 
|
 |
The Brickyard 400 on August 1st is the next step in the Winston No Bull 5 promotion. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not usual a part of the Winston Million competition, but was added this year. This track has become as prestigious for the NASCAR stars as the Indy predecessors. However, even this pales for Steve's fans as he will finally be making his return here! He tested here in the open testing in July. Read what Steve had to say about it!
Steve's thoughts going into the race:
|
"If you walk around the garage area at Indy this week I doubt you will find any driver more excited than me. It's exciting to make my comeback at Indianapolis. Remember this is a dream come true for me just to race at the Brickyard. I've been to Indy a few times to watch this race as well as the Indy 500 so I know a little about what this place is like."
"People have asked if I'm nervous about getting back in the Pennzoil car. The answer is no. I have a lot of confidence in my ability to drive a racecar. The accident in March was something out of my control. I'm more worried about competing with all the other cars that are going to be there than I am about just getting back in the car." |
|
"It's very easy to be over-aggressive right now. These races are too long to be over-aggressive. A lot of things I learned last year in the Busch Series was to be patient. You want to be aggressive, but you want to be aggressive in the last 50 laps when you still have tires and fenders on your race car. It's going to be one of them deals where I'm going to have to relearn patience a little bit. From sitting around, I'm probably too aggressive or too eager right now. I'll have 400 miles on Saturday to do that. We'll just have to ride those first 300 miles, make sure we get through all our pit stops, make sure we get all our adjustments made and make sure we have the fenders and a good set of tires on the car for the last 50 laps and let it all hang out. "I'm 110 percent physically. Mentally, my leg is only about 90 percent, so it averages right out at 100 percent. We're ready to go. I'm really thankful to Darrell for being able to spend what time was needed with the team to develop it to where it is now. Their confidence is raised up from where it was at the beginning of the year. My confidence from watching them and Darrell do such a good job is raised up. I'm just looking forward to getting back in it and getting some good runs in with the experience and knowledge they gained from Darrell. I had the opportunity to talk with Darrell and just listen. I think I learned more from just sitting back and listening than you would trying to ask a million questions. I'm looking forward to take what we've learned and keep going forward with it." |
Steve ran an amazing race all day, running as high as 4th at one point, but a late crash took him out of the race. Come back for more updates later!
| "Well, it's great to be back, I just wished we could have finished halfway decent," Park said. "The Pennzoil car was running good, and the guys did a great job, it's just a big disappointment not to finish after running so good all day long.
"Right now it's hard to see past the disappointment. To come out here and run that good all day long and then not be able to finish the race by getting a flat is just a big disappointment." Ricky Rudd slowed on the backstretch on lap 149 after driving high in Turn 2, with smoke wafting from the front of his car due to a cut tire. Park then followed suit, and the cut tire ruined what was a good afternoon for the No. 1 Pennzoil team. "It looked like Ricky ran over some debris and cut a tire down and hit the wall in (Turn) 2 and I ran through it, too," Park said. "Going down the backstretch I heard the time come unraveled going into (Turn) 3. Thank God they've got the inner liners so it didn't swap ends too fast. But once the car got up out of the groove and into the marbles, there was no saving it." "I felt better than I did at the beginning of the year," Park said. "I'm in better shape, I felt better in the heat. I just wish we could have had a decent outcome. This has given me a lot of optimism. "Without a doubt, this team has come a long way. We were just happy to be able to qualify first round and then hang in there all day and run with the leaders. It just shows that there's a lot of potential here for a first-year team." |
Winston Cup makes it's second and final appearance at a road course on August 9th when they roll into Watkins Glen. Steve's first ever Winston Cup race, just last year, was at The Bud at the Glen. He will return this week to his home state, and finally get the chance to live down his "Whopper on the Beach" incident of last year! Steve is hot off his return last week, so look forward to some exciting racing this week!
The first round of practice on Friday saw the #1 Pennzoil Team 34th fastest with a fast lap of 01:15.184 (117.312 m.p.h.). After failing to qualify in the first round, they were able to pick up speeds in the second practice session, with a fastest lap of 01:14.398 (118.551 m.p.h.) which was 22nd fastest. Steve made the race, standing on his time, qualifying 34th with a time of 01:14.526 (118.348 m.p.h.). In Saturday's practice, the team was 4th fastest, picking up to 01:14.300 (118.707 m.p.h.), and the team was 9th fastest in Happy Hour after running 23 laps, the fastest of which was 01:15.153 (117.360 m.p.h.).
|
"You absolutely have to take care of the transmission and stay on course at Watkins Glen. That's hard to do. But, if you do that all day long you will finish in the top ten. Now, if you can do that and maintain track position then you have a shot to win. As soon as you can make it on gas and tires you'd like to pit even if it is under a green. It takes so long to get around that track that there is really no way you can lose a lap even pitting under green. If a yellow comes out and all the other guys have to pit then you move into the lead. That's what happened at Sonoma all day long and it's probably going to happen here at Watkins Glen also. You have to pit as soon as you think you can make it to the end.
"I love this place. It's in my homestate first of all. Second it's a beautiful track and third it's a road course and even though I don't come from a road racing background I have been to about five road racing schools and really enjoy it now." Steve's thoughts going into the Bud at the Glen |
On August 16th we return again to Michigan Speedway, this time for the Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss. Don't be confused with the nighttime debut at Daytona . . . this multiple race sponsorship can be tough to keep straight!
Okay, time to get your thinking caps on again this week! Yes, this is our second race at Bristol and yes, this is the second time you've seen the Goody's 500 in the race title - only last time wasn't at Bristol, it was Martinsville. Okay? Well, August 22nd is the date, and since that's completely and solely different.... LOL
Winston Cup heads back to New Hampshire International Speedway on August 30th for the CMT 300. This is one track Steve considers to be a home track from his days racing in the north. He was very disappointed when the team failed to qualify here last year, and he is eager to race here again. Steve wasn't able to race here in July, so he's really excited to be comming back this week!
 |
More News |  |
| LinkExchange Member | Free Home Pages at GeoCities |
