Michael Waltrip won an emotion-filled Budweiser 250 NASCAR Busch Grand National race Saturday at Bristol Raceway.
He dedicated the victory to Alan Kulwicki, the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup champion who was killed in a plane crash Thursday night just five miles from the race track.But Waltrip was also overcome with emotion as he proposed to his fiance, Elizabeth "Buffy" Franks in victory lane immediately following the race.
"I dedicate this race to the memory of Alan and his team and all the people who were lost in the crash with him," Waltrip said. "My heart is with their families. I hope the Lord is smiling on everybody concerned in that situation.
"A lot of people might have thought I was jealous of what Alan had accomplished, but that's quite the contrary. I was real proud of what he did. He was a true champion."
After taking the checkered flag, Waltrip remembered Kulwicki by taking his victory lap backwards around the .533-mile short track in a "Polish Victory Lap" that Kulwicki made famous after winning his first NASCAR Winston Cup race in 1988 and after clinching the Winston Cup title last season.
"I did the `Polish Victory Lap' for Alan because I wanted to do something for him," Waltrip said.
The Busch Grand National victory was Waltrip's first since Sept. 5, 1992, when he won the Gatorade 300 at Darlington Raceway. The victory was Waltrip's sixth BGN race in his career.