Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
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| Owner(s) | Darrell Waltrip |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | Winston Cup, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series |
| Car numbers | 00, 12, 17 |
| Race drivers | Darrell Waltrip, David Reutimann, Michael McDowell |
| Sponsors | Western Auto, Builders Square, NTN Bearings |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet, Toyota |
| Opened | 1972, 1990, 2004 |
| Closed | 1975, 1998, 2007 |
| Career | |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 7 |
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports was a NASCAR team owned by three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip. It was formed in 1991 when Waltrip resigned from Hendrick Motorsports to start his own team, and was originally named DarWal, Inc.. During the 1970s, Waltrip, like many drivers of the time, formed their own teams for racing, in lower levels, originally DarWal, Inc, was his personal licensing agent and operator for many short-track cars he would race at many circuits on non-Cup weekends or special events, and eventually went to Busch Series racing. In 1991, the racing team moved up to the Cup level, with Hendrick support, but he divested himself of Busch operations at the end of the 1993 season.
Waltrip has also run part-time with his team, with his final NASCAR Truck Series race coming at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished 12th.
DWM debuted at the 1991 Daytona 500 as car No. 17 with sponsorship from Western Auto. (The car number and numbering style were a carryover from Waltrip's days as a driver for Hendrick Motorsports.) Waltrip led at one point during the event, but finished 24th following an accident late in the race. Waltrip won five races over the next two years, with his final top-10 points finish coming in 1994. After that, the pressure of being an owner/driver started to crash down on Waltrip, and his performance declined. After Western Auto was renamed to Parts America, they planned on leaving the team, but stayed on for another year before leaving after 1997. That same year, Waltrip failed to qualify for his first race since 1975 at the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In addition, DWM briefly expanded to two cars, when Rich Bickle finished 34th at that year's Brickyard 400 the No. 26 Kentucky Fried Chicken Chevy also fielded by DWM, as well as Waltrip running special paint schemes to commemorate his 25th year in the sport.
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