Alan Kulwicki was born on 12/14/54 in Greenfield, Wisconsin. He grew up racing on dirt tracks and dreaming of making it to Nascar Winston Cup Racing one day. In 1986 Alan's dream came true, with only 2 cars, 2 engines, and 2 crew members he not only made it to Winston Cup, he went on to be that years Rookie of the Year. He won his first race in Phoenix in 1988. Over the next 4 years he would visit Victory Lane 4 more times. And in 1992 consistency paid off, Alan went on to edge out Bill Elliott by 10 points in the final race at Atlanta to capture the Winston Cup Championship. What a day that was! October 15, 1992. It was the end of an era, King Richard Petty's final race. It was the beginning of a new era, a kid named Jeff Gordon made his Winston Cup debut and finished 31'st. There has always been much controversy over which make of car has had an unfair advantage, but think about this. A Ford did not win the Winston Cup Championship again until Dale Jarrett did it in 1999! Alan got approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the Thunderbird lettering on his bumper for the race to "Underbird" because he felt like the underdog for winning the championship. He finished second in the race. Awesome Bill from Dawsonville won that race.With the help of bad luck to a few of the top five drivers and the cards falling "Special K's" way, Alan became the '92 Champ.
Alan went into 1993 as the reining champion but on April 1,1993 Alan Kulwick was taken from us while flying back from a Public Relations appearance in Knoxville, TN. The plane that he and three others were riding went down near Bristol. He was the last owner/driver to win a Championship and first non-southern driver and to have a college degree to win the Cup.
The NASCAR race winners that year showed respect by doing the "Polish Victory Lap". For those not familiar with that, Alan used to circle the track in the opposite direction when he won. Remember "dumb" Pollock jokes? What a sense of humor. The last race of the season, the race winner, Rusty Wallace, along with the Series Champion, Dale Earnhardt, completed one final "Polish Victory Lap" side by side. Rusty carried the #28 flag and Dale carried the #7 flag to honor both drivers.
Madd props to LaidBack Racin for da help!
Friday, April 28, 2006
Polish Power
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5 comments:
Nice post Dawg!! Great tribute to Kulwicki.
I let you know if Matt gives an update on New Orleans. With the cost of gas, I'm not driving there to see him. I'd have to take out a loan.
You missed the post below it about the "race after the race." I swear, racers race at anything.
i still miss him. he would have put whiney hiney jeffy poo and his mongrel partner in their places. never met him but it's a good thing i didn't in a way. he was a bit gruff with those-like photographers-that got in his way. he would work on the car by himself so no one knew what had been done.
Great pics and memories!!!! Still miss Davey & Alan!!
dawg-i posted answers to your posts. drop by.
Great question Dawg. While the "race after the race" is a race. It is off NASCAR premises and therefore I think all words and actions are free game. And actually, the boys can get pretty cussy on their scanners. Matt's favorite word on his scanner is what Jr got fined for at Dega on TV. But the eyes of NASCAR are vast and far reaching. All knowing, all seeing and Boo! They are behind you!!! Watch out.....
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