Like W/Bush 43, many don't think that Michael Waltrip can walk and chew gum at the same time so they may be surprised to know that "Mikey",
tall-drink-of-water brother of JAWS Fox sportscaster Darrell Waltrip, has written a book that will be published in February, 2011 on the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt SR's death at the Daytona 500.
Anyone that has seen the video of Darrell in the Fox booth as Jr. pushes his DEI #15 teammate and Darrell's brother to the WIN in NASCAR's PREMIER race only to see Darrell realize seconds later that Dale SR and Sterling Marlin were both "in the fence" KNOW that NASCAR racing has never been the same.
Waltrip's new book, In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona and the Day that Changed Everything, is expected to receive a large amount of media attention during Speed Weeks running up to the February 20, 2011 * GREAT AMERICAN RACE.
I remember EXACTLY were I was when I heard Mikey had WON and Dale had WRECKED. I was at the baggage carrosel at the Richmond International Airport coming back from a property management convention in Denver. Someone heard it on their radio and the news electrified those of us who had hoped to catch the last of the race on the radio on the way home.
I sat in the airport parking garage for 10 minutes trying to get news on the radio and ended up listening to NPR for the 60 minute drive home wanting news of the accident.
I am glad that it has been 10 years since THE ACCIDENT and although there have been movies * 3 and DALE * and dust ups at DEI and the defection of JR to Hendrick Motorsports, there has been enough time for Dale's passing to be put in the true light it deserves. With his passing, the safety devices offered by suppliers and ejected by Dale are now mandated by NASCAR. We have SOFT BARRIERS, head and neck devices, a NEW model of car body and a safer cabin or cockpit for the drivers.
Also, it is appropriate that Mikey write the book. Although NASCAR history will record that he has been a better Napa*Aaron's*Domino's Pizza*Toyota pitchman than he ever was a driver, how his winning the Daytona 500 that day will still be his NASCAR legacy!
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