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NASCAR Documentary Featuring Michael Waltrip’s Relationship with Earnhardt Family to Make TV Debut

Published 03/12/2021, 9:33 AM EST

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NASCAR documentary ‘Blink of an Eye’ will make its network debut on FOX Sports 1 on March 13th at 8 PM EST. The feature film revolves around the life of former NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip, his exploits in the Daytona 500 races, and his relationship with racing icon Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Originally published as a book by the name ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ in 2011, it chronicles many facets of Waltrip’s racing career.

Among the many plotlines that grip the story, none fascinate fans more than the time he won his first ever Cup Series race in 462 starts at the all-telling 2021 Daytona 500.

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By the looks of it then, there are certainly elements of intrigue, passion and emotion associated with this NASCAR-based documentary.

Michael Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500 in saddening circumstances

The bond between Earnhardt Sr and Waltrip had grown to be quite a special one off the track. It was because of this solid trust and admiration they had for one another that Waltrip came over to race for Dale Earnhardt Inc. in the 2001 season.

The team’s No.15 had not started that year’s Daytona 500 race brilliantly, but caught up to the rest of the pack with nearly 168 laps done.

From there until the end, he and Dale Earnhardt Jr changed hands for the lead, with Earnhardt Sr running in the background in 3rd.

But a disastrous final lap accident saw Earnhardt Sr suffer a huge crash, which also involved Ken Schrader and Sterling Marlin. At the other end of it, Waltrip just about tipped Earnhardt Jr by 0.124 seconds to win his first ever points-paying Cup Series event.

Waltrip has now become a NASCAR pundit in the modern day

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In one perspective, Waltrip winning the 2001 Daytona 500 was the best possible way he could pay tribute to his good friend. The documentary will hence seek to make racing fans reminisce, both the good and the bad memories, from nearly 2 decades ago.

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As far as the present day goes, Waltrip now plays a role of a pre-race analyst in the Cup Series for FOX Sports. He also has his own podcast named the ‘Waltrip Unfiltered Podcast’ which sees him converse with many people from the NASCAR community in every episode.

NASCAR has certainly come in leaps and bounds from the days where the likes of Earnhardt and Waltrip were in the prime of their careers.

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But that said, not a day goes by where the sport does not remember the legendary Richard Childress Racing No.3 and his contributions.

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Written by:

Bhargav Gopal

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Hailing from Bengaluru, Bhargav is an F1 and NASCAR author for EssentiallySports. He is a huge fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Bhargav also has an MBA in Sports Management from the Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Pune.
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