It wasn't a wreck this week that parked Waltrip. Waltrip was parked at Richmond for rough driving.
BAD BOY
Waltrip tangles with Mears; gets parked for agressive driving
Mears pinched Waltrip into the wall on lap 355, which incited Waltrip to push Mears' car for several hundred feet
Bob Pockrass / SceneDaily.com
NASCAR parked Michael Waltrip for aggressive driving following an accident with Casey Mears in the Crown Royal 400 on Saturday at Richmond International Raceway.
On lap 355, Mears cut in front of Waltrip, pinching Waltrip into the wall. Waltrip’s car then pushed Mears for several hundred feet following the initial contact. On his in-car radio, Mears told his spotter that he didn’t realize Waltrip was there
NASCAR parked Waltrip, who had completed 352 laps of a race that went 410 laps, for the retaliation against Mears.
“I got run into the wall and then for a split second I lost my cool and hit him back,” Waltrip said. “You can’t do that, so I got parked.”
Waltrip was a lapped-down car at the time but likely would have accumulated between 87 and 112 points depending on his finish if he stayed within two or three laps of the leaders. He finished with 52 points.
Losing those points will be a sufficient penalty in NASCAR’s eyes.
“We parked him for his aggressive driving after the incident and we’re done with that,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Saturday night.
Posted May 04, 2008 , 4:21 pm EST Last Updated May 06, 2008 , 3:33 pm EST
