'The story is yet to be told in full': 30 years after his untimely death, Alan Kulwicki's racing legacy lives on
HUSTISFORD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The first of April is an anniversary tied to many heavy hearts in both the NASCAR and Wisconsin racing communities.
It was 30 years ago, April 1, 1993, Alan Kulwicki, lost his life along with three others in a plane crash near Blountville, Tennessee. It happened just months after the Greenfield-native was crowned the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series Champion as an owner and driver, the first from the state of Wisconsin to achieve the honor.
Motorsports journalist Jim Tretow remembers the day all too well.
"When that plane went down and that phone rang at 10:30 that evening and I was told the news and I was just shook to the core," Tretow recalled. "There's no way, no way Alan could die. He built all this, he's now starting to enjoy it a little bit."
Kulwicki's story is one of grit and determination that started on the go-kart track in Dousman, Wisconsin, before leading to track championships at short tracks throughout the state of Wisconsin and success on the short track scene across the country. The whole time, things were done Kulwicki's way.
"Focus and determination is what really propelled him and inspired others," Tretow said. "He had such a drive and determination that the focus he had and what he was able to accomplish. Thinking back to all the people that worked with him, whether it be a short time or for years, they were dedicated, too, because he was a task master."
The focus and determination was what set Kulwicki apart from the competition, and in 1992, helped him accomplish what almost everyone in the motorsports community, including Tretow, thought was unthinkable; winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with his own car and crew against teams with more funding, more resources and more crew members.
"I was one of the guys, I still was one of the guys until I was in the grandstands in Atlanta in 1992 in November saying 'I don't think he's going to be able to do this,'" Tretow explained. "While I sat in the grandstands and he won the NASCAR Cup Championship, that validated a lot of things for me because up until that moment, if you'd asked me even that day, that morning, 'You think he's got a shot?' My answer would have been 'I don't know.'"
Thirty years later, there's not a shred of doubt regarding what Kulwicki and his race team were able to accomplish during the 1992 season, leaving his mark on the NASCAR scene and providing an immense sense of pride for his supporters back home.
"It's a thrill. I mean, Alan came from the short tracks. He did a lot of things in the shop," Tretow said. "His shop was no bigger than your two car garage attached to your house at home. That's what he started with."
Today, Kulwicki's legacy still lives on in several different ways. The Kulwicki Driver Development Program has been around for the better part of a decade, providing funding for young racers as they try and climb the motorsports ladder just as Alan did. There are also scholarships in his name at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he graduated with a degree in engineering, and at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte. A park in Greenfield, Wisconsin, is also dedicated to Kulwicki and his accomplishments.
For John Safro, he chooses to keep Kulwicki's legacy alive and on track in his own special way.
"I never knew Alan. Never got to meet him, but I've had so many close ties with him," explained Safro. "This is the second stock car that I've owned."
The stock car Safro is referring to is the number 7 1992 Ford Thunderbird Stock Car Kulwicki drove to two victories during his 1992 championship-winning season.
"Alan's car is bigger than life for me," explained Safro, who takes the car to various auto shows and even races it as a part of vintage racing competition at tracks including Road America here in Wisconsin. "I want to keep his legacy going and try to, try to do it the right way, the way he would want it or do it himself. To me, it's important for the family and all the fans. It's an honor."
An honor to sit behind the same steering wheel as Wisconsin's first NASCAR Cup Series champion, and to keep his legacy alive well into the future while honoring the past.
"The stories and number of people who said they crewed or ran somewhere for a part or ran fuel for him or they went and got him sandwiches," Safro recalled. "The stories just go on and on and at every event, bar none, every event we learn from somebody else."
Safro says as he's continued to learn more and more about the importance of the car, he wants to continue to share it so that Kulwicki's legacy can continue to live on, and people who perhaps didn't get to see the number 7 on track with Kulwicki behind the wheel can still experience some of the magic.
It's a noble effort, one Tretow says is being handled by the best person.
"A lot of people just want to trailer their cars and show them off," Tretow said. "I love the passion Johnny has as a racer to say 'I bought it to race. Now I'm learning the value of it; I appreciate it. He's really a patron for us now. Imagine wherever he goes, he's got to tell the story or listen to others tell their Alan Kulwicki stories, which I think is great. He's the perfect guy for that."
As for the Alan Kulwicki history will remember, that story still needs to be written.
"The story is yet to be told in full," said Tretow, who hopes to continue to share Kulwicki memories as a part of his weekly Racing Round-Up radio show, which featured Kulwicki as a guest back in 1985. "One of my goals is for the next 30 years, people can see what we did on YouTube, people can see things like this program and say 'Wow, that was pretty cool. I want to learn more about that guy.' That's all part of the history, but I feel myself in 30 years, I hope people have the chance to see what's going on now."