Driver Profile: Steve Park

How many of us remember... we may have to go and dig into our memory banks... the time period between 1998 and 2003? What makes this time so special and memorable? To me, it was Steve Park.

You might be wondering why i am doing my driver profile this week on Steve Park. Well, this past weekend during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, i was shocked to see that Steve Park was actually in the race. I haven't heard his name since he left the Cup series in 2003. What surprised me even more, was his top 15 finish in what i think, was another crazy night race at Daytona.

Another reason why my driver profile is on Steve Park is because some of the newer generation fans may not and haven't heard his name before. If you live in the northeast, then you've probably heard of him. How many of us remember that #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo for DEI? I know i always will. Him and Michael Waltrip were two of the best teammates at the time. Michael is a great spokesperson for Napa Auto Parts, and Steve was the same exact way with Pennzoil.

His first year in Cup began in 1998, when he battled Kenny Irwin Jr for ROTY honors. Unfortunately, this was one battle he had to put on the back burner due to a crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway, suffering a broken right femur, broken left shoulder blade, left collarbone, and two chipped teeth. Due to this accident, he had to sit out for 5 months of the 1998 season. He came back in 1999, with a new addition to the crew chief position: Paul Andrews. With Andrews on top of the war wagon, Park was able to move from 34th to 15th in the standings.

The year 2000 was a year of firsts for Park. Not only did he get his first Bud Pole Award that year, but he also got his first victory coming in the 90 lap event at Watkins Glen International on August 13. His stats for that season: 13 top 10's, 6 top 5's, and finished the year 11th in the points standings.

Every NASCAR fan knows that 2001 was a tragic year for the sport; we lost one of the greats, Dale Earnhardt. Sometimes i wonder if he would still be racing today if he survived that horrible wreck. But... he's gone and it sucks that we can't do anything about it. I never had a chance to watch him race, but i sure would've liked to.

A week after Dale lost his life, Steve Park won the second Cup race of his career at Rockingham. Park describes his feelings about Earnhardt from victory lane: "Dale was more than my car owner, he was a close personal friend. I learned more than what it meant to be a Winston Cup driver from him, I learned what a friend can be. I will miss him deeply.That was the most incredible emotional roller coaster I’ve ever been on. To be able to fight back the emotions I was feeling in the last five laps and do what Dale had taught me to do and that was just to stand up on that seat and drive the hell out of that race car."

In September of '01, Park was in an accident in the Whelen Busch Series #31. On the lap 20 restart, his car veered uncontrollably to the left. Larry Foyt, who had nowhere to go, struck Parks' car. The car finally came to a stop at the inside wall and he remained in the car for 20 minutes after the crash until track crews were able to cut the roof off and extract him. He missed the rest of the '01 season, as well as some of the '02 season, due to a concussion he suffered during the wreck. His return came in March 2002 at Darlington Raceway where he started 4th, which had been his best qualifying effort of the season. Paul Andrews was replaced with Tony Gibson in the crew chief position. He only had 2 top 10 finishes and and wound up in 33rd in the points. Over the off season, the team made personnel changes which included a new pit crew to get Park back in the right direction.

The 2003-2004 seasons would come as a shock to Park. He was released by DEI on May 5, 2003. When one door closes, another one opens. Richard Childress picked Park up to drive the #30 AOL/RCR cup car which had been driven by Jeff Green previously, and to no ones surprise, replaced him in the #1 Pennzoil car. Steve had no harsh words to DEI, just memories he would remember. "I will always look back on my years of driving for DEI with much happiness. Together the Pennzoil team and I shared many great memories of winning races and pole positions. It will always be an honor for me that I was the first Winston Cup driver for owner Dale Earnhardt."

In September, Richard Childress made an annoucement that Steve would be released, but would finish out the 2003 season at RCR.

In 2004, he had the opportunity to jump into a NASCAR Craftsman truck and drive the #62 Dodge for Orleans Racing, replacing Brendan Gaughan. “It is my privilege to drive for Orleans Racing and Dodge. I enjoy the Craftsman Truck Series. It is one of the most competitive forms of racing. This team is certainly one of the most competitive in the sport, and I look forward to challenging for the championship this year.”

2005
Drove for Orleans Racing in the NCTS- earned a victory at Fontana

2006
Drove for Harris Trucking in NCTS

2008
Drove for NOS Motorsports in NASCAR Camping World East Series

2009
Drove for NOS Motorsports in NCWES- earned a victory at Adirondack; won the series Most Popular Driver Award

This is just a brief overview of Parks career. It would take too long to describe how great a driver he really is. Unfortunately, i feel like that collision in 2001, really kept him from becoming what we all thought he could do in the Cup series. He was able to show us that he was still capable of getting top 15 finishes in Cup this past Saturday night at Daytona. For all the haters, yes i know it was a restrictor plate race and a lot of good cars weren't able to survive the night. But give the guy a break. He hasn't raced in Cup for a while, and he finishes a race in 13th. Congrats Steve Park, you truely deserved it, and you also deserve to be back racing in NASCAR's top division.

Until next time, i'm Steph Piech for The Finish Line