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Michael Waltrip finally said yes

You've all seen the commercials where Darrell Waltrip begs his little brother to drive the No. 99 Busch Series ride, right?

Michael finally said yes:

There aren’t many "firsts" left in Darrell Waltrip’s racing career. On Saturday, July 22, he’ll celebrate two, though.

The three-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion will make his first NASCAR Busch Series start at Martinsville Speedway on that night. And in a long-awaited move, the elder Waltrip will take the wheel of the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine from his brother Michael for the 250-lap Busch Series event.

According to the release from which I pulled the two paragraphs above, there was some sort of fan vote. Apparently enough people thought it would be funny to put a 59-year-old man behind the wheel of a car pushing 750 HP at the circuit's tightest track.

Waltrip knows Martinsville about as well as anyone out there. But c'mon, people: His last Cup win there was in 1989, the year Reed Sorenson turned 3.

Enough already. This is like watching Jerry Rice play for the Seahawks.

Comments (5)

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Diecast Dude said:

Um... the fans thought they were actually voting to not have to see the ads anymore, not realizing DW would really drive the car?

Matt said:

He kept getting worse and worse when he kept running the Truck races, so seeing him in Busch is just overkill, even for one race. That said, I'll be watching and you'll be watching, which is what Aarons wants.

John Newsom said:

You're right, Matt, I will be watching ... to see how long before DW goes a lap down. Remind me to do an over/under post before that race.

I might actually have to go to that one -- the Martinsville Busch race coincides with one of the Pocono races, which Dustin traditionally skips -- and which frees him up to do the Busch race.

Mark said:

Be nice.

I would much rather see Aarons sink the money into ole' DW as opposed to see waste of everyone's time and money driver diversity program.

There's been a fairly decent Busch driver or two that raced into their 50's. Is DW really 59 though? I'll throw out Jack Ingram and Harry Gant (I believe Gant won a combined 5 or 6 Busch/Cup races in a row 1 September). Then I can always site Hershel McGriff from Winston West or the guy sponsored by the Snowplow company on Busch North. I appreciate history far more than an 18 year old making laps.

Matt said:

DW has overstayed his welcome with the "just one more race" mantra. It's like a KISS Farewell Tour.

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