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As The Original Steve Park Website is putting to rest a 3rd season, it's hard to believe it was last year that we were all anticipating Steve's rookie Winston Cup season. Seems as though it was just yesterday Speedweeks '99 was here, when in reality Speedweeks 2000 is just around the corner! Looking back, 1998 certainly didn't end up anything like any of his fans expected, and it certainly was one roller-coaster ride of a season. Steve'a started 1999 ready to race with all of the rookie pressures behind him. 1999 had the potential to be what we thought 1998 would be!
Steve spent January making appearances for the fans, and testing in Daytona. February was filled with the hoop-la of speedweeks as usual. Steve really kicked off his season with a strong 3rd place finish in the Bud Shootout! Now Steve is moving on through the rest of the 1999 season. He faced his demons in Atlanta last November, and has passed not only the anniversary of that devastating crash but the anniversary of the spring race in Atlanta. He has moved on past it with incredible strength, and too should all the fans! Come see the pictures I got from Atlanta.
Also in March, Steve led his first ever Winston Cup lap, and had a strong 12th place finish in the rain shortened race at Darlington. The next week the team followed up on the momentum as Steve recorded a Winston Cup career best ever starting spot of THIRD at Texas Motor Speedway. Unfortunately the transmission went out on the car early, but he ran a good race despite the problems.
April was a turbulent month for the team. After the best start of the season, Steve started in 43rd the following race. He made the field in first round qualifying only once, and couldn't crack the top-20 in any finish. The team just wasn't jelling, although no one spoke publicly about it. Steve dropped out of the top-25 in the standings, setting up a poor starting spot for the first race in May, the California 500. Qualifying was canceled due to ran, relinquishing Steve to a 30th place start. Steve finished in the top-25, but it was becoming evident that more than just a change of luck was necessary.
The following week Philippe Lopez resigned as crew chief. The much needed chemistry between driver and crew chief never came to be. Steve Hmiel was named interim crew chief, and no plans were made to immediately fill the positions. The following week Paul Andrews was let go as Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief, much to the surprise of everyone. DEI immediately called on him, and within a couple of days the position was filled.
Charlotte was a new beginning for the team. In addition to the new crew chief, Steve had completed 33 races, what would normally be the end of their rookie season. The team sees it just that way, and their new spirit was evident in the fine performances at Charlotte. They wrapped up a turbulent May with an outstanding performance in the Coca-Cola 600. For the first time in his Winston Cup career Steve raced at the front of the pack, leading the biggest names in auto racing for a total of 84 laps.
June ended on a low note, after a very successful month. Steve earned his career best finishing at Michigan in a race without a single caution. In a test session at Pocono Steve was the fastest driver, then followed up by finishing 13th in the Pocono 500. The team moved up several positions in the standing, and were back in the top-25. Unfortunately a disappointing run at Sears Point dropped them back down to 30th. Steve's car took a violent flip through the air, landing upright on top of the retaining wall. (see the photos)
Now the team heads on to Daytona for the Fourth of July weekend. The Pepsi 400 marks the end of the first half of the 1999 season. The first half of the season ended on a sour note for the team when for the 2nd consecutive week Steve finished in 42nd place. Engine problems plagued the team all week, and just 79 laps into the race the engine gave out. The team took a significant drop in the standings, but they were prepared to start the second half knowing the progress they had made.
The second half of the 1999 season started at Steve's home track at Louden. It was not their best race of the season, but the 12th place finish they came home with was a step in the right direction. The following week saw the return to Pocono, and Steve found himself leading another race. He only held the lead for a few laps due to pitting strategies, but Steve remained among the leaders -- coming home with his second top-10 finish of the season!
Steve continued his streak of top-15 finishes into August. He struggled in first round qualifying at The Brickyard 400, but turned things around with his run the following day. This race marked the anniversary of Steve's triumphant return in 1998 after being side-lined for half the season. Steve moved up 17 positions for a 15th place finish, and improved on that statistic the following week at Watkins Glen. After 2nd round qualifying was rained out, Steve was forced to use a provisional starting position, but moved up an impressive 27 positions. The 12th place finish was the 4th consecutive top-15 for the team.
The streak continued into September with a 10th place finish in Darlington, and a 9th place finish at the "Monster Mile". In October the team has scored 4 more top-15 finishes, and achieved the next goal on their way to victory lane. In both Charlotte and Talladega Steve ran competitively with the leaders.
Steve finished out the month of October by announcing in Rockingham his plans to run in the Busch series in 2000. Steve struggled through qualifying, having to rely on a provisional to make the race. He moved up quickly in the early stages of the race, but as the race progressed the handling went away. The team did continue their string of top-15 finishes -- bringing the total to 6 in a row.
After 3 months of racing non-stop, Winston Cup finally got the first weekend of November off. The next stop on the tour was Phoenix International Raceway. Steve ran in both the Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck races held there in 1997 as well as again in the Winston Cup race in 1998. This year he missed making the race in the first round of qualifying by one position, but when race day came, Steve tore up the track. Despite an incident on pit road that dropped Steve back several positions, he fished the race in 15th place -- the team's 7th consecutive top-15 finish! For the first time in his career, Steve moved up into the top-15 in the point standings, with the possibility of moving forward before the season finalé in Atlanta.
The following weekend Steve attempted to run in the BGN race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Unfortunately he crashed during his qualifying lap, and was unable to make the race. He did, however, run in the Pennzoil 400 sporting a new look in his "Shark" car. (see image below) Steve's previous experience at the track from the BGN series wasn't enough to overcome an ill-handling car. The team's top-15 streak came to an end with a 19th place finish. They did earn their 10th consecutive top-20 finish though. The inaugural race at Miami will be remembered most for two reasons. Tony Stewart won a record-breaking 3rd race in his rookie season - and Dale Jarrett clinched his first Winston Cup Championship.
