Teammates Honor NASCAR Champion Kulwicki
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College Administration
Gathering 20 years after his death, the teammates of Alan Kulwicki shared a number of colorful stories about the hands-on engineer who was the driver and owner of his NASCAR Winston Cup Championship team.
UNC Charlotte’s Motorsports Alumni Chapter held the event to honor the memory of NASCAR Kulwicki on the 20th anniversary of his death and to raise money for a scholarship fund in his name.
Team members recalled memories of the charismatic Kulwicki and the 1992 championship season. As a small low-budget team, they talked of having to do many different jobs in the garage and the pits. Some notable stories included:
- They had only two sets of cylinder heads for their engines, which meant one team member having to take the cloths out of his suitcase so the heads could fly home with him following a west coast race.
- Kulwicki kept a fax machine by his bedside, and it wasn’t unusual to get a fax from him at 3 a.m.
- The other teams didn’t understand Kulwicki and his charts that compared car performance.
- He was always thinking and talking about how to improve the car, even while racing. The most common comment from the crew to him during races was “Shut up and drive.”
- He always had three questions for anyone working in the shop – “Can you do it faster, can you do it better, can you do it cheaper.”
- Budget was always an issue; the team reused oil, lug nuts and anything they could.
- He always seemed to have flowers in his car trunk from sponsors or events, and when crew members were in trouble with their wives because he had kept them at the shop all night he would say, “Here, take these home and everything will be fine.”
- On a small piece of paper in his wallet, Kulwicki kept a list of the attributes he was looking for in a wife, which he updated regularly.
- It wasn’t unusual for team members to be fired and rehired on a regular basis.
- When asked if Kulwicki could have driven for another owner the answer was unanimous; “No way.” “Uh uh.” “No sir.” “He wouldn’t have lasted a day.”