Waltrip mum about troubles
Michael Waltrip isn’t talking or racing this weekend.
Waltrip will miss his sixth straight NASCAR Nextel Cup race after qualifying in Fort Worth, Texas, was canceled Friday because of severe storms.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner, in the first year with the Toyota team he owns, doesn’t have enough season points to get in the 43-car field.
The latest setback for Waltrip comes less than a week after he was charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident after hitting a telephone pole and rolling his SUV about a mile from his North Carolina home.
Waltrip didn’t grant requests for interviews at the track.
Earlier this week, Waltrip said he was “really embarrassed about the accident, but I feel fortunate that I wasn’t hurt.” He said he fell asleep at the wheel.
Waltrip met with NASCAR officials and was examined by doctors at the track’s infield care center. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Waltrip was seen and released, which would have cleared him to race this weekend.
It’s been a rough first year as a car owner for Waltrip.
Before failing to qualify for the last five races, Waltrip’s team was caught cheating during preparations for the season-opening Daytona 500.
NASCAR found a fuel additive in his engine. He was docked a record 100 driver points, his crew chief was fined a record $100,000 and suspended, as was his competition director.
Waltrip team driver David Reutimann didn’t qualify for this weekend’s Samsung 500 either. Dale Jarrett, who drives the other Waltrip’s car, needed a provisional to make the race.
Police said the accident happened before 2 a.m. last Saturday when Waltrip lost control of his SUV while driving around a curve and overcorrected. His car rolled and hit a utility pole.
Waltrip suffered scratches to his arms, hands and face and cuts on his fingers.
The witness who discovered Waltrip’s overturned SUV told the Associated Press this week she initially thought no one survived the accident until Waltrip wiggled out the back window.
The witness, an 18-year-old college student who requested anonymity during a phone interview Wednesday for fear of reprisal from Waltrip’s fan base, asked Waltrip how long he’d been in the car. He told her about 10 minutes.
They then spoke briefly before Waltrip turned and started walking home. She told Waltrip that she had called 911.
Edwards’ year mixed
Carl Edwards has been waiting a long time to do another Sunday backflip.
While Edwards is dominating the Busch Series this year, with a huge points lead and two straight victories, he hasn’t been able to do his trademark celebration after a Nextel Cup race since November 2005 in Texas.
“It doesn’t really seem like that long ago,” Edwards said.
But it’s been 44 Cup races since Edwards got to do a backflip under the lights at Texas – the fourth win in the Roush Racing driver’s first full Cup season.
“I feel like I have two cracks at it every weekend,” Edwards said. “If I have a bad run in one of the cars and I have a good one in the other one, at least I did something good that `weekend. … I’ve been generally in a good mood since I got the job with Jack (Roush).”
Edwards gets two chances this weekend in Texas: the O’Reilly 300 Busch race today and Samsung 500 on Sunday.
F1 drivers duel
There’s a rivalry heating up in Formula One – between Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.
Raikkonen was the fastest in his Ferrari in the first two practices for the Bahrain Grand Prix, while Hamilton was just behind in his McLaren as he bids to make Formula One history.
Hamilton, a 22-year-old Briton in his rookie season with McLaren-Mercedes and F1’s first black driver, is looking to make more F1 history this weekend.
No driver has started his F1 career with three consecutive finishes in the top three – Hamilton finished third in Australia and second in Malaysia.