Alan Kulwicki - 1992 - 75 Years: The Champions ***2024 Updated***

Alan Kulwicki - 1992 - 75 Years: The Champions

The Underbird, Wisconsin driver Alan Kulwicki rose to an improbable, miraculous late season charge that culminated in one of the greatest races in NASCAR history. Kulwicki trailed championship leader Bill Elliott by 278 points with six races remaining but a string of good finishes allowed him to make up the ground. Davey Allison led much of the 1992 season, but after suffering two terrible wrecks and family tragedy, he found himself trailing Elliott through October. Allison retook the points lead upon winning in the penultimate race at Phoenix. Allison was poised to take the crown at the final race at Atlanta, but it was not to be. Car 28 faced trouble all day, taking damage to the rear in a lap 2 wreck, then running over debris midway through the race damaging the front nose. Allison still maintained championship position however until a late-race wreck with Ernie Irvan ended any shot he had at keeping ahead of Elliott and Kulwicki.

Kulwicki and Elliott battled throughout the race, spending much of the day side by side on the treacherous Atlanta track. Kulwicki led narrowly in the closing stages, but had lost first gear early in the race, making pit stops tricky. Knowing this, Kulwicki stayed out several extra laps beyond his fuel window to try to secure the bonus points for most laps led. He coasted into the pit on fumes for that final stop, and left trailing Elliott. Terry Labonte ran one lap longer than either driver, preventing Elliott from leading the 315th lap, which caused Elliott to come up one lap short of Kulwicki’s total, handing the bonus points, and the championship, to Kulwicki. This paint represents the number 7 Hooters Ford as it appeared in that Atlanta finale.

The 75 Years project is a series of paints dedicated to the history of NASCAR racing. Follow me for updates: twitter.com/iam27paul