by Darrell Waltrip

When I drove for him in 1998, we really cleared the air, and we had some quality time together. What happened in the '80's, we left in the '80's. That's kind of the way racing is.

Every week on the circuit, racers say things or are involved in things with each other. In the heat of battle, sometimes something comes out. Later on, you have to call and apologize for a comment or take back something that you said.

Yes, Dale and I were fierce competitors. No two guys probably ever loved to beat each other more than we did, and we took it to the highest level. We gave no quarter and we expected no quarter. But it was a different time in our sport.

Ask DW
AskDW Subject: Comment/Question: Name:  Email:  Hometown:

We were "frenemies." We were friends most of the time, but there were occasions when we were not and became enemies. But whatever happened at the track, we left at the track, and Dale used to call me on Christmas Eve.

Any disagreements between the two of us were just blips on the radar screen of two guys who became friends in 1971, the first time I met Dale. Obviously, over the period of time we were racing each other and competing against each other the way we did, it wasn't always peaches and cream.

In a recent movie about the life of Dale Earnhardt, I was disappointed that an actor portrayed me the way he did, but remember, it was a movie. There's always the rest of the story as I like to say. While petty arguments faded away, the admiration and respect that we had for each other endured.

I had no input into the movie. I was asked if I would like to be a consultant or look at what they were going to do, and I declined. Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were not involved in the unauthorized biography. If they were not going to be involved, I didn't feel like it was appropriate for me to be involved.

Laughing about the '89 Winston

Mike from Roanoke Va.: Mr. Waltrip, I have been a Rusty Wallace fan since 1988, and it was kind of exciting at the Winston in '89, but after all that has gone on with you and Rusty, what are the true feelings about Rusty as he gets ready to race his final Nextel Cup season?

Ordinal out of range Darrell Waltrip: Rusty and I have always been friends. We had that one situation in 1989 in The Winston where things got a little bit out of hand, and quite honestly, we laugh about it a lot now. When I retired in 2000, he gave me a photograph of my car spinning through the grass and a little note that said, "I see you're still backing into me."

Racers are tough-skinned, and we have an unwritten agreement. You leave disagreements behind. You can't carry them from one week to the next. Grudges in racing just don't last. You depend on the other guy so much in this sport that you just can't have any ongoing feuds. There may be people that you don't necessarily get along with, but you don't carry those grudges with you on the race track. You might bellyache and bicker a little bit, but you don't carry anything out on the track.

Rusty and I have had some good laughs about that Winston, particularly the part where I said I hoped he would choke on the $200,000. He assures me that he never did. We're buds, and who knows, we might work together one of these days.