In
Memory of...
Alan
Kulwicki
1954-1993
Growing up in Greenfield, Wisconsin, Alan took to the local dirt tracks to cut his racing teeth on, as his driving improved, and the desire for something more hit him, he moved on to the ASA. While driving in the ASA, he got a taste of what it was like to race against top notch drivers, such as Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin, who would later move to Winston Cup. Alan had a very successful career in the ASA, becoming well known, and a force to reckon with each time he got behind the wheel. Still, there was something more that he desired from racing, he felt he could compete with the big boys down south in the Winston Cup division of Nascar. So he loaded up an old beat up pick-up truck, and along with a makeshift trailer, and a couple cars, he moved to the heart of Nascar, he moved to North Carolina. He started out in the Busch Series, but only drove in 3 races. Driving for car owner Bill Terry, and carrying the Quincy's Steak House sponsorship in 1986, Alan went on to gain valuable experience that year, as well as winning the 1986 Winston Cup "Rookie of the Year". He then went on to buy this same team, and putting forth all his resources, he signed Zerex as his sponsor. Being an owner/driver was a big obstacle that Alan was ready to overcome, several times the great Junior Johnson tried to sign Alan to drive his cars, but Alan was determined to do it all his way, and on his own. During the 1988 season, Alan was having some success, he was always a threat to win every week, and then finally, in the next to the last race of the season, it happened, Alan had won his first race at Phoenix. When the race had ended, Alan spun the car around, and drove around the track the wrong way, waving to the crowd, and establishing what he called a "polish victory lap". In later years, Zerex would drop their sponsorship of his team, which would send Alan searching to fund his team. At the 1991 Daytona 500, with the United States at war in the Persian Gulf, several cars were painted up to celebrate the different branches of our Armed Services. Alan's thunderbird carried the black, and tan, camouflaged look of the United States Army. After this race, it went back to the plain look with the "AK" logo across the hood. About halfway through the season, a fledgling restaurant chain owner contacted Alan about race-to-race sponsorship. This chain was Hooter's. Bob Brooks was trying to revive his dying franchises, and decide the best advertisement was Winston Cup racing. With scantly clad waitresses, and Alan's great runs each week, the the restaurant chain started to grow again, and for the 1992 racing season, they signed to be the full-time sponsor of Alan Kulwicki Racing. 1992 was a tremendous year for Alan. Still winning, and having consistent runs each week, he found himself going into the last race of the season in contention for the championship, in a 3 way battle with points leader Davey Allison, and Bill Elliott. Davey was involved in an earlier accident, which knocked him out of the championship chase, and it came down to Alan, and Bill. I remember sharing my scanner with my friend Bill,(huge fan of Alan's), and we listened as we heard Alan's crew tell him he had to lead a few extra laps in order to clinch the title. Alan passed Elliott, and led at least 3 laps, before being passed again, and we heard his team on the scanner saying, "Congratulations, Champ". This was a special day for everyone. I saw Richard Petty's last race, Bill saw his favorite driver become champion, live, in person, not on a tv broadcast, and Alan Kulwicki became the 1992 Winston Cup Champion. So it had happened, an engineer from Wisconsin, who laid it all out on the table, finally made it to the top. Sadly, not even into halfway of the 1993 season, while flying to the Bristol Speedway, the airplane that carried Alan, and others, had crashed in the night, killing all aboard. The racing world was shocked, we have had our champion taken from us way to early. We often sit back and ponder what might have been. Through hard work, dedication, and a lot of sweat, Alan did things his way, and he won. In the sport today with drivers becoming owners, it shows what groundwork Alan had laid before them to attempt this feat, and we always wonder how well Alan could have succeeded in the world of multi-car teams. I think he would have had at least 2 championships by this time. We all wish you were still with us.