Park Led Bristol Now Wants To Win Darlington
Park Led Bristol Now Wants To Win Darlington #31 Whelen Monte Carlo driver Steve Park has five top-10 finishes in six Busch Series starts in the 2001 season. The veteran driver led 38 laps at Bristol on his way to a fourth-place finish last Friday night. He and his Ted Marsh Racing teammates are proud of their record so far this season; few part-time times can equal their performance. But both the team and driver are ready to visit victory lane and they have targeted Saturday’s South Carolina 200 as an opportunity to get that first victory in their second year together. Steve Park on This Weekend At Darlington: “We had a really good car at Darlington last time. We hurt ourselves on pit road all day long, but we have improved that part of our program since the last time we were there. We have the on-track stuff figured out. Teddy Marsh and his guys gave me a great car then and I expect they will give me the same kind of car this weekend. In the Spring race, I think at times we were faster than the leader. We ran out of first gear so they had to push me and despite that we still got a top ten finish. We always seem to get top 10 finishes and that’s a tribute to all of our team. A top 10 finish in the Busch Series is something to be proud of and we are proud, but we also want more.” Confidence at Bristol “I don’t think there is any way you can put a value on confidence we got from leading at Bristol last weekend. As a race car driver I don’t think I have ever lacked confidence but after winning Winston Cup races it’s safe to say I’ve grown more confident. It’s the difference in going from hoping to win a race to expecting to win a race. That’s where we are at with this Whelen Busch team. We ’ve led enough, so now its time to win.” Steve Park on Darlington’s Biggest Challenges “I think it's one of the toughest and most enjoyable races on the circuit. The way the groove is you have to run an inch off the wall. Sometimes you even have to lean on the wall. To keep your focus for one lap is pretty hard but to do it the whole race is really incredible. Obviously, it's a very physically and mentally challenging racetrack and usually, it's pretty tough on equipment. I've seen guys win there with big Darlington stripes down the side of their cars. You are pretty lucky if you can come out of there without a stripe, but most do. I don’t care about stripes on the Whelen car as much as I do getting the checkers." Points Race/Track S F LC TL Status Winnings Suncom 200 (Darlington) 17-Mar 15 7 147 147 Running $ 9,951 Hardees 250 (Richmond) 4-May 2 9 9 250 250 Running $ 10,210 CVS Pharmacy 200 (Loudon) 12-May 3 6 200 200 Running $ 12,531 MBNA 200 (Dover) 2-Jun 38 5 200 200 Running $ 17,505 Sams Club 200 (Chicago) 14-July 21 42 37 200 Running $12,965 Food City 250 (Bristol) 24-Aug 8 4 250 250 Running $16,460 2001 NASCAR BUSCH SERIES, GRAND NATIONAL DIVISION RACE FACTS SOUTH CAROLINA 200 NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division Series Race #25 of 33 Darlington Raceway 1.366-Mile Banked Paved Speedway Saturday, September 1, 2001 200 Miles / 147 Laps Purse: $723,852 43 Cars. Fastest 36 cars through time trials. Seven provisional starting positions, including either six or seven based on the current 2001 NASCAR Busch Series car owner points and possibly one provisional position for a former champion of the circuit. TNT(Live) Airtime: 1:00 p.m. ET Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum MRN Radio (Live), Airtime: 12:30 p.m. ET Announcers: Barney Hall and Joe Moore Turn Reporters: Kurt Becker and Mike Bagley Pit Reporters: Jim Phillips, Winston Kelley and Adam Alexander SCHEDULE: All times local. Thursday, August 30: 11:00 a.m. NBS Haulers Enter/Registration Opens 12:00 p.m. NBS Garage Opens/Inspections Begin 5:00 p.m. NBS Garage/Registration Closes Friday, August 31: 7:00 a.m. NBS Registration/Garage Opens 8:00 a.m. NBS Drivers Meeting/Qualifying Draw 9:00 a.m. NBS Practice Until 11:15 a.m. 1:30 p.m. NBS Bud Pole Qualifying (all positions) 4:45 p.m. NBS Final Practice Until 5:45 p.m. 6:00 p.m. NBS Garage/Registration Closes Saturday, September 1: 7:00 a.m. NBS Garage/Registration Opens 11:00 a.m. NBS Drivers/Crew Chief Meeting 12:30 p.m. NBS Driver Introductions 1:00 p.m. Start South Carolina 200 Drew Brown 1335 Torrence Circle Davidson, NC 28036 704-895-3651 H 704-906-7992 C drew_brown@mindspring.com