Waltrip year going bad to worse
04-11-2007, 09:36 AM
#1
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St. Jude Donor '05-'08
Waltrip year going bad to worse
If the fines for cheating and failure to qualify cars isnt enough last night Waltrip was charged with reckless driving and failure to report an accident.
Guess he fell asleep driving home and rolled his SUV after trying to overcorrect a corner. He then crawled out from the window and went home.
Guess he fell asleep driving home and rolled his SUV after trying to overcorrect a corner. He then crawled out from the window and went home.
OOPS... Police were not able to locate him that morning, but finally contacted him the next day !!!
04-11-2007, 09:47 AM
#3
Team Owner
or he could have been drinking and that is why he didn't report it. Just a maybe. Now they are looking for a top crew chief and seems nobody wants the job on a losing team. With Toyota's desire and money they will get someone.
Another Teddy Kenndy move possibly?
Michael Waltrip was charged with reckless driving and failure to report an accident following a one-car crash in Catawba County shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
Waltrip was returning from Charlotte, N.C. when he fell asleep at the wheel within a mile of his home and ran off the road, striking a telephone pole, according to a statement issued Tuesday by Michael Waltrip Racing. “I am really embarrassed about the accident, but I feel fortunate that I wasn’t hurt,” said Waltrip in the statement. “For 25 years I have had a great driving record. I consider myself to be a courteous and safe driver on public roads. I never expected to fall asleep behind the wheel of a car.”
Charlotte television station WSOC-TV, quoting the North Carolina Highway Patrol, claimed Waltrip was going about 70 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone when he went off the right side of Molly’s Backbone Road. Waltrip then went back across the left side of the road and hit a utility pole before his car overturned.
Waltrip then apparently walked home, although when state troopers arrived at his house at 2:30 a.m., no one was there, the TV station said. At 8 p.m. on Saturday night, some 18 hours after the accident, troopers returned to Waltrip’s home and found him there.
Waltrip will have to appear in court in Newton, N.C. May 14 to answer the charges.
What's unknown is whether his latest incident might have additional implications on Waltrip’s already-troubled season.
So far in 2007, his start-up team was busted with tainted fuel during Daytona 500 qualifying. After that incident, Toyota officials reportedly told their three teams — MWR, Team Red Bull and Bill Davis Racing — that they collectively had three strikes, but Waltrip burned two of them at Daytona.
Waltrip hasn’t qualified for a race since Daytona, and Domino’s and UPS, the sponsors of his team’s two other Toyotas, are delivery companies who likely will take a dim view of Waltrip crashing his personal car at 1:50 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
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Waltrip was returning from Charlotte, N.C. when he fell asleep at the wheel within a mile of his home and ran off the road, striking a telephone pole, according to a statement issued Tuesday by Michael Waltrip Racing. “I am really embarrassed about the accident, but I feel fortunate that I wasn’t hurt,” said Waltrip in the statement. “For 25 years I have had a great driving record. I consider myself to be a courteous and safe driver on public roads. I never expected to fall asleep behind the wheel of a car.”
Charlotte television station WSOC-TV, quoting the North Carolina Highway Patrol, claimed Waltrip was going about 70 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone when he went off the right side of Molly’s Backbone Road. Waltrip then went back across the left side of the road and hit a utility pole before his car overturned.
Waltrip then apparently walked home, although when state troopers arrived at his house at 2:30 a.m., no one was there, the TV station said. At 8 p.m. on Saturday night, some 18 hours after the accident, troopers returned to Waltrip’s home and found him there.
Waltrip will have to appear in court in Newton, N.C. May 14 to answer the charges.
What's unknown is whether his latest incident might have additional implications on Waltrip’s already-troubled season.
So far in 2007, his start-up team was busted with tainted fuel during Daytona 500 qualifying. After that incident, Toyota officials reportedly told their three teams — MWR, Team Red Bull and Bill Davis Racing — that they collectively had three strikes, but Waltrip burned two of them at Daytona.
Waltrip hasn’t qualified for a race since Daytona, and Domino’s and UPS, the sponsors of his team’s two other Toyotas, are delivery companies who likely will take a dim view of Waltrip crashing his personal car at 1:50 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
Boards: To discuss this article, click here
Another Teddy Kenndy move possibly?
Last edited by John Shiels; 04-11-2007 at 09:50 AM.
04-11-2007, 11:50 AM
#4
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Actually, it's the smartest thing I've seen him do in years. He turned a potential career-ending crisis (DUI crash) into a minor embarassment.
04-11-2007, 12:24 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
In a play on Toyota's tag line from when brother Darryll
was doing truck racing commercials for them
was doing truck racing commercials for them
"Toyota, the newest member of the NEXTEL CUP Series and proud of it.
.
04-11-2007, 01:21 PM
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It's smart... but it screams DUI to me. Like allready said... it's only a minor embarassment now whereas a DUI crash would have been far worse for him.
How does one over correct when sleeping???
04-11-2007, 04:22 PM
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There was a report several weeks ago about how prevalent sleeping at the wheel has become. A fair number of drivers have thought they could make it the last couple of miles to home or a rest area and have fallen asleep before they got there. This is attributed to our current life style where everybody thinks they can get more done by sleeping less. What we have is a lot of very tired people driving cars.
However, the penalty for falling asleep at the wheel is about the same as drunk driving. If you are sleepy you are definitely impaired (maybe more so than somebody who has had two drinks in an hour). If you go to sleep you are in a pilotless missile that can do a lot of damage to yourself and others. People have to realize if they are tired they should not drive.
I can see Waltrip being tired. He is under the gun running his teams. They are not performing well and he does not have a crew chief for his own team. That generates a lot of stress and probably some long hours at the shop. Lack of sleep along combined with stress may also be why his team hasn't been performing well. Then he gets behind the wheel to go home and his body is on the verge of collapse and once he is in that seat he is faced with the boring task of driving home.
How many of us have taken a few micro naps while driving and just kept driving thinking we can handle it?
Bill
However, the penalty for falling asleep at the wheel is about the same as drunk driving. If you are sleepy you are definitely impaired (maybe more so than somebody who has had two drinks in an hour). If you go to sleep you are in a pilotless missile that can do a lot of damage to yourself and others. People have to realize if they are tired they should not drive.
I can see Waltrip being tired. He is under the gun running his teams. They are not performing well and he does not have a crew chief for his own team. That generates a lot of stress and probably some long hours at the shop. Lack of sleep along combined with stress may also be why his team hasn't been performing well. Then he gets behind the wheel to go home and his body is on the verge of collapse and once he is in that seat he is faced with the boring task of driving home.
How many of us have taken a few micro naps while driving and just kept driving thinking we can handle it?
Bill
04-11-2007, 04:40 PM
#11
Le Mans Master
04-11-2007, 04:41 PM
#12
Le Mans Master
04-11-2007, 06:21 PM
#13
Team Owner
He might have been drinking some where but he better hope it was at a good friends house. Then again if you had his team and couldn't qualify you may start drinking too.