IN REMEMBRANCE: 27 years since Blountville plane crash that claimed NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki

Wednesday marks the 27th anniversary of a fatal crash that occurred just days before the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway that also claimed the lives of team owner and NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki and three others including executives with the Hooters restaurant chain.

Kulwicki, 38, was just five months removed from capturing the 1992 Winston Cup Series Championship with a race team he built from the ground up. The plane crashed just 5 miles from Tri Cities Airport as Kulwicki was returning to Bristol from an appearance at a Hooters in Knoxville.

An iconic scene took place a day later at a rainy BMS when Kulwicki’s car transporter took one final lap around the track and took the checkered flag.