A blow to the head could knock a person unconscious. But in the case of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip, a near-fatal accident on the racetrack "knocked him conscious," as he himself called it.
Why? It's because the sudden impact when his car spun out of control and hit a dirt bank became his wakeup call to change his ungodly ways and manners.
"It scared the hell out of me," Waltrip said of his brush with death during the 1983 Daytona 500 race.
Recalling what the ace driver told the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., God Reports said soon after regaining his senses following the crash, Waltrip became aware of his mortality as he thought of what would happen next after death.
Before the accident, Waltrip said he knew people regarded him with disdain despite his popularity on the racetracks, being one of the world's winningest race car drivers. Waltrip raced in nearly 100 races in his career, including 22 top 5 finishes, a NASCAR record, according to Hear It First.
"They said I was brash, ruthless, pushy, cocky, conceited, aloof, boastful, arrogant, and downright annoying – and those were people that liked me," Waltrip said.
He also had no time for God, racing even on Sundays, despite being married to a devout Christian woman.
When his wife would urge him to go to church, he would say, "I don't have time to go to church. I'm busy all through the week. I just don't have time for this church stuff and God stuff..."
But then God got his full attention during that fateful day in Daytona.
Waltrip suffered a serious head concussion, and doctors said it was a miracle he survived the crash.
After that accident, Waltrip became a changed man. He started going to church with his wife and began listening to the Word of God.
He then realised that he needed Jesus as the number one priority in his life.
"I got down off my high horse and got down on my knees," he said as he sought the Lord's forgiveness for his sins.
After he did this, he said he felt he was born again. "That was the greatest day of my life. That changed everything," the NASCAR legend said.
Waltrip has long retired from racing and is now spending his time trying to help fellow race car drivers the best way he can. He devised a programme called Motor Racing Outreach (MRO), where he could provide prayer and spiritual support for the racers and their families.
Today, the 70-year-old Waltrip does expert analysis on national broadcasts of NASCAR racing events.
