Over 30 years ago, a man from Greenfield, Wisconsin changed how NASCAR operated. His name was Alan Kulwicki. He was the first full-time auto racing driver to have a mechanical engineering degree.
Kulwicki's racing career started at a young age. The son of a pit crew member, Kulwicki began race driving in small karts and moved to bigger vehicles as he got older. But before his start as a professional driver, he made a pit stop at UW-Milwaukee to study mechanical engineering.
"He was a very successful driver in the years that he was competing and as a result, other teams are trying to mimic and use the tactics he had for success."
-Nathan Salowitz on Alan Kulwicki
Nathan Salowitz is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Milwaukee. According to Salowitz, Kulwicki's intimate understanding of mechanical design and physics gave him an edge in racing that few other drivers could match. From understanding how to maintain a vehicle effectively, optimizing acceleration and deceleration to use fuel efficiently, and calculating tire wear to minimize the number of pitstops — Kulwicki's scientific approach to racing continues to inspire how teams are run today.
"Just at a high level, auto racing and motorsports are just an application of engineering practice," Salowitz explains. "The engine, the transmission, aerodynamics, so the shape of the vehicle, heat and thermal management issues, understanding friction....everything that moves in the vehicle wears to some degree."
Kulwicki owned his own car and team while working as a driver. Salowitz details, "He was very hands on, he was doing maintenance of his own cars. He even helped design some cars and made some unique modifications to how cars were designed to help them perform better."
Kulwicki passed away in a plane crash in 1993. While commenting on his legacy, Salowitz says, "He was a very successful driver in the years that he was competing and as a result, other teams are trying to mimic and use the tactics he had for success."
_
