CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - Darrell Waltrip, winner of 83 races and three championships on the track, lost a popularity contest among his peers that stung more than any other defeat in his illustrious career.
Snubbed by the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting committee in his campaign to be included in the second class, Waltrip was clearly hurt by his exclusion. The color drained from his face as he watched the five names called - David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett and Bud Moore - and although he gamely spun his chair away from the podium and toward the cameras to work an hour-long, live television program, he was wounded.
Waltrip took to Twitter immediately after leaving Wednesday's announcement - "just having a small pity party right now," he posted - and was still smarting a day later. Instead of celebrating his selection Thursday, he went golfing with younger brother, Michael.