Darrell Waltrip on Charlotte’s 600-mile race, his hero and where NASCAR should go next

It’s sometime in the 1980s, the morning of another rendition of the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Darrell Waltrip is out on the oval before everyone else, running his own race.

He’s not yet in a car, though.

The former high school track star-turned-one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all-time is jogging around the 1.5-mile oval, finishing up his prerace routine.

“I might run two or three laps around the track and just kind of reminisce about what happened the year before,” Waltrip told The Charlotte Observer earlier this week. “And then I’d go into the coach, take a shower and then get ready to go to practice.”

Waltrip would do that most places he’d go, he said. But Charlotte was one of his favorite places to do so. It makes sense; he had plenty of great memories to reminisce on there.

Waltrip, the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver with 84 wins and three Cup championships to his name, holds the record for the most victories of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 600-mile race with five. That race — formerly the World 600, now the Coca-Cola 600 — still excites Waltrip.

Ahead of the 2024 running of the Coca-Cola 600, the ultimate conqueror of NASCAR’s longest race talked with The Observer’s Alex Zietlow about a variety of topics — from what made him so good at Charlotte, to Bruton Smith (who Waltrip calls a “hero”), to where NASCAR could go next and more.

Here’s the interview, edited for clarity and brevity.

How was Darrell Waltrip so good at NASCAR’s longest race?

Zietlow: I know you’ve probably answered this question about 100 times, but let’s start here: Five wins in the 600-mile race. What made you so good in this race?

Waltrip: Well, they keep shortening the races. And I say, ‘No no no, make them longer!’ I like that 600-mile race. I usually would not show what I had until you get into that last 100 miles of it. I won it five times. But I almost won it six. Benny Parson beat me by just a little bit (in 1980). That was trying to be three in a row. Anyway, he beat me that day. But I love that race. I love 600 miles. I think it’s the perfect race for that track.

AZ: Why’d you only show what you had those last 100 miles?

DW: It’s a 400-lap race, so you have plenty of time. So you just want to stay in contention. You don’t wanna get a lap down or anything like that. So you just kind of hang around and wait til it’s time to go. And when it’s time to go, you step on the gas and you go.

AZ: Well you simplify that strategy like it’s nothing. But clearly you figured something out that no one else did.

DW: I think a couple things. The engines were fragile back in those days. You couldn’t turn the RPM like you do today, so you had to have the right gear in the car. You had to have the right set-up in the car, so it’ll handle well. And then you had to have a great (team). And I had that all going for me at one time, so it just worked out. That was my favorite track. I ran my first I think in (1973), I went and ran over there in that race, in the fall race, and I think I finished sixth or seventh. So I’ve always liked that track.

Bruton Smith, and Marcus (Smith) — they did a great job promoting a race. It’s a fun track to go to, and it’s right in your own backyard, so it’s easy to get to, too.

AZ: You say it’s your favorite racetrack. I was going to ask about that. I was thinking maybe Bristol would be your favorite.

DW: Well I may not have a “favorite.” (Laughs.) Anywhere I’ve won a lot. Obviously, Bristol, got 12 wins there. Obviously that’s a great short-track. But I think when it comes to the superspeedways, I like Charlotte the best.

AZ: I imagine choosing your favorite 600-mile race win is like choosing your favorite child. But is there a favorite that sticks out?

DW: Did I win that race in 1989?

AZ: Yep. Your last one.

DW: Well the week before was the All-Star Race, and Rusty Wallace had spun me out coming to get the white flag. And so I was determined to get back over there and avenge that race, making sure I won that one. So that’s probably my favorite race of all. 1989.

Running in Charlotte (in more ways than one)

One of the reasons Waltrip didn’t mind the extra 100 miles at Charlotte was because of the great shape he was in. He ran the 880 in high school and said he was “undefeated for most of my career.” Waltrip was famously a voracious runner; he ran the Boston Marathon in 2000.

AZ: So I know you ran in high school. Did you run during the racing season regularly?

DW: I ran the tracks. A lot of the tracks, I would get up in the morning and run around the track, oh, four or five times, just trying to stay in as good of shape as I could. I don’t think a lot of drivers were in that great of shape. I mean, I think they were alright for 400, 500 miles. But you had to be in excellent condition to run that extra 100 miles.

