Stephen Emery
Staff Writer
Things are not going so well for the two time Daytona 500 Champion since leaving DEI(Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) after the 2005 season. This year he had hoped to turn the page on a new horizon. He is the new face of Toyota in NASCAR as the team owner of three cars, driven by David Reutimann, Dale Jarrett and himself. He also is the star of a reality show on ESPN2, Waltrip has a full plate.
During qualifying at Daytona, Michael was caught cheating. NASCAR officials fined him, and docked him driver points, he also tarnished Toyota's name and his reputation. That was just the beginning. Since then he has failed to qualify for any of the five races since the Daytona 500.
This is where things get really bad. Earlier this week he was charged with "reckless driving" and "leaving the scene of an accident." The problem was that this did not happen on the race track. It was in his hometown of Sherrils Ford, N.C.
Waltrip supposedly crashed into a telephone pole then rolled his car and claims it was because he fell asleep at the wheel. Officers were finally able to locate him at his house the next morning and pressed charges.
What was this guy thinking? As always, when someone of celebrity status does something along these lines, the world is going to know about it. So he crashed his car because he fell asleep at the wheel. Instances like this happen all the time to U.S citizens, but leaving the scene of the accident is just down right stupid. Of course it must be embarrassing for someone who
makes a living racing cars to end up in such a silly accident, but the way he handled it was not appropriate. He is setting a bad example for all of his young fans, and making Toyota and NASCAR look bad.
As of late, he has been spending more time making commercials for NAPA and Best Western then on the race track. It will be interesting to see how they feel about him after this latest stunt.
Only time will tell, but with the incredibly large amount of money Toyota is doling out, I can not see them dealing with him much longer. If Waltrip hopes to have a successful career as a team owner, and rekindle his career as a driver, then he needs to make a big turn around and do it fast.
Staff Writer
Things are not going so well for the two time Daytona 500 Champion since leaving DEI(Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) after the 2005 season. This year he had hoped to turn the page on a new horizon. He is the new face of Toyota in NASCAR as the team owner of three cars, driven by David Reutimann, Dale Jarrett and himself. He also is the star of a reality show on ESPN2, Waltrip has a full plate.
During qualifying at Daytona, Michael was caught cheating. NASCAR officials fined him, and docked him driver points, he also tarnished Toyota's name and his reputation. That was just the beginning. Since then he has failed to qualify for any of the five races since the Daytona 500.
This is where things get really bad. Earlier this week he was charged with "reckless driving" and "leaving the scene of an accident." The problem was that this did not happen on the race track. It was in his hometown of Sherrils Ford, N.C.
Waltrip supposedly crashed into a telephone pole then rolled his car and claims it was because he fell asleep at the wheel. Officers were finally able to locate him at his house the next morning and pressed charges.
What was this guy thinking? As always, when someone of celebrity status does something along these lines, the world is going to know about it. So he crashed his car because he fell asleep at the wheel. Instances like this happen all the time to U.S citizens, but leaving the scene of the accident is just down right stupid. Of course it must be embarrassing for someone who
makes a living racing cars to end up in such a silly accident, but the way he handled it was not appropriate. He is setting a bad example for all of his young fans, and making Toyota and NASCAR look bad.As of late, he has been spending more time making commercials for NAPA and Best Western then on the race track. It will be interesting to see how they feel about him after this latest stunt.
Only time will tell, but with the incredibly large amount of money Toyota is doling out, I can not see them dealing with him much longer. If Waltrip hopes to have a successful career as a team owner, and rekindle his career as a driver, then he needs to make a big turn around and do it fast.
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