NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Waltrip’s No. 11 A Hall Highlight
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip is not in the Hall Of Fame yet, but his car is...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 22, 2010   Charlotte, NC
The car that Darrell Waltrip raced to consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championships will be at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. (Photo: Getty Images)
There is no question that three-time Sprint Cup champion Darrell Waltrip will be a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, perhaps as early as 2011, when the hall’s second class will be inducted.

One of the instruments that allowed Waltrip to be in position for the hall honor will roar in before him. The Hall of Fame announced Monday that a No. 11 Buick Waltrip raced during his 1981 and 1982 championship seasons will be among the artifacts on display when the facility opens May 11.

The green and white Mountain Dew-sponsored car, built in team owner Junior Johnson’s Ingle Hollow, N.C. shop and eventually given to Waltrip, is important beyond its connection to Waltrip victories and championships.

In 1981, responding to the general public’s attraction to smaller cars, NASCAR downsized its Cup Series vehicles to a smaller wheelbase, making the Buick eligible. Johnson and Waltrip turned it into one of the most successful models in the history of the series.

“This car pretty much defines my career,” Waltrip said during a press conference at the under-construction Hall of Fame Monday. “The car was amazing. I won 24 races in that car, two championships. It was the most dominant car of the time. I think even Jimmie Johnson would be envious of the Mountain Dew car.

“When we went to this smaller car, nobody could get their arms around it, so we built a lot of cars.”

Hall executive director Winston Kelley said Monday that the hall will open as scheduled 50 days from now. The induction of the first five hall members – Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson and Richard Petty – is scheduled May 23.

Waltrip, who will be on the list of possible inductees for the hall’s second class, took a quick tour of the roughed-in facility Monday.

“Everything is so real,” said Waltrip, now a television racing commentator. “It’s not like it’s a picture of or a replica of. Everything is real. Everything is authentic. It’s like you’re in one of the race shops. It’s really a work of art.”

Kelley said the May 23 induction ceremony (at 1 p.m.) will be held in a ballroom adjacent to the Hall of Fame building. He said the living inductees (Johnson and Petty) and the France and Earnhardt families are participating in the selection of the individuals who will present the five for induction during the ceremony.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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