Alan Kulwicki
Alan Kulwicki (born december 14 1954 - april 1 1993) was a Polish-American NASCAR driver.
Alan Kulwicki was born on December 14, 1954 in Greenfield, Wisconsin. He raced on local dirt tracks, and in the ASA, and in 1986, he fielded his first Winston Cup racing team as owner AND driver. With just two cars and a relative half-handful of full-time crew members, he won Winston Cup Rookie Of The Year. He made famous the "polish victory lap" by driving the wrong way on the track after winning a race.
During is six-year Winston Cup career, Kulwicki won five Winston Cup races and earned ten pole positions. He went on to win the Winston Cup championship in 1992 he won the NASCAR Winston Cup championship, which was a noteworthy accomplishment for the following reasons:
- the last Winston Cup winner that served as both driver AND owner of his car/team
- the first Winston Cup winner with a college degree
- the first Winston Cup winner not born in a southern state
Tragically, Kulwicki killed at age 38 in plane crash on april 1 1993, near Bristol, Tenn.