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EXCLUSIVE photo provided by chux grafx ©
Steve's first full Winston Cup season starts with the drop of the green flag at Daytona on February 15th, 1998. However, he's used 1997 to gain some experience on the WC circut. It's been a rocky year, with 4 DNQs. The original plan was to run in 5 races, keeping him eligible for rookie-of-the-year competition in 1998. Extra track locations were added through the year to make up for the DNQs, but he'll remain in the rookie run next year, as the number still remained within NASCAR regulations.
His first attempt to qualify was in July at the Pennsylvania 500. For the first time, he failed to qualify. According to Steve:
"Pocono was humbling. We'd been having a great year in the Busch series, and we went to Pocono and tested our Winston Cup car. We tested real good, and I went back there with a lot of confidence. Then in qualifying, it just hammered us into the ground. We've had a lot of highs and lows this season, but that was probably the lowest I've been. Even though we weren't running for the points, it was something that was real important to me and the team. We went there and tested twice and we went back with a smile on our face thinking we were going to qualify in the first round and run the bear off of it. We went back and unloaded off the truck and we were a second off. A half second separated 44 cars and we missed it by a tenth of a second. We just went home with our tails between our legs. We didn't know what happened. That's when we realized it was time to evaluate what went wrong so it wouldn't happen again."
The next race Steve attempted to qualify at was The Bud at the Glen in August. Watkins Glen International has been a good track for Steve, who first drew the attention of Dale Earnhardt after qualifying for an absent Joe Nemechek in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race last summer there. In his first crack at the track and his second try in a truck, he won the Busch Pole. Three months later, he was an employee of DEI! Steve qualified a respectable 12th, with a lap time of 01:13.548 (119.922 mph). Steve finished in 33rd, 2 laps down, after sending his car into the sand.
("Whopper on the beach" as Dale Earnhardt joking called it)
"Watkins Glen was definitely a challenge. There's some pretty accomplished road racers in Winston Cup. We were just thrilled to death to qualify that well. We were running in the top 10 and we had a strong car. We weren't really letting it hang out. We were just trying to get to the end of the race. We pitted for tires and came out on cold tires and real low air pressure and that's something I'm not used to on the Busch series. I actually just drove the car off course without realizing that something like that was going to happen. It was just because of my lack of experience. I'd never had that much experience on cold tires after green flag pit stops. If any good came out of it, it was a good learning experience. I know what to expect next time. I can adjust my driving style for it."
Photo by Kevin M. @ Inside Track
Steve's 3rd attempt on the Winston Cup circut came on September 12th, at Louden, NH. Unfortunately he failed to qualify in the first round. The next day, he had the fastest practice speed, clocking a lap at 00:29:513 (129.054 mph), but failed to make the 2nd round qualifying cut, only attaining a lap time of 00:30:374 (125.397 mph). The heart-breaking part of it is that if he had stood on his first day's qualifying time, he would have made it into the race. This must be one of the toughest times for Steve, with all the experience he has there. Here are some of his thoughts going into the race:
"I think a realistic goal at Loudon would be to qualify in the first round. That would be nice. It always makes you sleep better than night knowing you don't have to qualify in the second round. A top 15 finish would be nice. If we can stay out of trouble and run all the laps, I think we can do that."
"We've got a lot of experience at New Hampshire with the modifieds and the Busch North and the truck races. I have a lot of confidence going in knowing it's a race track I've turned a lot of laps on. We've gone there and tested, and it's kind of nice to pull out of the pits and know where you're going and knowing the race track.
Although the plan was to only run Winston Cup races in 1997 that were on weeks that his Busch schedule was open, failing to qualify twice changed things. On September 19th, Steve took the Burger King car out for qualifying at Dover. Although the BGN qualifying went fine, earlier in the day, he was only able to qualify 42nd for WC, with a lap time of 00:24.591 (146.395 mph). In practice, he spun out, hitting the wall, and later said the chassis was fine, but that the body took some damage. Unfortunately, saturday's qualifying didn't go any better, as he was not fast enough to earn a spot in the field. Of the 43 cars attempting to qualify for Sunday's race, Park was the only driver who did not make the race.
