FAMILY, FRIENDS, FANS MOURN KULWICKI

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993                   TAG: 9304080054
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MILWAUKEE                                LENGTH: Medium
FAMILY, FRIENDS, FANS MOURN KULWICKI
Alan Kulwicki was a determined blue collar guy who loved the role of underdog, even as he reached the pinnacle of stock car racing success.
On Wednesday, more than 1,200 relatives, friends and members of the racing fraternity packed St. Matthias Church for the hour-long funeral Mass for Kulwicki, who died in a plane crash in Tennessee last week.
Among those attending were former driver Bobby Allison and NASCAR president Bill France Jr.
Mourners, some wearing buttons bearing Kulwicki's picture, wept when a film about Kulwicki's life and racing career was shown during the service.
A recording of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" played as boyhood pictures of Kulwicki sitting in a toy car and scenes of him crossing a finish line in his No. 7 racing car flashed across the screen.
The last frame showed a beaming Kulwicki giving a victory wave.
The Rev. Dale Grubba called Kulwicki a determined, hard-working man who set goals and persevered.
"The hero is the person who can take all those ingredients and put them together and be a success. Alan was that hero," Grubba said.
More than 10,000 people signed a community sympathy card for Kulwicki's family, a testimony to his impact, the priest said.
Kulwicki, born and raised in Greenfield, moved to North Carolina in 1985 in his quest to become a champion on the NASCAR circuit. He won the Winston Cup championship in 1992.
Kulwicki, 38, and three others died April 1 in a plane crash near Blountville, Tenn. Kulwicki was on his way to compete in the Food City 500 NASCAR race at Bristol, Tenn., when the plane nose-dived into a hillside.
Paul Andrews, Kulwicki's crew chief, helped carry the casket.
France said Kulwicki was a tough competitor who chased the American dream.
"People are not going to forget him, that's for sure," he said before the funeral. "He showed a lot of others that you could come down with a pickup truck, a few dollars, hard work and some integrity and make something of yourself."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING FATALITY

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB