Ryan Eversley and Sean Heckman have made long-distance travel one of their calling cards. Among their other hallmarks, besides an extensive background in motorsports, is their tendency to attract plenty of A-list interviews for their popular “Dinner With Racers” podcast.
This weekend, though, the duo shook up their formula to honor 1992 NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki on the 25th anniversary of his passing. Their customary approach involves breaking bread with a single figure in the racing industry for casual conversation, rarely spilling over into a two-part episode — a luxury afforded to racing legends Mario Andretti, Tony Stewart and the like. For this commemoration, though, Eversley and Heckman conducted 12 interviews for an ambitious four-episode package that tells Kulwicki’s story.
MORE: Alan Kulwicki in photos
The idea stemmed from an early episode with guest Jeff Braun, who worked with Kulwicki during his career. A brief portion of their conversation hinted at Kulwicki’s demanding work ethic, a quality that planted the seed to explore more.
“I knew he was set in his ways, but didn’t know that he was so hard-working that he ended up pushing people away,” said Eversley, an Acura factory driver in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. “I think Sean and I saw similar traits in ourselves with what we do with this podcast, for example, where we take a 30-day road trip and spend ridiculous amounts of time with each other putting together a podcast where we’re not making any money. Knowing things like that, plus knowing that he was able to win the Cup championship the way he did made us really want to know who the guy actually was.”
RELATED: Remembering Kulwicki’s legacy
Eversley and Heckman followed those parallels to their own careers, criss-crossing five states and logging 4,000 miles in search of Kulwicki’s story. The level of coordination was high: the Atlanta-based Eversley met Heckman, a partner with a Southern California-based creative services firm, to start their journey in Milwaukee. Their trek included side trips for Eversley to St. Petersburg and Sebring, for driving and coaching duties in his road-racing circles.
What they found along the way were vivid descriptions of Kulwicki’s life from those who knew him best. The trip confirmed some details they already knew; other details, they learned as they traveled. The latter is chronicled in the third episode with stories that were not widely known about the Wisconsin native, especially his troubled childhood and how he shrouded that background from even his closest friends, plus his role as a ladies’ man, another quality that Kulwicki never necessarily broadcast.
A common thread through the four-episode release is Kulwicki’s candidacy for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which again will be put to a vote this May for the Class of 2019. Both Eversley and Heckman have lauded his championship run as unprecedented, a true rags-to-riches story that deserves to be immortalized.
RELATED: Cast your NASCAR Hall of Fame vote today
“If NASCAR is supposed to considered a slice of Americana, there is no better testament to the American dream than what Kulwicki did,” Heckman says. “If the American dream is based on the idea that if you can dream it and you’ve got the will to work, you can accomplish it, this is the guy who moved south with no money, with no contacts, with no idea of really how he was going to make it work and a small percentage of the budget, the equipment and personnel — all the things it takes to win — he still ends up beating the biggest names in the sport to win the 1992 championship.
“Yes, he only had five or six wins compared to the other guys, but if somebody came into NASCAR now with that kind of pennies-on-the-dollar approach, they’d be lucky if they even lasted in the sport, let alone win anything. Ryan says it’ll never be done again and that’s why I think it’s a pretty critical thing to throw out there. This is what the American dream is and this is the sort of thing we should all aspire to.”
Listen to their podcasts below:
Alan Kulwicki: The Wisconsin Racer (Listen here)
Alan Kulwicki: The NASCAR Champion (Listen here)
Alan Kulwicki: The Untold Stories (Listen here)
Alan Kulwicki: April 1, 1993 and Legacy (Listen here)