The Hanes 500 at Martinsville was Steve's next WC appearance. However, he wasn't in the familiar Burger King car, as he was be filling in for Robby Gordon in the Sabates-owned #40 Coors Lite car. Robby requested a one-race-only release to explore possible 1998 options in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series. According to Sabates:
"Steve Park was a logical choice for two reasons, The Grand National Series is off this week and we wanted to return a favor to Dale and Teresa Earnhardt for placing Robby in one of their cars during last October's race at Charlotte."
NASCAR Online has a very good article, with many quotes from Steve. See what he has to say on the subject.
Although he wasn't fast enough on Friday's 1st round qualifying, Steve had a great run Saturday. He started 28th in the field, after a lap time of 00:20.472 (92.497 mph). That speed the day before would have put him in 18th place, and earned him a spot of the front pits! Sunday's race was postponed, due to rain, until Monday morning, September 29th, at 11 am EDT. The Coors Lite Chevy Monte Carlo's engine blew on lap 198. At the time, Steve was in 18th place. Another fabulous run, having been as high as 6th place at one time. He ended up with a 41st place finish, but more importantly, he gained some more Winston Cup experience!
Steve will be flying up to Newton, North Carolina, with Dale Earnhardt, immediately following the race. He was supposed to be spending the day at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet for their 11th Annual Open House. The autograph session was to be from 1 - 5 pm, also featuring Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Ron Hornaday, Jr.
"It's going to be a big day on Monday. We'll get in this race and then go to Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet for the Dale Earnhardt, Inc., open house at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet. They're expecting somewhere in excess of 15,000 people. We're all planning to go there. It'll be a Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet open house with no Dale Earnhardt or Steve Park for some of the day. Dale Jr. can go, but for Dale, I know it's important to him. That's all he's talked about the last couple of days. This is my first year, so I'm looking forward to it." - Steve
Winston Cup cars had an early qualifying run at Charlotte, as first round took place on Wednesday night. Steve failed to make the top 25, coming in 44th with a lap speed of 00:30:075 (179.551 mph). Thursday's run wasn't as fast, therefore Steve won't get the chance to run in this Cup race. (He is running in BGN) 50 cars took to the field this week, which left 6 other drivers going home early. This was Steve's 4th DNQ in the Burger King car. This story was overshadowed in the media by the fact that Darrell Waltrip failed qualify for the first time in his 25 year career.
Steve's original list of 5 races for 1997 didn't include Rockingham, but he ended up running in both series' races there. Friday, October 24th he didn't make first round qualifying, coming in 32nd with a time of 00:23:724 (154:325 mph). Steve stood on his time in the second round, and it was good enough to keep him in the 32nd spot. This was the first time Steve qualified the Burger King car on an oval track. Even though he finished the race in 33rd, he kept out of the wall, and gained some much needed experience with the Winston Cup car.
The Whopper Warriors headed to Phoenix for the November 2nd running of the Dura-Lube 500. Steve had to try to re-qualify on Saturday, as his run on Friday fell short of the top 25. With a lap time of 00:27.888 (129.088 mph), he was in 31st. Additionally, he was 13th fastest in practice on Friday, and 8th fastest on Saturday. Deciding to stand on his time, Steve made the race again this week, remaining in the 31st position. He ran strong for most of the race until he lost an engine on lap 240.
To add a little excitement for the fans, and experience on an unfamiliar track, Steve ran in the Craftsman Truck race, The GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 300, driving the NAPA Brakes #76 Chevy Truck. His experience in the trucks has been outstanding so far, and this week was no exception. On Thursday, October 30th, he qualified in 4th with a lap time of 00:28.394 (126.787 mph), which put him side-by-side with teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. in the 2nd row. Steve's practice times on Thursday put him second fastest tool. Although he started the race strong, being penalized twice after the half-time break contributed to his 25th place finish. First he was black flagged for passing too quickly on the restart, and then penalized again for leaving pit road too fast. He ended the race 2 laps down.
