12 Questions with Michael Waltrip
Our series of NASCAR driver interviews continues this week with Michael Waltrip, who finished 16th at Talladega Superspeedway last week and is currently competing on Dancing with the Stars.
Q: When you were on a long green-flag run and not racing around anyone, what did you think about?
A: To me, it never changed. It's like, it's such a hard job. You're racing the leader. So even if you don't see him, you're racing him – wherever he's at. Because if you're not racing him, he's going to be on your bumper in a minute and you're going to be faced with going a lap down.
So to me, it was always just about totally trying your hardest to get every inch, hit every turn the best you can. There was never a time when I thought, "There's nobody around me to race." I was always racing a car – even if I couldn't see him.
That's when your spotter really can help with coaching. Every athlete needs coaches, and your spotter can tell you, "The leader is running high" or "the leader is running low" or "that looked better."
I think people – especially folks who haven't seen a lot of NASCAR – they get this idea that we're just going around in circles. And that's so far from the truth. You're running as hard as you can to get all you can every lap.
Q: Fans often come up to you and want to discuss a moment or race from your career, sort of to prove they've been a fan for a long time. This might be obvious since your 2001 Daytona 500 win was pretty famous, but what's the one they bring up the most?
A: Daytona obviously comes up a lot. But my favorite one is Bristol from April of 1990 (when he somehow survived a horrendous crash during a Busch Series race). Everyone who comes up to me and mentions Bristol was there – they were sitting on that hillside when I crashed.
But there are pictures of my crash, and there are like 10 people on the hillside. (Laughs) And I've definitely met all 10 of them and a whole bunch of other people who claim to have been on that hillside. So that always makes me smile.
Q: If someone paid you $5 million to design a new racetrack and gave you an unlimited budget, what kind of track would you build?
A: I would probably build somewhere between a half-mile and three-quarter-mile track. It would be sort of like Indianapolis Raceway Park. When I was a kid, that was my favorite track. And I loved that race – the Kroger 200. To go there and win it (in 1989) – for the masses, it's way down the list of crap I actually accomplished. But for me, it's way up there. Because I'm like, "That's probably the greatest short track race in America."
I like that track because the banking encourages folks to run out next to the wall, but then there's a flat where you can cut to the bottom. So I'd want a version of that. It's pretty distinct – the difference between the banking and the flat – and there are ways to cut across it.
It's my opinion tracks got too wide. You put 43 cars on the track, and if the turns are too wide like they are at some tracks, you sort of lose perspective of what's going on. But you take those cars even to a place like Charlotte, and you put two cars side-by-side there and it fills up your screen. You're like, "Wow, look at that." Same thing at Darlington.
So I'd build that (narrower) characteristic into a shorter track. I think 50,000 people is a gob of people to watch a sporting event, and you could still have that many people and it's a big deal.
And there'd be lots of video screens. Crazy technology video screens and cool chairs. I'd want to make it an intimate setting with a really cool racetrack and that'd be my goal.
Q: If you had a day off to do anything in the world you wanted — but you were not allowed to race — what would you do?
A: Go play Augusta with my buddies. That would be up there.
Have you played it before?
I have.
Have you done OK or torn up the course?
Well, when you say, "Tear up the course," what do you mean? I didn't hurt anybody. (Laughs) It was like when I got those 5s last week (on Dancing with the Stars), I was like, "I had her in the air four times and never dropped her! How did that not get a better score than 5s?"
Anyway, yeah, I chunked a few at Augusta. But I just walked around that place in awe of that experience. I was thankful for that.
Q: You get to have a lot of cool experiences away from racing through your job as a NASCAR driver. What's one that sticks out?
A: Just standing in the Oval Office and talking to President (George W.) Bush (in 2004). That's up there. You're right – I've been blessed. I've gotten to do amazing things and meet fun people, but that's the President of the United States. And we weren't just standing there talking to him. He was showing us pictures on the wall and telling us about living there and the experience of living there – it was just like hanging out with one of your buddies. So that was way up there for me.
Q: When you go home after a bad day at the track, do you vent to someone about it or just keep it to yourself?
A: Well, I wrote in my book (In the Blink of an Eye) I used to have a strategy that if you ignore something, it'll go away. And that's a horrible strategy, and I used to internalize really bad and it caused me more stress than it should have.
As I've gotten older, I know I race less, but I as an owner I have the same anxiety and the same frustration and energy for it. I've just learned to talk about it more and try to work through it the best you can with your buddies or your family, if that's possible.
