the passing of his good friend.

"The press conference, I thought worked good, because I was able to share that story and tell people that I believe that Dale was in a better place. And that's how I moved forward," he said. "Now, we had tested down there and ran really good in the test.

"And getting in the race car and getting out there, that was hard. That was probably the hardest part for me. Not the press conference, but just going to work. That should be what your - that should be what your escape is. You pull that helmet on, and you put the problems of the world behind you, and you just go race.

"In my life, that's pretty much - in my racing life - that's pretty much what it was. But that weekend, it just - it just didn’t work. I didn’t really - I didn’t feel like being there when it came time to race. And I couldn’t get my energy around this wonderful opportunity, because it felt just so different than it had the months leading up."

Waltrip admitted that he hadn't been in a team like DEI before. The mindset was different, giving him great excitement for the season. This, as you can imagine, didn't last. 

"We had a preseason - or pre-race meeting in Daytona, explaining to me and Dale Jr. how we were going to win the race. And I’m like, 'Holy crap, no wonder I haven’t done very good so far. I haven’t ever had all this before.'

"And I had all that, and I took the checkered flag in the 500, and I’m like, yes, yes, this is perfect. And then, we would find out it was far from it.

"And so when I got to Rockingham, it just was - it just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t - I think I finished 14th or 15th. And Park won, which was awesome. I got to high five him on the front straightaway. But for me, it was just a tough - and I think for Dale Jr., too - it was just a tough weekend."