The Texas 500 was held on April 5th at Texas Motor Speedway . It was not a good race for the Pennzoil team, but the experience of the whole weekend overshadows that right now for me! As soon as I get my pictures developed, I will open up a photo gallery of the images, along with detailed information of my experience there. Chances are it will have to be a site of it's own for all the pictures I took! Let's just hope a few of the 7 1/2 rolls of pictures I took come out! :o)

      Not to distract from the Pennzoil team, but what a pleasure it was to see that beautiful #3 AC Delco Chevy Monte Carlo racing on Saturday. Early in the race it was evident that it was the strongest car out there, and Jr.'s final lap pass into the lead was just the end of an awesome day. It was only his 16th start, and the team got a win sooner in the season in 1998 than in 1997. All the Steve Park fans who fell in love with that car last year need not feel bad, he IS the one who laid all the ground work along with the team last year. Tony Eury Sr. and the boys really dialed in the car this week. I'm honored not only to have been present to experience Jr.'s first ever Busch win, but to have had that fabulous experience be my first NASCAR race!

Check back in a couple of weeks for more information and links for my Texas experience.

      As for the Winston Cup race, trouble started right from the beginning, when in lap 2 there was a 10 car pile-up that brought out the red flag. Andretti and Mast tangled up at the wall between turns 1 and 2, igniting a fire on the track. I personally happened to be watching DW go into the turn and saw the back end come around, and knew it wasn't good. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even realize that Dale ran right into his own car - the #1 car that is. Darrell came over the loud speaker later on and said he got one lap last year, at least he got 2 this year! It was a pleasure to see him come back out, with a half way decent car. In fact, after returning to the track, Darrell radioed the to the crew: "I've had cars that haven't been wrecked that didn't drive as good as this.," If nothing else, you can always count on good ol' DW to say something "classic"!

      Darrell ended up completing a total of 185 laps. He did end up taking the car back to the garage, and was not running at the end of the race. He ended up in the 36th position, as Dale Earnhardt was able to complete enough laps after DW left the track. This puts the team into 43rd in owner points now, though.

      However, prior to the race, these were his thoughts:

      And once again.... good ol' DW! Colorful as ever!

      With a week off before heading to Martinsville Speedway, the teams were ready to roll! The Goody's Headache Powder 500 was held on April 19th, and looked to be one of the best races of the year for the Pennzoil team. Steve's fans lucky enough to be at the race were especially thrilled because even though he wasn't racing, of course, he was there during the weekend. He had an autograph session scheduled, and it must have helped lift some spirits dampened by the rain delay. The wonderful folks who run the Steve Park Rig, where the racing merchandize can be purchased at the races, had a T-shirt available for the fans to sign at Texas Motor Speedway. After Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip signed it as well, it was going to be presented to him at Martinsville. (It was an honor to have the opportunity to be part of this wonderful gesture.)

      Fans who caught happy hour practice on ESPN2 on Saturday got a chance to see Steve again. He looked great, and seems to be feeling great too. For anyone who missed it, he will be going back in to see his doctor very soon, and if all is still going as well as it has been, expect to see Steve back in the car in the open test session in Indianapolis in July!

      In the meantime, DW looks stronger than he has in quite some time. He put the Pennzoil car into the 14th starting position obtaining a time of 00:20.485 (92.438 m.p.h.).

      More than 20 years of experience and 11 victories on the flat track taught DW that no matter how good his Pennzoil Monte Carlo was in practice or qualifying, survival is the key to success in Martinsville. His hopes were high after beginning the race in 14th place and posting impressive practice speeds on Saturday. In the final practice Saturday night, DW was so pleased with the Pennzoil Monte Carlo he pulled the car in early after NASCAR timing showed Waltrip posting one of the ten quickest speeds. However, after enduring a day of rain showers on Sunday, the DEI team returned to the track on Monday ready for what was expected to be one of its best performances of the year. A season that included several crashes, Steve's devastating injuries, and a few missed races would now turn around at Martinsville where DW has dominated over his long and storied career.

      As the field took the green flag, he dove down to the lower and faster groove at the bottom of the racetrack and settled in for 500 laps. By the fourth lap, DW and #99 car driven by Jeff Burton were side-by-side with Burton occupying the outside position. It was then that his pre-race nightmare became a reality. The Pennzoil Monte Carlo slammed the inside wall and came to a rest. As Burton drove off, DW informed the crew of the severe damage. For the next hour, the DEI team worked feverishly to repair the damaged racecar. Eventually DW returned to the track to log laps and gain a few positions. But, the nightmare got worse. Mark Martin, Burton's Roush Racing teammate who battled handling problems from previous crash, made contact with Waltrip sending the Pennzoil car into the outside wall in turn two. The DEI team made repairs and Waltrip limped home to a 40th-place finish many laps behind winner Bobby Hamilton.

      On April 26th Winston Cup headed back to restrictor plate racing at Talladega Superspeedway in the DieHard 500. For the Pennzoil team, it was a weekend that just kept getting better and better. Practice prior to qualifying on Friday didn't start out good. After running 16 laps, DW only posted the 39th fastest time at 00:50:36 (189.864 m.p.h.) However, the team was able to get DW to a 24th starting position. He reached a time of 00:49:978 (191.604 m.p.h.)

      It was a very quiet race for most of the day. It was beginning to look like we might have repeat of the '97 race where not only no caution flags flew, but Mark Martin achieved the fastest race speed ever. Darrell kept creeping up higher, and Dale Earnhardt was consistently up at the front, looking like he would get his second win of the year. Unfortunately, with less than 50 laps to go, Ward Burton's #22 slipped down to the apron, and in trying to control it, he lost control of it, and tapped into the back end of Earnhardt. This began a domino effect, starting by sending Dale and Bill Elliott into the outer wall in flames. 20 cars were collected up in the crash which brought out a red flag once again. All drivers walked away from the wreck, with the worst of the injuries being Elliott (bruised sternum and bruised knee) and Earnhardt (second degree burns on neck and face).

      Darrell managed to avoid the sliding cars and navigated through the smoke and carnage. Despite having fallen down a lap earlier in the race because of a tire vibration, his survival meant a season's best 15th place finish, for both the #1 team and for DW personally. Just as important, the DEI team loaded another undamaged car in the Pennzoil hauler after the race.