I love to call my daughter (Macy) and talk to her, because she loves me and she loves racing, but she's a junior in high school and her problems are different than mine – so that helps me to deal with my problems.
Q: If you could point to another driver as a good example for kids in the garage, who would it be?
A: I think Jimmie Johnson. If my little kid was looking up to a driver, there's many in the garage area I respect and look up to, but I just appreciate the way Jimmie goes out and in whatever he does, he's focused and he's intense and he's all in. I'm sure as much as he's won, he might hate getting beat more than anybody – but he handles it well. So I think his professionalism is something I'd love for my kids to look up to and try to emulate.
Q: When you stand around with other drivers and tell old racing stories, what's one of your favorites to tell either about something that happened to yourself or someone else?
A: My favorite racing story is about the 2001 July race, when Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and I ran 1-2 at Daytona. I didn't win, but I smile more about that night than any other single day.
I'd messed up on the last pit stop and slid through my pit and restarted 20th and Dale Jr. restarted sixth and got to the lead. But I did awesome, getting from where I was to his back bumper on the last lap. So I just remember the desire, the fire I had in me to overcome that and win the race.
When I got to him and didn't win, it still felt perfect. And then to hear stories of people rushing back into the track – you know how people tend to leave with a few laps left – and just the roar of the crowd after the race is something I've never heard since.
It was just amazing, and we were on those cars hugging, and the fans were just at the top of their lungs cheering for us. It was a chance for us to really have a genuine smile probably for the first time since February.
It was intense, and it's unmatched for me.
Do you ever go back and watch the video to relive that moment?
I YouTube it a lot. (Smiles) That's been fun over the last couple months with Emma (Slater, his dance partner). She wants to know everything, so we watch a lot of YouTube of two things: The ballroom dancing championships and a lot of racing.
I show her the All-Star Race that I won in '96 and I show her the 2001 July race that Dale Jr. won. Those are probably two of my favorites.
Q: What's a TV show you're really into right now?
A: Dancing with the Stars. I'm literally into that show right now. I'm not only into it, I'm on it. (Laughs) It's definitely my favorite show right now.
It's funny – I watch dancing on YouTube and I look forward to practicing dancing with Emma. Life is going to change pretty dramatically one of these Monday nights when they tell me, "Go home." Because if I'm not thinking about our race team and NASCAR and our boys over there, it's dancing. One of those is getting ready to go away – maybe sooner rather than later, we'll see. (Laughs)
Q: What's the last movie you saw – either at home or in the theater -- and was it any good?
A: The last movie I saw was Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves). I had to admit to Emma even though I'm a Kevin Costner fan, and even though I was familiar with the story of Robin Hood, I'd never seen Robin Hood. When we did our waltz, it was to Bryan Adams "Everything I Do I Do It For You," and that's from the movie.
So one afternoon we watched Robin Hood and I loved it. She made me watch it, but I got into it. I said, "You've cultured me." She said, "I grew up near there."
My Kevin Costner movie was Tin Cup, so I made her watch that, too.
Q: If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self — something you know now that you didn't know then — what would it be?
A: Just be nicer. Be nice to people.
You seem like you're nice.
I am, but I wasn't always this way. You don't like to say the word "regret," because if you learned from it, then it made you a better person. So "regret" is a little harsh. But I see now how I am able to positively impact folks' lives by taking a second. It means the world to me to see people smile, and if you take a second and you're nice to someone, then you get to see them smile. That's what I try to do now, every day.
That's another thing, too – just breathe. Take a second. It's fine, you've got a second. I mean, I'm old and I've got a second, so if you're young, you damn sure have got seconds.
So I think if I could say one thing to young Mike, it would be just "Live in the moment. Appreciate what you have."
Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Denny Hamlin, and he wanted to know where you would live if you weren't involved in NASCAR.
A: I'd probably be living in Owensboro, Ky. (where he grew up). And I hope I'd be a weatherman. I don't think it would have been required when I was 20 and in Owensboro to actually have a degree in meteorology to be a weatherman. That's what I would have wanted to be.
Why a weatherman?
I just loved local news. I was a big fan of our local news lady. Her name was Marcia Yockey and she was fun to watch. We didn't have cable when I was a kid, so we watched the Evansville (Ind.) news and I always thought Marcia Yockey was cool. I remember thinking when I was a kid, "I'd like to do Marcia's job. I'd like to be the weatherman."
That's what I would have aspired to be. I could raise money in charity golf tournaments and drive a Toyota from the local dealership that I got for free, and then I could go there and sign autographs.
Q: And do you have a question for the next person?
A: Yes. Would you ever do Dancing with the Stars? (Laughs)