1980's: Darrell Waltrip Dominates Bristol, Wins 7 Straight Food City 500's - Story Time with Tom Taylor

Bristol Motor Speedway Radio

In the history of Bristol Motor Speedway, one name stands out from all the rest – Darrell Waltrip. The man they called “Jaws” set the standard at Bristol, winning twelve NASCAR Cup Series races in the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s. But nowhere was Waltrip’s dominance more pronounced than during the early 1980s when he won seven straight races, including four consecutive Food City 500s.

1981 marked a new era for NASCAR, which ordered teams to build smaller cars with a shorter wheelbase and less rear spoiler. The old master Junior Johnson was among the first to figure out how to make the cars handle and his new driver -- Owensboro Kentucky’s Darrell Waltrip – was already on a hot streak winning two of the year’s first four races.

The team rolled into Bristol that March and set a new track record of 112 miles per hour during qualifying. On race day, DW led 334 laps, including the final eighty. Ricky Rudd, Bobby Allison, and Morgan Shepherd chased him to the checkered flag.

The next spring Darrell had his hands full with Dale Earnhardt but he and Junior still led the last 103 laps to earn the win.

1983? Yep, DW did it again. The spring race was run on a May Saturday night but that never phased DW. He qualified thirteenth and needed the first half of the race to get to the front but once he was there, Darrell turned out the lights on the competition.

How dominant was he? Even fans who liked him started wearing “Anybody but Waltrip” T-shirts!

In the spring of 1984, it appeared the win streak would end. Bobby Allison had the fastest car and led the most laps but when he went to the pits with mechanical trouble, it was win number seven for old Number 11. DW scored seven wins in a row en route to Bristol immortality.

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