On April 1, 1993, NASCAR suffered a heartbreaking loss. Alan Kulwicki, one of its brightest stars, tragically died in a plane crash on his way to the Bristol race. Alan was flying with two Hooters executives and the pilot, all of whom lost their lives in the accident. The jet was part of a sponsorship deal with Hooters, a testament to Kulwicki’s rising fame as the 1992 Winston Cup Series champion. The entire NASCAR community mourned, but no one felt the impact more than his crew chief, Paul Andrews.

Years later, for the first time, Andrews opened up about Kulwicki’s death’s profound effect on the AK Racing team on the Dale Jr. Download. He also shared a spine-tingling story about how he and the crew felt Kulwicki’s supernatural presence at the race shop after his passing.

Paul Andrews couldn’t hold back his tears talking about Kulwicki’s tragic accident

Sharing the backstory of the entire incident leading up to the crash, Andrews stated that Kulwicki had to be present in Knoxville for a Hooters event. However, Bristol Motor Speedway wasn’t too far off, and therefore the pit crew decided not to join to board the plane. Rather, the #7 crew decided to hang back and practice the pit stop runs before the race.

The crew made it to the race track and heard the news about Alan’s plane crash. But it wasn’t until late that night that they learned about his death. Paul Andrews wasn’t able to control his feelings and was sobbing while sharing his experience and how he dealt with Kulwicki’s passing. And while Dale Jr transitioned to a new topic, Andrews brought up a rather touching story about the driver’s mysterious presence at the race shop after his death.

“This may be tough, but after Alan’s passing, You know we’re working in shop and this is the whole time we’re there, and Alan had a way of walking up behind you, and you just know he was there. You feel his presence, and that feeling never left. There wasn’t a guy that worked for Alan in that shop that didn’t say that. It felt like he was still watching us.” Andrews said this to Dale Jr.

Moreover, the 67-year-old also shared insights into how the team won the 1992 championship despite being on a strict budget.

It was all or nothing for AK Racing in their pursuit of NASCAR glory in 1992

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NASCAR racing has always been cruel to small racing teams trying to create a name for themselves in the sport. And AK Racing found themselves in a similar situation, with only Hooters acting as the backbone for the team. It was indeed an arduous task for the team to keep a cap on their spending budget, and try to keep their race cars in a single piece, especially when they were up against the likes of Richard Childress Racing, Penske Racing, and Rob Yates Racing.

Sharing how the team handled financials even without a bookkeeper, Andrews explained, “So everything went through Alan. He ran the team as far as financial standpoint. I mean you look at the checks. I still get somebody to send me a picture of check of his name signed on it. Whenever I buy something, if it was something big we obviously talked about it. If it was little, I actually had started a process where I would approve the receipts. Like I put my initials on it, and we started all kinds of processes like that.”

Well, their hard work certainly paid off, as Alan Kulwicki pulled off the biggest upset in NASCAR history, winning the championship that year. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to further fuel the rise of his team after their maiden success.