by Darrell Waltrip

NASCAR on FOX: Talladega Sat., April 30: Aaron's 312, 2 p.m. ET Sun., May 1: Aaron's 499, 12:30 p.m. ET Video... Trackside Tribute Ordinal out of range At Martinsville Speedway on April 8, SPEED Channel's Trackside (Fridays at 7 p.m. ET) dedicated its show to the three-time champion who earned 11 of his 84 wins at the famous Virginia short track. Among the guests on the show were NASCAR legends Junior Johnson and Rusty Wallace. Analysis... McGEE: Behind the Boogity

On Thursday night at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I plan to talk about people and memories, including 33 years ago when I walked into Talladega to run this week's race as a rookie. I started 25th and finished 38th in my very first Cup race on May 7, 1972. It's ironic that 33 years later, I'm getting inducted into the hall of fame at the track where I started my career.

I have been thinking about all of my old crew chiefs. I've had a bunch of great ones as well as engine builders like Robert Yates and others. Driving for Junior Johnson brings back a lot of memories. Reflect on my 84 Cup wins, I remember beating Donnie Allison for my first Darlington win in 1977 and having a great battle with Richard Petty in 1979 at the Lady in Black. I beat David Pearson to win my first race at Pocono in 1978.

Dale Earnhardt and I had some classic battles. NASCAR declared Neil Bonnett the winner of a race in Nashville in 1984. We protested, and they reversed the decision. That may be the only time in NASCAR history that's happened that I'm aware of.

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As I think about my career, significant races come to mind, like my win in 1987 at Martinsville over Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte, which came 10 days after my first daughter, Jessica Leigh, was born. I drove Mark Martin's car to victory up in Wisconsin in an ASA race when he had a broken leg. Rusty Wallace spun me out in the 1989 Winston.

Those are the kinds of things that I take with me. I haven't put it all together, but sometimes I don't put it together. I walk to the podium and have no idea what's going to come out of my mouth. It just depends on the atmosphere and the moment. My brother Michael will introduce me so sometimes people lead you places that you didn't intend to go. I don't necessarily like to script anything. That's kind of how it will go. I'm sure it will be emotional, but overall, it'll just be fun.