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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 12, 1993                   TAG: 9305120042
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BODINE TAKES OVER KULWICKI RACING TEAM IN GRAND STYLE BY BOB ZELLER STAFF

When Geoff Bodine and his wife, Kathy, wheeled into the heart of Alan Kulwicki's stock car racing shop Tuesday in their bright red, customized 1934 Ford, it signaled the end of an era and the promise of a new future.

It was a vastly different scene than the one played out on this spot four months ago.

In early January, as the new Winston Cup champion, Kulwicki, 38, had stood there before the media. A champion-sized crowd had come to hear Kulwicki talk of his exciting and demanding future - one that ended suddenly on a Tennessee hillside in a fatal April 1 plane crash.

Now Bodine, 44, as the new owner-to-be of Alan Kulwicki Racing Inc., somewhat self-consciously made a "grand entrance" into the shop.

"There were higher proposals," team business manager Don Hawk said. "We could have sold it three days after it was available. We had a very good offer, but they wanted to buy the whole thing and auction it off."

Hawk denied a report that Bodine's offer for the team is $1.5 million, calling it too low. He would not comment on other amounts.

Bodine said, "It was a fair deal, but we offered more than money."

The final decision had to be made by Gerald Kulwicki, the late champion's father and sole beneficiary. When the elder Kulwicki was presented with the choices, he didn't care about the money. He simply said, Hawk reported, "What does the team want?"

The team wanted Bodine.

"Geoff has natural leadership ability," said Cal Lawson, team manager. "He is just a natural fit to come right in and take over and make us feel at home."

All of Kulwicki's 17 employees have stayed on.

"The whole team wanted to stay together and keep working together," said crew chief Paul Andrews. "No one wanted to leave. We are a championship team."

For the rest of 1993, the team will remain Alan Kulwicki Racing, with Jimmy Hensley behind the wheel except on the road courses at Sears Point and Watkins Glen, where road racer Tommy Kendall will drive.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB