Remembering a champion: Alan Kulwicki
By Liz Allison, Turner Sports Interactive
April 26, 2002
Last Thursday night, the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, Alan Kulwicki, was honored and remembered as he was inducted in to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.
Kyle Petty, a close friend of the Wisconsin native, shared special memories of his fallen friend as Alan's father Gerald Kulwicki accepted the honor for his late son.
Alan captured the coveted Winston Cup title just six months before he lost his life in an airplane accident on his way to Bristol, Tenn., for the weekend's race events in April 1993.
The airplane carrying the reigning champion went down near the airport with no survivors. Also aboard was Mark Brooks the son of the Hooters Restaurant chain extraordinaire, Bob Brooks.
Alan's life was cut short, but he left a mark in the sport one of which has not since been touched. He won the Winston Cup title in 1992 as the underdog. He battled the championship with Bill Elliott and Davey Allison both of whom had top-rated teams with substantial sponsors.
Not Kulwicki, he was doing it his way. He did what most people felt could not be done in the modern era of this sport. He was his own car owner, his own boss. He continued to make it work even without a primary sponsor at the end of the 1990 season. He hung in there until Hooters came on board in the spring of 1991.
When Kulwicki accepted the championship honor on the stage of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, December 1992, the song "I Did It My Way" was selected as the song for his video presentation. There was not a song more fitting for the man that some considered a bit different from the racing norm.
Alan was not cut from the same mold as most of the Cup drivers. He was very intense and driven, which alienated him from many. Most people did not know how to take Alan. Was he snobby, non-social and drab? How about just completely into the sport that he had come to live, eat and sleep. There was not much time to play for Alan. It was all about business.
From early on, Alan's father Gerald knew that Alan was driven. Gerald himself was an engine builder and had shared his son's passion of fast cars.
"I bought him a go-kart and he kept changing the motors and working on it until he worked himself in to something bigger. He loved racing."
It has been nine years since Alan lost his life and ten since he captured that coveted title. It is about time that Alan gets recognized for his contributions to this sport and the hard work he put in to taking the owner/driver team to the crowned jewel.
The Hooters car today is driven by another owner/driver Brett Bodine with a shield carrying the initials of Alan and all on board the aircraft that crashed in to a Tennessee hillside in 1993 as a remembrance. The shield reads " We race in their memory -- April 1, 1993."
A simple reminder of the man that did it his way and a big way that was.
Liz Allison's column appears weekly on NASCAR.com and the opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
Slider' earns fitting honor
By GODWIN KELLY
Everybody, it seems, has a tall tale about Alan Kulwicki and the stories are sure to swirl like leaves in a tornado this week.Kulwicki will be inducted tonight into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala. The Class of 2002 also includes Ettore Bugatti, Denis Hulme, Jacky Ickx, Tim Richmond and Glen Wood.
Kulwicki represents the ultimate rags-to-riches NASCAR story. After a successful short-track career in the Midwest, Kulwicki made a full-time commitment to Winston Cup racing in 1986.With limited funds, one car and two engines, he captured Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors. He always drove a car he owned and through his career became NASCAR's favorite underdog and something of an everyman folk hero.
'SLIDER' GETS CROWN
During the 1992 season Kulwicki moved up and down the top 10 in the points standings. It even caught the eye of Dale Earnhardt, who promptly nicknamed Kulwicki "Slider."
The championship chase came down to the last race of the season, in which Kulwicki overcame Davey Allison and incredible odds to capture the Winston Cup championship.That 500-mile race was a crossroads for Winston Cup. It was Richard Petty's last race and Jeff Gordon's first in NASCAR's top division. Still, Kulwicki stole the headlines with his improbable title chase. Going into that race, Kulwicki approached Ford about changing the name of his car from "Thunderbird" to "Underbird." Ford agreed.Port Orange's Larry Bean has since restored the car Kulwicki drove to the title to its race-day appearance.
SHORT REIGN AS CHAMP
Kulwicki didn't get a chance to enjoy his championship for long. His private plane crashed the following April en route to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Kulwicki, the pilots and two other passengers were killed.
But his memory lives on, thanks in part to Kulwicki's quirky nature.For instance, at one New Year's Eve bash, Kulwicki showed up wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe.After winning a race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Kulwicki arrived in the press box waving an odds chart that appeared in a local newspaper. Kulwicki's odds for winning? Five hundred to one.
Kulwicki goes into the Hall of Fame tonight, but it's too bad he won't be there to accept the honor. He was one of kind.
Kelly is The News-Journal's Motorsports Editor.
Alan Kulwicki: Still My Hero
by Ellen Nordvig, SCC Staff
Hooters returned as sponsor of Winston Cup driver Brett Bodine this week and that brought both smiles and pause for reflection for this writer. While happy for Bodine, my feelings came from remembering Hooters sponsorship of Alan Kulwicki. It doesn’t seem possible that it was nine years ago on April 1 that Alan left us all too early, after accomplishing so much with so little in such a short time.
In an interview prior to receiving the Winston Cup Championship ceremonies in 1992, Alan remarked that he just wanted to make a difference—to inspire. Like the late Dale Earnhardt, I wonder if Kulwicki knew how many lives he had touched, and how his accomplishments were, and continue to be an inspiration to so many.
Kulwicki simply wanted to be his own boss, to run and have control of his own operation. He was different from the beginning. He was from the north, held a degree in Mechanical Engineering and carried a briefcase to the garage. He was intensely focused, and always looking for a better way. He sacrificed and spent what little he had wisely. He raced clean and with a level head; the equipment belonged to him and he wanted to preserve it. He set goals, and if bad luck caused deviation from his plan, he chalked it up to experience and went on in the typical Kulwicki “determined” fashion. When he won, it was sweet, as success always is when you’ve done it “your way”.
Alan achieved his goal winning the Winston Cup Championship in 1992. In the ten years since, no owner/driver has repeated that feat. And while others keep trying, my prediction is it won’t happen again. He was honored as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, as a member of Lowe’s Motorspeedway’s Court of Legends, Heroes of Bristol, the NMPA Hall of Fame, the Polish American Hall of Fame and in April, Alan will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega.
Thanks to Alan, for inspiring me, and so many others. Thanks to him also, for being a role model and for never giving up pursuit of what he knew he could achieve. Thanks also to Bob Brooks of Hooters and the part his organization played in helping Alan achieve those goals.
In attendance at Talladega, will be many of us including Alan’s parents Thelma and Gerald Kulwicki, for whom his induction will be truly a proud moment.