And here is Michael Waltrip from last night.....
When we come back, the winner of the Daytona 500, a sadly tainted victory for terrific driver Michael Waltrip right next on LARRY KING LIVE.
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KING: From Sherrils Ford, North Carolina, we thank him for joining us, is Michael Waltrip, the winner of the Daytona 500. His brother, Darrell, was with us last night. Services will take place for the legendary Dale Earnhardt tomorrow and Thursday.
Michael, just to explain a little, Dale owned his car and he owned two other cars in the race; right? Yours and his son's.
MICHAEL WALTRIP, NASCAR DRIVER: Yes, and Steve Parks. Dale actually drove for another team and owned three teams that the three of us drove for.
KING: And this is allowed in NASCAR; right? I can drive for another person and own other cars.
WALTRIP: Yes, but it's unique. Not very many people have the ability to handle such a feat. And last year, Dale, had two teams and yet raced for the Winston Cup championship. This year, he added my team, a third team, and at one point in the Daytona 500, Larry, we were running one, two, three with the Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated cars and Dale was running fourth. So, you can see what a genius he was behind the scenes of our race teams and then driving his car to front as well.
KING: And since this was your first NASCAR victory, he hired you. He gave you a tremendous break here, did he not?
KING: You won't believe what he gave me. He gave me not only a team and a bunch people working behind me to give me the chance to win a race, but he instilled something in me more than that. Ever since he hired me, all I've heard from him was you better win a race.
You're going to win a race, and he said it so many times and just gave me so much confidence that when I got to Daytona I was like, I'm going to win the Daytona 500. Yes, I believe that. And then we went out did the job. So, he just was so much to me and my career, 16 years of trying, and finally brought it home.
KING: Now how soon, Michael, after you won it -- you knew Dale finished second. Drivers know where everyone is in the race. How soon did you know after you won it that something had happened to Dale?
WALTRIP: It wasn't right away, Larry. I pulled into victory lane. My brother was on the headset talking to me and the pictures were being taken. I was enjoying the moment, but I kept looking over my shoulder because I knew any minute Dale was going to walk into victory lane and grab me around neck and give me a big hug and say that's what I was talking about right there.
And when he didn't show up for a while and Dale Junior didn't show up a while, I just got to thinking something is not right. And then Kenny Schroeder, who was involved in the accident as well, came to victory lane a short time after that and said that Dale was not doing well, and to be praying for him and thinking of him. And I went from the greatest day of my life to the worst day all within minutes.
KING: Boy, I guess that's impossible to explain isn't it?
WALTRIP: It is -- I just keep saying it's a crazy world. The only thing that keeps me going is I have faith in God, and I believe that in the twinkle of an eye, Dale was out of that car and in Heaven watching me celebrate from victory lane. That's what I believe, and that makes me rest better. But I certainly am going to have a lot of questions one day to try to find out what makes these things happen.
KING: Are you going to ride Sunday?
WALTRIP: Yes, sir. Dale would have wanted it that way. I knew Dale really well. I have been able to tell people stories about Dale and share the story of the Daytona 500 because of the strength that Dale has given me because I know he would want to us go on. He would be kicking us in rear end saying, "You better get your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I want to see some more wins."
He would be telling me that that Daytona 500 win doesn't mean a whole lot if I don't give him some more to back it up with, so...
KING: But it's going to be an eerie feeling, isn't it, at the start?
WALTRIP: I think it will be...
KING: I mean, once you're racing, you're racing.
WALTRIP: I think it will be very eerie on Saturday -- Friday afternoon and Saturday, walking around, knowing that Dale is not there.
Dale has meant so much to so many people. There's just an outcry of -- an outpouring of support by the shop there in Mooresville, North Carolina, and the media has just done a fantastic job memorializing Dale, and I appreciate all those things that have gone on, but, you know, there are certainly going to be some heavy hearts.
KING: Are you going wear any of this new safety gear they're talking about, which is mandated in formula driving?
WALTRIP: Well, in Atlanta, in a week, I have a test, and I've planned on, all along, testing the new Hans device there to see if it's something that I'm comfortable with.
I've been driving these cars for a long time and I've wrecked really hard and bad and I understand that every wreck is different, but I -- I brace and I hang on a certain way and I'm real comfortable with the way I do things, and so this is going to be something new and different.
And while I am open to trying it and I will try it, I want to do it in a test first and I'm planning on doing that down at Atlanta next week.
KING: Obviously, we know the dangers. I asked your brother this last night -- Michael, why do you do you this?
WALTRIP: Man, Larry...
KING: I mean, you could die Sunday, easily, not by some -- you could die easily.
WALTRIP: Well, the fact of the matter is we've had four deaths in the last year and that's just out of control. I mean, I do not -- I cannot explain those things happening. Before that, through the '90s, seldom, but occasionally, someone did get killed and we understand there is risk to that.
But it starts out so innocently. You're a 10- or 12-year-old kid in a little go-cart racing around. It's the best time in your whole life and you just want to get a car so you can race. And you -- you're racing on a quarter-mile track and you're banging on your buddies and it's just the best time in the whole world, and you just want to do more and more and more.
And by the time you finally get to the places like Daytona or Talladega and running 200 miles an hour, it's in your blood. It's a way of -- it's part of your life. It's what helps complete who you are and you can't just -- you can't just walk away from it.
KING: Throw it away.
Thank you, Michael, and good luck on the weekend.
WALTRIP: Thank you, Larry, for having me on, and I just want to say hey to Sterling Marlin and let all the fans know that, man, what happened to Dale was just a racing deal, you know.
KING: Yes, don't blame anybody.
WALTRIP: Don't blame anybody. Dale wouldn't want it that way, and, none of us -- none of his teammates certainly want it to be that way, either.
KING: Michael Waltrip, the winner of the Daytona 500.
What an incredible story.
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