Car: #55 Napa Dodge for Waltrip-Jasper Racing in the Nextel Cup series
Born: April 30, 1963 in Owensboro, KY
In the family: He is the younger brother of three-time Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip.

Career highlights: Waltrip is a popular driver, and a favorite of corporations for his shamelessness in dropping his sponsors’ names in almost every situation. He has appeared in television commercials for NAPA, Domino’s Pizza, and Aaron’s, often alongside his brother, Darrell.

Waltrip and his wife, Buffy, have two daughters.

• Waltrip made his Cup series debut in 1985, but didn’t win a race until the 2001 Daytona 500, his 463rd Cup Series race. But that victory was bittersweet, because just behind him, his friend and team owner, Dale Earnhardt crashed in the final turn and died instantly.

• Waltrip won the Daytona 500 again in 2003, the first time the race had ever been shortened due to rain.

• Waltrip left Dale Earnhardt Inc., where he drove the #15 car, at the end of 2005 to drive for Waltrip-Jasper Racing. In an unusual move, he took his sponsor, Napa, along with him.

2006 so far ... In January 2006, it was announced that Waltrip-Jasper Racing would field two Toyota Camry’s in the 2007 Nextel Cup Series, marking the first time that a foreign auto manufacturer will race in NASCAR’s premier series.


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