---

NASCAR WCUP: Pennzoil 400: a Good Place for Park to Look Good

10 November 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Question: Why is racing well in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway important to Steve Park?

Answer: A) He's racing in his sponsor's own event. B) He's racing to climb even higher than 15th in the 1999 Winston Cup points standings. C) He'd like to be the inaugural winner at a new Winston Cup track D) He wants to give his new blue Shark car paint scheme as much attention as possible E) All of the above.

Steve Park's Response:

"Heck all those answers are good so I would answer E - all of the above. But I would add one more. I want to win and I don't care how, where, when, why or in what color of car. It's that simple. Someone asked me if I had ever noticed how drivers seem to do better in races sponsored by their sponsor? Well, let's see if that is really true this weekend. I hope so. If we win this weekend then I'd just hope Pennzoil would spend the millions to sponsor every one of these races in 2000. Even if we don't win, if we get a good run, then we should better our chances to climb even higher than 15th in points and that would be incredible considering we were about 34th in May. We've made up a lot of spots in the last few months."

NASCAR In Miami:

"It's important for NASCAR to be in South Florida. If we are going to be a nationwide sport then this is an area of the country where we must succeed. Not only is Homestead a world-class racetrack, but Miami is a world class city. I've spent the last two New Year's Eves in South Florida and had a blast. I go down there to take a break from the racing scene. Like Will Smith says in that song about Miami 'I came for two days of playing and ended up staying.' What's really neat about the racetrack is the story behind it. If you saw that area of South Florida after the hurricane came through it would have taken a lot of imagination to think they could rebuild that place so quickly. That's a testament to the people down there. They could have given up and nobody would have questioned them, but they decided to stick it out and they turned it into a pretty cool area."

How Tough Is The Homestead Racetrack:

"The racetrack is one of the most challenging I have ever raced on. I think I've experienced every emotion there. I almost won the pole there in the 1997 Busch race qualifying second and then in a Winston Cup car last year I hit the wall pretty hard while testing. That hurt. You have to be about perfect there to get a good lap and that's the kind of challenge every driver likes."

Points Since The July 3 Daytona Race

Car # Pts Since Daytona

1 Jarrett 2253
2 Stewart 2210
3 B.Labonte 2199
4 Martin 2173
5 Gordon 2152
6 Earnhardt 2030
7 J.Burton 1984
8 R.Wallace 1851
9 Park 1825
10 W.Burton 1783

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.