For Waltrip, 1990 was notable for a horrific crash at Bristol in the spring on the 170th lap of the Budweiser 250, where he destroyed his Busch Series Pontiac Grand Prix.

Onlookers were sure that Waltrip was severely injured, perhaps fatally, because of how massive the impact was and his brother Darrell rushed to the wreck fearing the worst.

Later, when asked about the crash by Ken Squier, he replied saying he had "some contusions and a little bit of confusion" and ended with "Hope we did a good job for Kool-Aid."

He came close to winning the 1991 TranSouth 500 at Darlington, but a jammed air hose on his final visit to the pits caused his stop to last 37.4 seconds, costing him the victory.

"[4] By June 2001, his crew chief, Scott Eggleston, left the team and was replaced by longtime DEI director Steve Hmiel.

In 2003, Waltrip won a rain-shortened Daytona 500 and also took victory at the EA Sports 500 at Talladega (his only non-Daytona win), while running in the top-five for most of the season before falling back to 15th in points.

55 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge in the 2006 Nextel Cup Series, driven by Waltrip, with Bawel as listed owner, and Davis as a team executive.

This was attributable to BDR's lawsuit with Dodge, which meant the team did not receive manufacturer support for Waltrip or teammate Dave Blaney.

After the first round of qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500, NASCAR inspectors found evidence in the engine intake manifold that Waltrip, Reutimann, and Jarrett's teams had used an illegal unspecified oxygenate fuel additive to increase performance.

He hired Terry Labonte, who held an automatic qualifying spot with his Past Champions provisional from titles in 1984 and 1996, to take over Waltrip's No.

Dale Jarrett announced his retirement from points racing after the 2008 Food City 500, Waltrip decided to put David Reutimann (No.

Waltrip welcomed business owner Robert Kaufmann, owner/founder of the Fortress Investment Group and was made an equal partner and got more aid with real estate developer Johnny Harris buying into the team during the 2007 off-season.

Waltrip decided to skip the road courses (Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International) handing it over to Patrick Carpentier to get the No.

It was announced in May that Waltrip would pilot the Toyota Sponsafier winning paint scheme on June 20 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, but he failed to qualify.

He captured an emotional win in the NextEra Energy Resources 250, which came 10 years to the day of the death of Dale Earnhardt and his first Sprint Cup Series victory.

For the rest of 2011, Waltrip said he was working on plans to attempt the Sprint Cup Inaugural event at Kentucky Speedway in July, along with his first Le Mans start with AF Corse.

55 in honor of Aaron's 1955 founding and he hired Mark Martin and Brian Vickers to co-drive with Waltrip in 2012 and 2013 In January, he was confirmed as a driver for AF Corse Ferrari in the inaugural season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

After a series of mechanical problems and off course excursions, Waltrip, Rob Kaufmann, Rui Águas, and Travis Pastrana never gave up and pressed on to finish 22nd in GT and 35th overall.

On the last lap, Waltrip was running 5th when he jumped to the bottom lane and made a move for the lead to try to win heading into turn 4 with drafting help from Casey Mears.

As a result, NAPA Auto Parts pulled its sponsorship of the team at the end of the year, forcing Waltrip to release Martin Truex Jr. from his contract.

At Daytona in Speedweeks, Waltrip was collected in a last-lap pileup caused when Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas on the final lap.

Waltrip skipped the summer Daytona race, but returned at Talladega in the fall, running a third MWR entry after leasing the owner points from the No.

[25] Waltrip started 32nd out of the 40 car field, avoiding several large wrecks to end his NASCAR career with an eighth-place finish.

Later that night a gunman fired shots at the festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, causing the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The following morning, Waltrip revealed on his Instagram account that he had befriended a family while in Las Vegas earlier in the day, that was also scheduled to attend the festival.

[36] After a race in 1992, Waltrip hit driver Dave Marcis while he was still in his car, punching him in the mouth and cutting his lip open, and was fined $500 (equivalent to US$1,086 in 2023) for his actions.

43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Charger in the early part of the 2005 season, which came to a head during races at Martinsville and Darlington, where Green and Waltrip wrecked each other on several occasions.

Later in the week, NASCAR handed down the punishment to Michael Waltrip Racing, which included the ejection of team vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy and Crew Chief David Hyder from the garage at Daytona.

[44] In the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400, the final race before the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Waltrip's team was penalized with the biggest penalty in NASCAR's history.

Waltrip stated as a reaction to the penalties that "I want to sincerely apologize to NASCAR, our sponsors, fans, and fellow drivers who were disappointed in our actions.