Kulwicki barely misses Hall of Fame

Alan Kulwicki almost had enough votes to be elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Almost.

Kulwicki received 38% of the vote to finish tied for fifth place with Ron Hornaday, but Hornaday earned the fifth Hall of Fame spot due to a tie-breaker.

Also elected were Robert Yates, a NASCAR Cup champion as both an engine builder and owner, three-time NASCAR Cup championship crew chief Ray Evernham, driver Red Byron and broadcaster Ken Squier

Kulwicki’s statistics are unspectacular by Hall standards — five victories, 24 poles and one title — but the manner in which he accomplished them before his death at age 38 almost pushed him over the top.

A UW-Milwaukee engineering graduate and Greenfield native, Kulwicki won on the local level and then set out to forge a career in NASCAR, essentially without a safety net. He moved to Charlotte, N.C., in 1985, won rookie-of-the-year honors in ’86 with his own under-funded team and fought his way over numerous hurdles.

In 1989, when Kulwicki won for the first time in NASCAR’s premier division, then known as Winston Cup, Kulwicki turned his car around and performed a clockwise “Polish victory lap” around Phoenix International Raceway, further establishing himself as someone who preferred to do things his own way.

To win his championship in 1992, Kulwicki had to overcome a large points deficit late in the season to enter the finale as one of five hopefuls.

He claimed title over Bill Elliott by collecting the bonus points for leading the most laps that day. Kulwicki had done the calculations from his seat while racing.

Kulwicki died 4 1/2 months later when the private plane in which he and three others were flying crashed on approach to the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tenn., on race weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Dave Kallmann of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report