NASCAR WCUP: Steve Park Post Race Notes, Darlington

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

March 19, 2001

Steve Park, No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet Monte Carlo (finished 2nd): "We were real dominant on the long runs. This is a tough old place. It wears tires out. We worked real hard on getting out set-up where it needed to be on the long runs. And with 18 laps to go, we knew we were in trouble. We pitted and came out second. I knew DJ (Dale Jarrett) was going to be tough. He ran us hard there and ran us clean in the end. We're real disappointed and we hate to be disappointed with second. This Pennzoil team and these guys have been working so hard. We've been through so much. We would have loved to get another win, but we'll go get 'em at Bristol next week.

(With your strong finish here today, do you feel like it's all coming together?) "I think so. We've run well here in the past. We've had a couple of top 10 finishes. I just think the whole team has just stepped it up a little bit. The places that we've run 28th, we're running in the top 10, and the places we've run in the top 10 we're running in the top five now. So I think it's just a steady progression of the Pennzoil team and how well they' ve all worked over the wintertime to build good racecars and good engines. I think the way the year's been going, it's just been up and down. We started out at Daytona and got involved in a wreck and finished 31st, and then we came back and won (at Rockingham), and finished 7th in Las Vegas, and then blew-up last week (in Atlanta) and were 43rd. So if you look at our season, it's still fluctuating. We are hoping to make that steady in the top 10. So a good run today has really boosted all of our morale and helped us in the points and we'll just have to go on to Bristol next weekend."

(With 16 laps to go, if there was no red flag, do you think you could have caught Jarrett?) "I tell you I would have had a better shot of holding him off than catching him. It's hard to pass here, especially in such a short amount of time. Like I said, my car was good on longer runs and Dale's was good on short runs. With 10 or 15 laps to go if you're out front, you obviously have an advantage, I feel, even if your car isn't as fast. It's one thing to lead but it's another thing to pass. I think he would have had a difficult time getting by us. Like I said, he was just real strong. He was faster than we were on a 10 or 15 lap run. We're going to lose races like this like we did today. One of these days the tables are going to be turned and we're going to have a car that's not going to be that good on long runs, and that'll be real good on short runs, and we're going to win the same way. I think it's just part of the growing process. I hate to be disappointed with second, but when you're running 5th or 10th all day long and then you finish 2nd or 3rd, then you can be pretty happy about it like Jeremy (Mayfield) said. But to lead all day long and then to lose it in the last 15 laps is just a little disappointing."

Text provided by Nancy Wager

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