Steve's thoughts going into the race:
"My first time on the track here was this morning. This was definitely a good lap for us. Since I haven't raced here before, the plan was to get some laps in preparation for the Cup race."- 10-30-97
Ron Hornaday in the 16 truck, and Steve in the 76 truck.
It's hard to believe the final race of the 1997 season is over. The Winston Cup series raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the NAPA 500 on November 16th. The track was completely torn out, and redesigned since WC was there in the spring. Many teams tested the new track, posting speeds that easily beat the old qualifying speed record of 186.507 mph. Steve tested in Atlanta on Monday, October 20th. He clocked the 11th fastest speed, coming in at 185.356 mph. The next day, he had the 8th fastest speed, at 188.700!
Championship week in Atlanta was an exciting one for the drivers and fans alike. Going into the race, 3 drives had a chance to come out of it with the 1997 Cup. With the BGN season over, Steve could go into this week fully focused on his new WC ride. He tested 17th fastest at 00:28:854 (192.139 mph) prior to qualifying, and stepped it up a little to 00:28.825 (192.333 mph), which earned him the 25th spot. Due to rain, qualifying was postponed until Saturday, so it was all done in one round. (However, Steve would have just made it in the first round) In a shortened practice session Saturday, he was 5th fastest even though he was slower at 00:29:073 (190.690 mph)
The race started Sunday with Dale Earnhardt quickly moving into the lead. He was trying to extend his streak of seasons with a win to 16. Before the half-way point, the strength of Bobby Labonte's car was evident, as he not only drove into the lead, but took a commanding lead over the other drivers. Dale ended up brushing the wall later in the race, basically putting him out of reach of the win, and ending his streak at 15 years, but he was able to finish the race, which kept his steak of races finished going. There were only 4 cautions during the race, which included a mandatory caution at lap 25 that NASCAR implemented due to lack of practice time because of weather conditions. Saturday was much more eventful, as Jeff Gordon lost control of his car in early morning practice, spinning into Bobby Hamilton's car. Both had to go to a back up car, but Jeff got a little loose in the qualifying run, and ended up starting 37th. Dale Jarrett started 3rd, and Mark Martin started 9th. All Jeff had to do was finish in the top 18 to secure the cup, but it was certainly a race for the cup, which had the potential to go anyway all day. Even though Jarrett and Martin fished ahead of Jeff (2nd & 3rd), Gordon did finish in 17th. This is his second Winston Cup championship, making him the only driver to earn 2 cups within his twenties! Congratulations to Jeff, and all the Rainbow Warriors. It was truly a "cup" year for them. Additionally, Dale's teammate, Mike Skinner, comes away with Rookie of the Year honors!
Steve ran his best Winston Cup race to date, finishing 15th! He was one spot ahead of Dale, and 2 ahead of Jeff Gordon. That's quite an accomplishment for anyone, but it feels especially sweet for a rookie! What a year 1997 has been for him. Now the focus goes strictly into the Winston Cup team, with the new sponsorship deal with Pennzoil taking over for Burger King. Keep up with all of next years events from the 1998 Winston Cup Page. Here are some of Steve's thoughts about the final race:
"We're glad to be able to redeem ourselves a little bit and come out with a good finish in our last race with them (Burger King). If we can run 15th in the position we're in right now, we're just going to get better as we go along and grow together. This should prove to people that we're here to race and we're here to run good. "I beat the boss. I probably shouldn't make a habit of that, but he expects me to beat him if I can. We're getting a chance to work together more. The better we get the more we work together."
"We had a good package. We were good on the long runs. These guys (his crew) did a great job, and I'm really happy with our performance today. We're really looking forward to next season. I can't wait for Daytona and to get it started.
#14 Burger King Chevy Monte Carlo
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
1675 Coddle Creek Highway
Mooresville, NC 28115
(704) 662-8000
(704) 663-7945 Fax
Owner: Teresa Earnhardt
Crew Chief: Philippe Lopez
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