NASCAR WCUP: Park Says Dover Could Be Even Better Than Charlotte

2 June 1999

Park, DEI Return to Site of Their Best Career Finish As A Better Driver, Team

Dover isn't a track that Winston Cup drivers particularly look forward to visiting each year. Its high banks and high speeds combined with the concrete surface make it one of the most challenging in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. But #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo Driver Steve Park can't wait to get Sunday's race started and not just because this is where Park recorded his career best finish of 11th last year. In the last three events this season - Richmond, The Winston Open, and Charlotte - Park's Dale Earnhardt Inc. car has run among the top five for most of those races. Only accidents at Richmond and Charlotte took him out of contention for the win and he finished fifth in the Winston Open.

Leading 84 Laps At Charlotte:

"You dream of leading a race like we did last Sunday at Charlotte. It was like time stood still. I'd look in the rear view mirror and that second place car seemed to be getting further and further away and I was thinking that this is really cool. I like Charlotte, and our Pennzoil car was a great car. I really can't explain it any better than that. I knew it was a 600-mile race and wasn't trying to push the car too hard. But a lap car came up on me and I just got into Jeremy (Mayfield) and lost it. I told someone after the race that the mental pain of that was worse than breaking my leg last year. Looking back on it, I don't think I'd go that far, but it sure hurt to lose that race Sunday night. I woke up the next day and felt a little better about the whole thing. We are taking baby steps. We've learned to lead now it's time to learn to win. We'll get there."

Why The Recent Success:

"I know every race team says what I'm about to say, but it is true: we have had some really good runs this year only to be ruined by something stupid happening. You saw how good we were Sunday, well we were that good at Texas and we were about that good at Atlanta and California as well. Sunday was the first time we ran that good and were in the lead. At those other places we were headed to the front when something went wrong. Paul Andrews has helped a lot. We really work well together. He can teach me to win Winston Cup races. But there are other people as well. Steve Hmiel has really helped in our car preparation and our engine shop is getting better each week. Remember we just started this organization from scratch about 18 months ago. To go from nothing to leading races this soon is pretty good. There are teams that have been together for years who haven't done, in the last few weeks, what we have done.

Dover:

"We came to Dover in September and finished 11th which was pretty good considering I'd wrecked pretty hard at Homestead test a few days before. I was hurting, but we were fast. A bad second set of tires kept us from getting a top-five finish. You better believe I'm looking forward to Sunday. As good as we were at Dover last year and as much as we have improved this year, makes me think the Pennzoil car can lead laps there also. I think Dover can be even better than Charlotte. Dover's close to my fans base in the Northeast so a win would doubly good."

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