Michael Waltrip is a racing driver from United States who last raced in WEC for AF Corse-Waltrip. Waltrip has recorded 11 wins and 41 podiums from 280 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,406 ranks Waltrip 2196th of 39,300 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2012-03-17 | Sebring International Raceway LM GTE Am | P4 | −36 |
| Rating won | Race | Series | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| +161 | Dover 1988 | NASCAR Xfinity | P1 |
| +158 | Darlington 1988 | NASCAR Xfinity | P3 |
| +147 | Charlotte 2006 | NASCAR Xfinity | P2 |
| +141 | Darlington 1996 | NASCAR Xfinity | P2 |
| +139 | Michigan 2002 | NASCAR Xfinity | P1 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | ▸WEC | AF Corse-Waltrip | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | −35 | 4,737 |
| 2011 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Diamond-Waltrip Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P34 | +17 | 4,772 |
| 2009 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P39 | −164 | 4,755 |
| 2007 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Braun Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P44 | −144 | 4,919 |
| 2006 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P32 | +191 | 5,063 |
| 2005 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P31 | −496 | 4,872 |
| 2004 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P16 | −355 | 5,368 |
| 2003 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 20 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | P8 | +211 | 5,723 |
| 2002 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 19 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | P11 | +449 | 5,512 |
| 2001 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P26 | −128 | 5,063 |
| 2000 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P20 | −62 | 5,191 |
| 1999 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P14 | +266 | 5,253 |
| 1998 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P28 | +228 | 4,987 |
| 1997 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P20 | −16 | 4,760 |
| 1996 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Michael Waltrip Racing | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P21 | −111 | 4,776 |
| 1995 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Bahari Racing | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P25 | −199 | 4,886 |
| 1994 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P23 | −112 | 5,085 |
| 1993 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Bahari Racing | 10 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P13 | −38 | 5,198 |
| 1992 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Bahari Racing | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P14 | +212 | 5,236 |
| 1991 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Bahari Racing | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P15 | +130 | 5,024 |
| 1990 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Bahari Racing | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | P14 | −92 | 4,894 |
| 1989 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | P9 | +483 | 4,986 |
| 1988 | ▸NASCAR Xfinity | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P23 | +3,153 | 4,503 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Jason Keller | 4,358 | 206 | 103 | 103 | 50% |
| 🇺🇸 Kenny Wallace | 4,399 | 195 | 92 | 103 | 47% |
| 🇺🇸 David Green | 3,966 | 191 | 101 | 90 | 53% |
| 🇺🇸 Randy LaJoie | 4,189 | 166 | 85 | 81 | 51% |
| 🇺🇸 Tim Fedewa | 4,219 | 158 | 99 | 59 | 63% |
| 🇺🇸 Joseph Joe Frank Nemechek III | 3,249 | 158 | 86 | 72 | 54% |
| 🇺🇸 Mike WallaceFIA Bronze | 4,111 | 144 | 92 | 52 | 64% |
| 🇺🇸 Todd Bodine | 3,789 | 144 | 70 | 74 | 49% |
| 🇺🇸 Mike McLaughlin | 4,539 | 143 | 84 | 59 | 59% |
| 🇺🇸 Steve Grissom | 3,619 | 140 | 100 | 40 | 71% |
| 🇺🇸 Denny HamlinHigher-rated, 1× champion | 7,400 | 39 | 13 | 26 | 33% |
| 🇺🇸 Tony StewartHigher-rated | 6,497 | 45 | 17 | 28 | 38% |
| 🇺🇸 Joey LoganoHigher-rated | 6,443 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 11% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,186 | 🇺🇸 Justin Lofton | ARCA Menards West | 4,411 |
| 2,187 | 🇨🇭 Christopher Zanella | Formula V8 3.5 | 4,410 |
| 2,188 | 🇬🇧 Dan Clarke | Porsche Endurance Challenge North America | 4,410 |
| 2,189 | 🇦🇺 Geoff Uhrhane | FIA Formula 3 European | 4,409 |
| 2,190 | 🇩🇪 Dieter Schmidtmann | Nürburgring 24 Hours | 4,408 |
| 2,191 | 🇵🇹 Henrique Chaves Jr. | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,407 |
| 2,192 | 🇬🇧 Oliver Jarvis | IMSA WeatherTech | 4,407 |
| 2,193 | 🇩🇪 Jannes Fittje | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie | 4,406 |
| 2,194 | 🇩🇪 Johannes Marchewicz Marcel | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie | 4,406 |
| 2,195 | 🇯🇵 Kiyoshi Umegaki | Super Formula Lights | 4,406 |
| 2,196 | 🇺🇸 Michael Waltrip | WEC | 4,406 |
| 2,197 | 🇺🇸 Patrick Emerling | NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour | 4,406 |
| 2,198 | 🇬🇧 Tommy FOSTER | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,406 |
| 2,199 | 🇬🇧 Andy Pilgrim | GT World Challenge America | 4,405 |
| 2,200 | 🇺🇸 Ben Tuck | WEC | 4,405 |
| 2,201 | 🇮🇹 Mattia Michelotto | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,405 |
| 2,202 | 🇩🇪 Wolf Henzler | Le Mans Cup | 4,405 |
| 2,203 | 🇺🇸 Jeb Burton | NASCAR Xfinity | 4,404 |
| 2,204 | 🇦🇺 Jonathon Webb | Bathurst 12 Hour | 4,403 |
| 2,205 | 🇩🇪 Dustin Blattner | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,402 |
| 2,206 | 🇯🇵 Masaki Matsushita | Super GT | 4,401 |
Michael Waltrip is a semi-professional driver, rated 2,981; his record places him at the competitive amateur level, with racing against professionals rather than among paid full-time competitors. His documented racing history spans a single season in 2012, comprising one start in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse-Waltrip. In that outing, Waltrip finished fourth and beat several professionally graded drivers, among them the Silver-graded Markus Palttala and Joël Camathias, and the higher-rated Michele Rugolo; this result against an experienced field suggests he brought considerable skill to circuit racing despite his very limited exposure to the series.[1]
Waltrip's primary career unfolded in NASCAR stock car racing, where he won the Daytona 500 in 2001 and 2003, both victories coming while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. on superspeedways. He also worked as a team owner and later as a broadcast analyst for multiple NASCAR series. His 2012 WEC appearance represents his only recorded entry in international circuit racing, making the single fourth-place finish against graded professional company the sole measure of his capabilities in that discipline. He retired from active racing in 2012 and has remained involved in motorsport through media work and business ventures.[2]