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Michael Waltrip gets emotional as he tells his story. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS » More Photos
Michael Waltrip choked back tears Thursday morning as he publicly apologized for the scandalous cheating incident that marred his nascent Michael Waltrip Racing team's debut during Daytona Speedweeks.
Waltrip's Camry was found with an illegal fuel-additive during inspection after Daytona 500 qualifying on Sunday, and NASCAR responded Wednesday by indefinitely suspending MWR's crew chief and competition director, confiscating Waltrip's car and fining the team 100 owner points and Waltrip 100 driving points. Crew chief David Hyder was also fined $100,000. Hyder's fine was the biggest dollar fine in history, and the points fine was the second-biggest in NASCAR history.
On Thursday morning in the Daytona Infield Media Center, a visibly shaken Waltrip struggled to speak as he addressed the media over the incident.
"Now, I'm ready to bear all responsibility for what happened," Waltrip said. "I encourage you to ask me any questions or write your opinions because you can't hurt me any worse than I am right now. My beautiful 9-year-old asked her mom on Monday why Daddy cheated the rules. That hurts pretty bad.
"I love NASCAR," Waltrip said. "I hate that I've caused this sort of commotion around their wonderful sport. This is the Daytona 500. We're not supposed to be talking about some stupid fuel thing that we put in the car. We're supposed to be talking about the pageantry and glory of what it means to win this race. I'm embarrassed to be sitting here in front of you, taking up your time talking about something that doesn't have anything to do with what the fans have come to see."
Waltrip maintained, as he has all along, that he was unaware that the fuel
The veteran driver said he "came real close to not racing" in today's Daytona Duels qualifying races. Waltrip does not have a guaranteed spot in the Daytona 500 and needs to finish his race in one of the top two positions among the 11 non-qualified drivers in his race. He will compete with two formidable handicaps: First, he will start the race at the back of the field, and second, he will be racing a backup car that has not had a single lap of practice on the track.
"I just felt like there would be a cloud over whatever I accomplished today because of what happened," said Waltrip, "but with encouragement from Toyota and (sponsor) NAPA and Mr. Helton (NASCAR President Mike), we're here to do all we can do and race our way into the race, but mainly start rebuilding people's faith and trust."
Waltrip said he will work hard to try and rebuild his team's shattered reputation. "I'm very disappointed and sad," he said. "I don't know what else to say, other than I don't think we'll ever put it behind us, but we'll certainly try to do better in the future."
"It's more than just a job to me and it's more than just a sport to me. I hold NASCAR and Mr. Helton, Brian France, Mr. France … they're my friends. And you never want to disappoint your friends. I know they're disappointed in my organization."
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