Though the track itself was ghostly silent, a crowd of race enthusiasts, politicians and campaign watchers at the Magnolia Motor Speedway got their engines revved Monday morning as NASCAR legend Darrell “D.W.” Waltrip hopped off a Haley Barbour campaign bus and belted out a signature “Boogity boogity boogity!”

Speedway manager Chuck Cook was the ringmaster on the scene, welcoming onlookers to the meet-and-greet and making periodic loudspeaker announcements about Barbour's impending 10 a.m. arrival.

But it was hard to tell from the mix of business suits and pit jackets on hand which guest of honor had more supporters in the crowd.

The Republican governor is up for re-election Nov. 6, and his face has been ubiquitous around the Golden Triangle in recent weeks. Waltrip is a relative stranger to these parts, and a national celebrity of even higher name identification than Barbour himself.

“D-dubya”

 

Waltrip, 60, is widely known as simply D.W.,” or more phonetically correct, “D-dubya,” and remains one of NASCAR's biggest names, even seven years after his retirement from racing.

Since retiring, “D.W.” has shifted his enthusiasm to sports commentating on Fox's NASCAR coverage team. At the start of each race, Waltrip's line is always the same - “Boogity boogity boogity! Let's go racing, boys!”

“Darrell's just coming by to visit with us,” said Cook. “The governor'll be with him, and they're good friends.”

“And, you know, we're all proud of that. We're friends of the governor, so then the friends of the governor are friends with D.W., so now we're all friends, I guess,” Cook said.

As the chilly mid-morning breeze rippled racetrack flags and clusters of red, white and blue balloons, Waltrip and Barbour made their way through the Magnolia Speedway crowd, shaking hands and posing for photographs.

‘My people'

“These are my people,” said Waltrip, who had an 84-win career spanning 25 years and is NASCAR's Driver of the Decade for the '80s. To this day, Waltrip's records and wins keep him tied for third place on NASCAR's list of all-time greats. His victories include three Winston Cup championships and a Daytona 500 crown.

“This is the backbone of our sport ... and you're the fans that make our sport go round and round and round,” Waltrip directed at the crowd.

As he stood in the shade of Barbour's mammoth campaign bus, Waltrip was swamped by fans wanting an autograph on everything from posters to books to action figures. Basking in the attention, he joked as he gestured to Barbour's name in huge block letters on the side of the bus.

“I've got to remember whose name is the biggest on this thing,” he said.

Waltrip's name was also there, about a third as large, tucked into the bottom right corner of a campaign sign. With a slogan of “Race to the Winners' Circle,” the driver and the governor are hitting the road together to drum up votes for the Tuesday, Nov. 6, statewide elections.

No test drive

Columbus' Magnolia Speedway was the first of several stops on Monday's agenda, with later layovers in Tupelo, New Albany, Corinth and Blue Springs, home of the upcoming Toyota production plant. Waltrip, by no coincidence, is a national spokesperson for the automotive titan.

But the racer's gaze was fixed squarely on local ground Monday morning as he eyeballed the Magnolia Speedway's empty track. Half-joking and half not, he said he regretted he'd be unable to give the circuit a test drive. Also only half-joking, Barbour looked at Waltrip and said, “Tomorrow.”

Bent slightly over a decorative fin, Barbour, a pen cap clenched between his lips, autographed campaign signs on the back hood of a local race car, with Republican state auditor and lieutenant governor hopeful Phil Bryant at his side.

Lending support

Indeed, many heavy hitters of the state's Republican ticket were on hand to lend support and elicit some of their own, including Stacey Pickering and Delbert Hosemann, whom Barbour, with tongue firmly in cheek, called “Englebert” in reference to the candidate's well-aired campaign ads.

While Waltrip wondered aloud who held the Mag's track record, and a young boy, seemingly very happy to be out of school for the morning, ran his index finger along the chipped paint and battle scars of one race car's nose, Barbour had his eyes fixed on his own prize.

Under a small white tent, Barbour grabbed a microphone and asked event attendees to help make sure election day has a strong turnout statewide, his voice echoing back at him and the crowd from across the empty racetrack.

Behind the governor, the stiffening morning wind whipped about a large checkered flag as he spoke, his race not yet won but entering the final lap.

 

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