NASCAR WCUP: Steve Park & Spotter Ty Norris Ready For Bristol
7 April 1999
Half-mile High-banked Track Toughest Race on the 33-Race Circuit for Driver, Spotter#1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo driver Steve Park knows Sunday will be one of the most difficult days of the year as drivers and crews combat Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol's 33-degree banked turns make possible 120-mph qualifying laps. During the race the 43 cars crammed on a half-mile track combined with the high G-forces make a huge demand on drivers and usually result in lot of cautions. Spotters, the crew members who stand at the top of the speedway and serve as an extra set of eyes for the driver, also face their most daunting task of the year as they attempt to guide their driver's through 500 laps of chaotic racing.
Park on Bristol Qualifying
"Here is my prediction to all the race fans going to Bristol on Friday or watching qualifying on television. The difference between the guy who wins the pole and the guy who starts second will be less than the time it takes for you to start and stop your stopwatch. Try it and see if I'm right! We qualified 36th last race and were only three-tenths of a second behind the pole sitter. With times that close, a driver can't afford even the tiniest of a mistake or you are going to the back of the field."
What Makes Bristol Difficult?
"You have a half-mile high banked track with 43 of the best drivers in the world nose to tail and if you aren't as fast as the guy behind you he sure isn't going to hang out and wait for you to make a mistake. He's going to root you out of the way and go on. That's what makes it fun, if you are the fast guy. If you are the slow guy then it's kind of scary. Someone once said its like flying a jet in a gymnasium and I think that is a good analogy except you should add that it's like flying a jet in a gymnasium with another jet on your tail and its pilot is someone like Earnhardt or Gordon.
Ty Norris, Park's Spotter, on Spotting At Bristol:
"Bristol is absolutely the hardest place to spot, bar none. I mainly do two things. I watch our Pennzoil car as well as try to watch ahead to warn Steve (Park) in case of trouble. The problem at Bristol is both of those things are usually happening at the same time. At Bristol, you almost have to have one eye looking in one direction and one eye looking in the other direction. At Bristol you can't use more than one spotter. Things happen way too fast there and the spotters would be talking over each other. Bristol is the most nerve-wracking place. When I spot there I sometimes feel like I'm doing the radio broadcast. All I do is talk, talk, and talk. I'm sure it bothers the driver but you have no choice. When I climb up in the stands before the race I always take two or three extra batteries. That is how much spotters talk there."
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