Long Live #3
04-02-2003, 10:31 AM
When the plane carrying Alan Kulwicki crashed into the frigid Tennessee turf on April 1, 1993, a lot of people assumed that Alan Kulwicki Racing died along with him.
They were wrong. It still lives today.
Kulwicki didn't leave children to carry on his racing legacy like Dale Earnhardt, the man who won the championship the year before (1991) and the year after (1993) Kulwicki.
Kulwicki's legacy isn't carried on with offspring or a huge race shop bearing his name. The race shop he did inhabit is now empty, his team defunct after others took it over.
But Kulwicki left something to his fiercely loyal employees that can't be measured by dollar signs, acreage or square footage. He left a way of doing things, and his method has helped several of his employees rise to the very top of their professions.
Kulwicki was fond of reaching goals, something he undoubtedly left behind in Alan Kulwicki Racing employees.
Most are still working in the sport today, and several have reached heights of which even they never dreamed.
Kulwicki, an outsider from Wisconsin, was able to win the Winston Cup championship in 1992 by believing in himself -- and the people who worked for him.
Even after his death, the men and women who worked under him have continued to succeed, and the people he left continue to carry on the tradition of excellence that he was not able to do himself.
Because of the demands Kulwicki placed on his employees, it helped them move up the Winston Cup ladder. As a result, it's no surprise that most of them eventually landed with multi-car operations, where they continue to flourish.
To honor the memory of Kulwicki on the 10-year anniversary of his death, NASCAR.com's Ryan Smithson takes a look at the employees he left behind, and how he helped them succeed despite sometimes overwhelming odds.
Go to www.nascar.com and click on Kulwicky: 10 years for more info on Kulwicky's crew.
They were wrong. It still lives today.
Kulwicki didn't leave children to carry on his racing legacy like Dale Earnhardt, the man who won the championship the year before (1991) and the year after (1993) Kulwicki.
Kulwicki's legacy isn't carried on with offspring or a huge race shop bearing his name. The race shop he did inhabit is now empty, his team defunct after others took it over.
But Kulwicki left something to his fiercely loyal employees that can't be measured by dollar signs, acreage or square footage. He left a way of doing things, and his method has helped several of his employees rise to the very top of their professions.
Kulwicki was fond of reaching goals, something he undoubtedly left behind in Alan Kulwicki Racing employees.
Most are still working in the sport today, and several have reached heights of which even they never dreamed.
Kulwicki, an outsider from Wisconsin, was able to win the Winston Cup championship in 1992 by believing in himself -- and the people who worked for him.
Even after his death, the men and women who worked under him have continued to succeed, and the people he left continue to carry on the tradition of excellence that he was not able to do himself.
Because of the demands Kulwicki placed on his employees, it helped them move up the Winston Cup ladder. As a result, it's no surprise that most of them eventually landed with multi-car operations, where they continue to flourish.
To honor the memory of Kulwicki on the 10-year anniversary of his death, NASCAR.com's Ryan Smithson takes a look at the employees he left behind, and how he helped them succeed despite sometimes overwhelming odds.
Go to www.nascar.com and click on Kulwicky: 10 years for more info on Kulwicky's crew.