Car Of The Day: July 19, 2012

Today's car of the day is Action's 1985 Chevrolet Camaro ASA (American Speed Association) stock car as driven by Darrell Waltrip.

Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (1981, 1982, 1985), 3-time runner-up (1979, 1983, 1986), winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 (formerly the World 600), (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989, a record for any driver, all time). He posted a modern series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983, and 21 top five finishes in both 1981, and 1986. Waltrip is the winner of 84 Cup Series races, including seven consecutive wins at Bristol Motor Speedway, (a record for any driver, all-time), placing him second to Jeff Gordon for the most wins in the modern era of NASCAR, and tied with Bobby Allison for fourth on the all-time list. He is winner of 59 Cup Series pole positions (second all-time), including 35 on short tracks, and 8 on road courses (both all-time highs in the series). He has 271 top-five finishes, 390 top-ten finishes, and competed in 809 Cup Series races spanning 29 years (1972–2000).

In addition to NASCAR's top racing series, he has won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, 7 American Speed Association (ASA) races, 3 IROC races, 2 Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) races, 2 NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, 2 All Pro Racing Association races, a USAC race, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona, a 24-hour sports car endurance race. Waltrip also holds the all-time track record with 67 wins at the Music City Motorplex, formerly Fairgrounds Speedway, in Nashville, Tennessee, counting NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local track races.

Waltrip also became the first NASCAR driver to win $10 million (February 18, 1990). He is a 2-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, (1989, 1990), was "American Driver of the Year", (1979, 1981, 1982), and was "NASCAR's Driver of the Decade", (1980s). In addition, he was the "National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year", (1977, 1981, 1982), the "Auto Racing Digest Driver of the Year", (1981, 1982) and the first "Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year", (1979). He is a 2003 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and a 2005 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, and was announced in July, 2009, as one of the initial 25 nominees for the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class of 2010. Waltrip was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998), and was awarded the Bill France "Award of Excellence", in 2000. On July 1, 2010, Waltrip was again nominated for the 2011 induction class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. On July 14, 2011, it was announced that Waltrip, in only his third year of eligibility, will be inducted as one of the five members of the class of 2012, one of only nine top series Nascar drivers to be inducted to the NASCAR Hall of Fame thus far.

Waltrip currently owns Honda, Volvo and Subaru auto dealerships in Franklin, Tennessee, and is a lead television analyst and race commentator with Fox Broadcasting Company and Speed TV, a columnist at Foxsports.com and an author. He is the older brother of NASCAR driver and MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. He is married, has two daughters, and resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Darrell Waltrip & Chevrolet Camaro

I have been unable to determine what year Darrell raced this car.  Probably sometime between 1982-85 would be my guess but with the forum down I have no way of getting ahold of Ward (69Stang) or Billy Kingsley, both of whom would know the answer.

The third-generation Chevrolet Camaro was introduced for the 1982 model year. It continued to use General Motors's F-body platform and would produce a "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" for 1987 and "25th Anniversary Heritage Edition" for 1992. These were also the first Camaros with factory fuel injection, four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, four-cylinder engines, 16-inch wheels, and hatchback bodies. The third-generation Camaro continued through the 1992 model year.