Michael Waltrip donates portion of race winnings to Tennessee tornado victims
Michael Waltrip took half of his winnings from the Easter weekend NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway and used it to donate cash and sponsor Best Western provided rooms to victims of the tornadoes in the Nashville area that occurred on the Friday before the April 11 race.
“When I was 11, I think, I remember major tornado warnings in Owensboro, Ky., and it missed us, and for some reason, I’ve always been sensitive to tornadoes because I remember what it made me feel like as a little kid,” Waltrip said. “Grownups are smart enough to deal with it; children are just going, ‘This can be bad.’
“I was in Tennessee and they had tornadoes near the track, and I was really thinking about the children that were displaced from their homes and affected by the tornado.”
Waltrip’s earnings in the race were $14,925, so he gave $7,500 to the local United Way.
