Kulwicki's 1988 Phoenix win much like his career

NASCAR's return to the Valley of the Sun in 1988 for the first time in nearly three decades proved to be a memorable moment in the career of Alan Kulwicki, and the first appearance of a now-familiar post-victory celebration. Kulwicki's win in the 1988 Checker 500 at Phoenix International Raceway would have been considered an upset victory, even without the additional drama.

If anything, Kulwicki proved that perseverance and a positive outlook can overcome almost any set of obstacles.

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First, the car Kulwicki wanted to bring to Phoenix wound up on the back of a wrecker at Rockingham the week before, forcing him to pull out a superspeedway car that had been repaired following an accident earlier in the season to run on the flat, 1-mile oval.

"We tried to come here with an optimistic attitude, but the car we wanted to race here got wrecked at Rockingham," Kulwicki said. "This is the car we wrecked at Charlotte and wanted to run at Atlanta. The car worked well and handled well all weekend, and going into this I felt we were among the five fastest cars."

But starting 21st after spinning out on the first day of qualifying, Kulwicki's day almost immediately turned disastrous when his right-rear tire began losing air pressure as the cars were warming up for the green. Terry Labonte spotted it and gestured toward Kulwicki, who was able to get on pit road and make repairs.

"That was a sportsmanlike gesture," Kulwicki said. "If he hadn't said something, I probably would have lost a lap right away."

Once the race started, Kulwicki methodically worked his way through traffic and took the lead for the first time on Lap 46. But then misfortune would strike yet again with the right-rear tire.

During his second stop, Kulwicki's crew couldn't get one lug nut off the wheel -- and was forced to send him back on the track with three new tires and one that was already blistering.

"Early in the race, I knew I had to run hard to get to the front as quick as I could, but I also had to be careful and stay out of trouble in the traffic," he said. "I was just making some headway when we had a lug nut round off on the second pit stop and I ended up dropping way back again. I nearly lost a lap before the crew got it fixed."

Returning to the track in 21st place, Kulwicki said he tried hard not to think negatively. Instead, he concentrated on not losing a lap to the leaders and prayed for a caution.

"I drove about 25 laps that way and all I could think about was what if they never got it off and I had to drive the rest of the race with that blistered tire," Kulwicki said. "Luckily, we caught a yellow and one of the crew broke it off and got a new tire on." (Continued)