AZ: Wait, so you’d be out there the morning before a race, running around, say, the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval?

DW: Oh yeah. I might run two or three laps around the track, and just kind of reminisce about what happened the year before, or the race before, and then go into the coach, take a shower, and then get ready to go practice.

AZ: Even at Daytona and Talladega?

DW: Oh yeah. I might only run one lap at Talladega or Daytona, but yeah, I did a lot of running when I was younger.

Bruton Smith was a ‘hero’ for Darrell Waltrip

AZ: You received the Bruton Smith Trophy in 2019. What made him so special to you?

DW: First of all, he was a hero of mine because he tried to drive, and then his mother told him, ‘You’re not a driver. If you love this sport then you need to figure out how to (impact it) another way.’ So then he became a promoter. And he bought the Charlotte Motor Speedway, went broke, left town, came back, bought it back. He had a racing mind. And he was just that kind of guy. He and I were friends from the very beginning. I met him ‘72, ‘73, ‘74 — somewhere back in there. And we were friends the whole time. He would call me and ask me my opinion about something. I just enjoyed his company.

AZ: His legacy is interwoven with Charlotte Motor Speedway. It always will be, I think.

DW: I agree. He just had a vision: whether it was Bristol or Sonoma or Texas — wherever it was — it didn’t matter, he just had a vision of what it should it be like, look like. And then he’d put people in place to make that happen. And his son is the same way. Marcus is a great guy; he’s following in his dad’s footsteps. He’s doing a great job with Wilkesboro now, Charlotte and all the tracks they have. So he’s doing a great job.

Being in the NASCAR booth and where it can go next

AZ: Funny you mention North Wilkesboro, I was going to ask you: The last time we heard you in a booth was at North Wilkesboro for the All-Star Race last year, right?

DW: That’s right. I did that race for FOX last year.

AZ: What was that like?

DW: It brought back a lot a good memories. I had a great driving career. I had a great TV career. And I quit TV probably a little too soon. I could’ve hung around a little bit longer. But anyway, it’s just nice to get back to a track where you’ve had success. And see how other people do, and see if they can live up to my expectations. (Laughs.)

AZ: I remember you brought so much life into the booth. I will say, though, you didn’t say, ‘Boogity boogity boogity, let’s go racing boys!’ You didn’t say that.

DW: Well, you know that’s a controversial thing. A lot of people like it, a lot of people hate it. I think when you don’t hear it, you miss it. But that was just something that I decided to do, and it worked out pretty well for me for quite a while. ... Those times over there, were very special to me. Very special.

AZ: So I asked you about North Wilkesboro. Obviously that was just such a moment of revival, of resurrection, last year. They sustained it this year. They also have it for 2025. Naturally, after the success of North Wilkesboro, people are going to ask or think, “What’s next? Where might NASCAR go next?” And there are some racetracks around here like the Nashville Fairgrounds that come to mind. Or maybe Rockingham, a place where you won four races. Didn’t you clinch a championship there, too?

DW: Oh gee, I don’t know.

AZ: I can look that up.

DW: You better look that one up, yeah. (Yes, he clinched a championship there in 1981, his first title, following four straight race wins.)

AZ: Is there a racetrack you’d like to see NASCAR go to next?

DW: Oh yeah. I’d love to see it come to Nashville. Marcus and Jerry Caldwell are working really hard. They’ve been working the last three or four years trying to get something put together to make Nashville exactly like Wilkesboro, where it needs to be repaved, needs a lot of work done on it. But there are people who can get it done. I think they’re real close. I haven’t stayed in touch as much with them as I should have probably, but I think they’re real close, and if that happens, I think it’s the revival of the short-tracks. Short tracks were always so great. Richmond. Martinsville. Bristol. Nashville. Those were all great races with a lot of action and cars close together and fans packed in the grandstands. It was a great show.

AZ: Well that’s a lot different than the Charlotte’s Coke 600. Maybe you just liked every race, all tracks. (Laughs.)

DW: Jake Elder was my crew chief. And (Charlotte) was one of my favorite tracks. And I think the first time I ever went there, I think I finished sixth or seventh rookie race. And I just liked it. I liked the way it felt. I liked the layout. I just liked that track a lot. And I just thrived there because of that.