More Than 1,200 Mourn Kulwicki During Mass for Stock Car Driver

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 hourlong funeral Mass for Kulwicki, who died in a plane crash in Tennessee last week.

Among those attending the funeral 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 in the background 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,” he said. “Alan was that hero.”

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, Wis., 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.