The Crittenden Automotive Library

Alan Kulwicki

Alan Kulwicki
Person

Topic Navigation
Wikipedia: Alan Kulwicki Page Sections Biography Photographs Article Index Merchandise

Born: December 14, 1954
Died: April 1, 1993
Hometown: Greenfield, Wisconsin

Former Winston Cup driver between 1985 and 1993. In his short career he accumulated 24 poles, 5 wins and a Winston Cup Championship in 207 starts.

His accomplishments include:
1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year
1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion

Alan Kulwicki died in an airplane crash.

Biography

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Alan Kulwicki page on 24 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Alan Dennis Kulwicki, nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series. Kulwicki arrived at NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with no sponsor, a limited budget and only a racecar and a borrowed pickup truck. Despite starting with meager equipment and finances, he earned the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award over drivers racing for well-funded teams.

After Kulwicki won his first race at Phoenix International Raceway, he debuted what would become his trademark "Polish victory lap". Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship by what was then the closest margin in NASCAR history. He died early in 1993 in a light aircraft accident and therefore never defended his championship. He has been inducted into numerous racing halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers.

Kulwicki was known for being a perfectionist and doing things his own way. An engineer by trade, his scientific approach to NASCAR racing inspired the way teams are now run. Despite lucrative offers from top car owners, he insisted on driving for his own race team, AK Racing, during most of his NASCAR career. Described by his publicist as "a real hard type of person to get to know", he remained a bachelor throughout his life.

Photographs

	1985 Milwaukee Sentinel 200 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1985 Milwaukee Sentinel 200 - 1,328KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,181KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,390KB
	1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,408KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,406KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,436KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,394KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,438KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,283KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,155KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,123KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 1,048KB
	1986 Goody's 500 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1986 Goody's 500 - 892KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,252KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. 100KB
	1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,457KB
	1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1988 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,168KB
	1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 (ASA Racing) Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki ASA Racing 1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 - 1,468KB
	1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 (ASA Racing) Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki ASA Racing 1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 - 1,176KB
	1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 (ASA Racing) Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki ASA Racing 1989 Pontiac Excitement 200 - 1,423KB
	1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,096KB
	1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 949KB
	1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,217KB
	1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 Photo courtesy Photo ©John Walczak. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. View photo of Alan Kulwicki Car at the 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 - 1,468KB
	1991 Daytona 500 Car 1:24 scale Monogram #2961 kit Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet March 8, 2009 View photo of 1991 Alan Kulwicki Daytona 500 Army Model Car - 3,572KB
	1991 Daytona 500 Car 1:24 scale Monogram #2961 kit Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet March 8, 2009 View photo of 1991 Alan Kulwicki Daytona 500 Army Model Car - 3,335KB
	1991 Daytona 500 Car 1:24 scale Monogram #2961 kit Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet March 8, 2009 View photo of 1991 Alan Kulwicki Daytona 500 Army Model Car - 3,387KB

Article Index

Date	Article	Author/Source
17 June 2006	Forgotten NASCAR Greats: 1970's: Alan Kulwicki	Bill Crittenden

Merchandise

Type & Item #	Name	Details
Die Cast - Action 100426	Alan Kulwicki #97 WLPX	1983 Pontiac Firebird, Xtreme Series, 1:24 scale, production 3,792 (ARC 3,504/QVC 288)
Die Cast - Action 100431	Alan Kulwicki #22 Miller	1984 Pontiac Firebird, Xtreme Series, 1:24 scale, production 4,500
Model Kit - Monogram 0761	Alan Kulwicki's Quincy's Thunderbird	AK Collection, 1:24 scale, 1985-1986
Collector Card - 1992 Maxx 7	Alan Kulwicki	#7 Hooters Ford
Collector Card - 1992 Maxx 284	Race 20: Bristol	Bud 500, Alan Kulwicki #7 Hooters Ford