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NASCAR WCUP: Great Night At Richmond Turns Sour At the End For Park

12 September 1999

For #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo driver Steve Park most of Saturday night's Exide
400 was a display of the improved performance his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team
has enjoyed in the second half of the season.

Since the July 4 Daytona race, Park has scored the 12th most points of any
driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. Richmond appeared to be a
continuation of the trend as Park qualified tenth and moved as high as fifth
in the early going of the race.

"You are awesome. Just keep doing what you are doing," crew chief Paul
Andrews told the second year driver as he reeled in his competitors
especially during long green flag runs. While others struggled with tire
wear, or brakes; Park appeared problem free.

Chances for Park to surpass his best career finish appeared likely at lap
245 when the Pennzoil Monte Carlo changed only two tires during a caution
period pit stop and restarted the race in sixth place. Despite having older
tires on the left side, Park managed to stay in front ran comfortably in
fifth place. All appeared well as he came in for four tires on lap 310 and
returned to the track in seventh place.

Then disaster struck. 

"This car is really really loose," Park told the crew. For unexplained
reasons what was once a fast car became one of the slowest and he fell
through the field just as fast as he had climbed up through the field in the
early going.

At lap 360 eventual race winner Tony Stewart lapped Park and by the time the
checkered flag fell Park was in 16th place. Not bad, because he gained
another position and moved to 21st in the driver point standings. But it
isn't what Park wanted.

"We were so good all night and then all of a sudden it all went away," he
said after the race. "We will just have to put our heads together and figure
out what went wrong."

Park and his DEI teammates return to action this weekend in New Hampshire.


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