The final race of the century may well be the most memorable race ever for Steve Park fans! Although he put aside the memories of his devastating crash in Atlanta, the feelings that Atlanta owes him one was on everyone's mind. Steve actually loves racing at Atlanta, but due to the crash in '98 returning is bittersweet. At the season finale in 1997 Steve recorded his first top-15 finish in a Winston Cup event, and hoped to earn another career-best finish in 1999!
One of the pre-season goals that eluded the team all year was starting on the pole. Steve almost got his first Winston Cup Bud Pole Award, narrowly missing out to former 1998 rookie-of-the-year competitor Kevin Lepage. However, Steve did earn his first front row starting position! Lepage got the early jump on the lead, but it didn't take long for Steve to race his way into the lead! He led numerous times throughout the course of the race, but the handling went away during the final stages of the race. His 12th place finish was a disappointment only because he ran so strong early in the day.
What the team did accomplish that day was finishing out the season in 14th place in the point standings. It was their 11th consecutive top-20 finish. In the second half of the season they earned a top-20 finish 16 out of 17 times. They also were 9th on the list of points earned during the second half. Four times this year the team finished in the top-10, including a career-best finish for Steve at Michigan Speedway in June.
Victory Lane is not that far away, and most fans think that first Winston Cup win will come in the first half of the 2000 season. (66% of voters polled here at the end of the 1999 season) Between the new 2000 Monte Carlo, and the addition of teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., we're probably right! As long as the Pennzoil teams starts 2000 the way they ended the 1999 season, there's no way they can miss!
The Winston Cup '99 page, as in years past, is the launching point of the 1999 Winston Cup information, and you'll find the monthly pages down below. Re-live Steve's sophomore season by seeing what he did each week right here!
I've been working on redesigning the site a bit, and I've launched a new section for the site just for you, the FANS. Be sure to stop by, and please help contribute to this new section!
Next Race: Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway February 20 at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS
1999 pages
UPDATED - 2-6-99
UPDATED - 2-14-99
UPDATED - 4-9-99
UPDATED - 4-30-99
UPDATED - 6-9-99
UPDATED - 7-6-99
UPDATED - 8-21-99
UPDATED - 9-5-99
UPDATED - 10-10-99
UPDATED - 11-14-99
UPDATED - 12-5-99
UPDATED -
My time was consumed with my son's recovery, getting 3 kids back to school, and preparing our house for extermination. As things begin to slow down, this site should be updated in the very near future. Things eventually evened out, and there were even weekends I had information posted here faster than my co-workers could post my stories on the official site! (Okay, so that was rare, but it DID happen some of the time!!) On a personal note, a dear friend of mine phoned Steve's mom, Dottie Park, to have her fan club membership renewal fee diverted to a membership for my son. In another showing of just how dear the Park family is, Dottie immediately got it sent out, and it was at our home when he was released from the hospital. He proudly shows off his membership card, and has sleeps every night in his fan club T-shirt! Additionally, he's tickled pink that Troy Cole has seen his school picture! Thanks, again, to everyone for all their support through our ordeal. 
Above is the artist's rendering of the "Shark" car that Steve drove at this year's inaugural Pennzoil 400 presented by Kmart on November 14, 1999.
An actual photo can be seen with the Pennzoil 400 race coverage.
I'd like to once again thank everyone for their patience this summer for the lack of updates. Prior to the Pennsylvania 500 on July 25th my 5 year old son was bitten by a brown recluse spider below his left eye. He was hospitalized for the next few days, after his face swole up like a balloon. Thankfully he is doing fine now, although he will be left with a scar under the eye.
Dale Jr - Steve's new WC teammate!
It was officially announced in September of 1998 that Dale Earnhardt Jr signed a six-year deal with Budwiser to drive on the Winston Cup circuit through 2004. He will drive in only 5 races (still to be announced) in 1999, so that he can run for rookie-of-the-year in the year 2000. The number of the DEI car has not been announced, although it's been strongly rumored that it might be the #8. (The Stavola Bros. may shut down their organization, and Ralph Earnhardt drove the #8....) Dale drove the #1 car in Motegi, Japan in November, only with a little different look. It was the much-hyped first head-to-head race for Dale Jr and Dale Sr. Coca Cola sponsored both cars - Dale Jr's is pictured below.
Steve's thoughts at the announcement:
"This is a learning experience. Obviously, Dale Jr. has talent. Now it's just a matter of getting experience in a Winston Cup car. But, the competition up here is a lot tougher. The cars are different also. They weigh 200 pounds more, their wheelbase is five inches longer, and the engines have about 200 more horsepower. The only thing that helps you adjust to that is experience." "You can't come over here and kick butt. Nobody has ever done that and probably never will. You can be the king of the hill over there and come over here and struggle. Expectations are always high when you start a new deal, but this is the most competitive level of racing in the world and it take a lot of patience. It has made me work harder. He's got a tough road ahead, but if he works hard then he will be fine." "The way he's been running this year, heck yes he's going to help me." When asked if Dale could help him as a driver.
"I think this is good for our team. Multiple car teams seem to share more and more information and this is an information business. If you look at the results this year, the multi car teams are producing the best results. As a single car team, you can only learn a small amount each week. Right now, we share information with Richard Childress Racing, but having another team here in house should make information sharing a lot easier."
#1 Pennzoil 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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