AK Racing is a former NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Winston Cup Series team. It was originally owned by Bill Terry before he sold it to rookie driver Alan Kulwicki, who controlled and raced for the team until his death in 1993. Kulwicki won five races as an owner-driver. As of 2010, he was the last owner-driver to win a Cup Series championship, which he won in 1992.

Bill Terry era

The team debuted at the 1982

1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season began on February 14 At the Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 21 at Riverside International Raceway...

 Cracker Barrel Country Store 420

Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969 and its first store was located in Lebanon, Tennessee, where the company is now headquartered...

 at Nashville Speedway USA with Bob Jarvis

Bob Jarvis

Robert Jarvis was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a lawyer by career.He represented Ontario's Willowdale electoral district which he won in the 1979 federal election...

 driving it as the #32 Clinomint Buick

Buick

Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...

, finishing 28th out of 30 cars. Two races later, the #32 ran again at the World 600, with Bosco Lowe qualifying 40th and finishing 16th. Lowe drove the car in the Daytona 500

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

 the following season, finishing 39th after a crash. Tommy Ellis

Tommy Ellis

Tommy Ellis was a NASCAR short track ace of the 1970s and 1980s. Often referred to as "Terrible" Tommy Ellis for his rough tactics, he won the National Late Model Sportsman championship in 1981 and was one of six drivers enrolled in the Winner's Circle plan at the formation of the Busch Series in...

 drove their next race, bringing the Big Daddy's Buick to a 15th place finish at Charlotte. Butch Lindley

Butch Lindley

Butch Lindley was a short track racer, who has raced in various NASCAR series.-Winston Cup career:Lindley made his debut in the Winston Cup in a special appearance in 1979...

 drove the final race of the 1983 season for the team at Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...

, finishing 25th after suffering rear end problems.

Alan Kulwicki era

The team was inactive until 1986, when it fielded a full time car driven by rookie Alan Kulwicki

Alan Kulwicki

Alan Dennis Kulwicki , nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series...

. The car was now the #35 Quincy's Steak House Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

. After 14 starts, Terry sold the team to Kulwicki. After winning Rookie of the Year

NASCAR Rookie of the Year

The NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a NASCAR season. Each of NASCAR's national and regional touring series selects a RotY winner each year....

 honors, Kulwicki changed the number of the car to #7 and got sponsorship from Zerex. Kulwicki won three pole positions

Pole position

The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...

 and finished 15th in points. In 1988, Kulwicki won his first career race at Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the Indycar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series...

. In celebration, he drove the now-famous Polish Victory Lap. He won once more in 1990, but lost his Zerex sponsorship. After beginning 1991 with no sponsor, he got a one-race deal with Hooters

Hooters

Hooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida...

 after their regular driver, Mark Stahl

Mark Stahl

Mark Stahl is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League....

, failed to qualify. The deal blossommed into a multi-year deal. and Kulwicki won three more races over the next two years. He shocked everybody when he defeated Bill Elliott

Bill Elliott

William Clyde "Bill" Elliott , also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville or Million Dollar Bill, is a part-time driver and former champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007. He won the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup...

 for the 1992 Winston Cup championship by 10 points. Kulwicki died five races into the 1993 season.

Following his death, The team ran under Kulwicki's name with Jimmy Hensley

Jimmy Hensley

Jimmy Hensley is a former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the series, and for his nine career Busch Series wins. He spent most of his career...

 and Tommy Kendall

Tommy Kendall

Tommy Kendall is an American race car driver and television broadcaster. He is best known for his SCCA Trans-Am Series career....

 driving, before Geoff Bodine

Geoff Bodine

Geoffrey Eli Bodine is an American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers . Bodine currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina....

 purchased the team. Bodine ran the team as Geoff Bodine Racing

Geoff Bodine Racing

Geoff Bodine Racing is a former NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series team. It was owned and operated by former NASCAR driver Geoffrey Bodine following his purchase of the estate of Alan Kulwicki. He remained owner of the team until the 1998 season, when he sold the operation to Jim Mattei...

. The team is currently running as Robby Gordon Motorsports

Robby Gordon Motorsports

Robby Gordon Motorsports is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. It fields the #7 Dodge Charger for Robby Gordon. It is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is owned by Gordon and heavily supported by John Menard, Jr.-2005:...

, after ownership passed hands several times between Bodine and Jim Smith, owner of Ultra Motorsports

Ultra Motorsports

Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup & Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1994 to 2005, earning many wins and a 2005 championship with Ted Musgrave...

.