NASCAR WCUP: Steve Park Taking Car That Led 84 Laps at Charlotte To Indy

28 July 1999

When #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo driver Steve Park walked from Gasoline Alley to
the starting grid for the Brickyard 400 last year it was the most emotional
moment of his career. Five months earlier Park broke his right femur, left
collarbone and right shoulder blade in an accident at Atlanta. After missing
15 races he made his comeback at Indianapolis running as high as fifth
before a lap 148 crash dropped him to 35th. Park might not have won the race
that day but his victory over career-threatening injuries was a triumph.
Park proved he was healthy enough to race with the leaders in 1998. In 1999,
Park hopes to prove he's ready to beat the leaders. The 31-year-old East
Northport, N.Y. native and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates tested on July
19 & 20 at Indianapolis where he posted one of the quickest times but also
suffered a turn-two accident.  

Steve Park Quotes:

Mystique of Indianapolis: 

"I've always said racing is a high speed sport, but sometimes the fastest
thing about racing isn't the cars. It's how fast you can go from the top of
the world to the bottom. You can also go from the bottom to the top pretty
fast as well. Indianapolis is great place to do that. No matter who you are
or what you have ever done behind a wheel, if you win at Indy you are a
hero. If there is a race left on our schedule that I had my choice of
winning it is Indy.

"I remember testing at Indy before the race last year and thinking that it
didn't look that big, but I guess that was because there weren't any fans in
the stands. Then during those first two days of qualifying there were a lot
of people, but the effect still wasn't there. On Saturday morning when the
stands filled up and we took the lap around the track in the pre-race
ceremonies I just couldn't believe how many people were there.  It looked
totally different. There were more people there that day than I've ever seen
anywhere in my whole life. With all the people there, I guess Indy is kind
of like auto racing's version of Woodstock. I have a greater appreciation of
Indy than most I think because I drove a lot of open-wheel cars when I was
growing up. Everyone in NASCAR wants to win Daytona and Indy sometime in
their careers.

Indianapolis 1998:

 "Yes, I was a little nervous last year. I think it being my first race
back, coupled with it being my first time at Indy and Indy being Indy made
that about the most emotional moment I've ever had in 20 years of racing.
Throw in the fact that Pennzoil, my sponsor, is the race sponsor and it was
a pretty nerve-wracking time. I thought I was physically ready but you
really don't know for sure until you race. We had a pretty good day. It
could have been a great day but there at the end we kind of got caught back
in the field after a pit stop and then got involved in that wreck. I was
disappointed after the race, but you know I was also pleased. I'd come back
from a pretty serious injury a lot faster than most people thought I would
and that's a pretty good victory in and of itself."

Indy Test Last Month:

"We were pretty good. We took two cars and got the first car running pretty
good and I think we were about seventh. We took out the second car and were
just trying some things to go faster. We got in trouble in turn two and hit
pretty hard. But, that will happen when you are trying to go fast. We
learned what we needed to learn and that was our goal. We are taking the car
that we raced at Charlotte where we led 84 laps. I hope we are as good at
Indy as we were at Charlotte.  Some people say you have to lose a race
before you can win a race. I look at Charlotte as the race we lost. We were
fast that night and just got screwed up with some lap traffic. We learned a
lesson that night. Now its time to win a race."
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