7/14/02: Rising star Stuart Kirby saddled with mechanical issues at Chicagoland

SOURCE: Chuck McCoy, motorsport.com

On July 14, 2002, Stuart Kirby picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup career in the Tropicana 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway when his #57 CLR Ford broke the rear end after 124 of 267 laps.  The finish came in Kirby’s 2nd series start.

In 1981, Kirby was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 90 miles south-east of Michael Waltrip and Jeff Green’s hometown of Owensboro.  Like Eddie Bierschwale, featured earlier this year, Kirby grew up working for his family’s funeral home before making his way into racing.  At age 20, he made his ARCA debut during SpeedWeeks 2001, finishing 5th for car owner and series veteran Bob Schacht in the ARCA 200 at Daytona.  In just eight starts that season, Kirby would earn four more top-five finishes, including a runner-up to Frank Kimmel during May’s 100-miler at Charlotte.

During the summer of 2001, Schacht decided to field a Winston Cup car for Kirby when the elite division returned to Charlotte in October.  It was a tremendous gamble - not only due to Kirby’s inexperience, but the team’s as well.  It would be the first time Bob Schacht fielded a NASCAR entry since September 19, 1993, when Schacht himself came home 36th in a field of 37 at Dover, edged for last by Phil Parsons.  Worse, 51 cars made the preliminary entry list for the 43-car field, and even after withdrawals by Rick Mast and Morgan Shepherd, Kirby had to make it in on speed.

Surprisingly, Kirby performed once more.  The Thursday before the race, he put up the 22nd-fastest time in qualifying to lock himself into his first Cup race in his first-ever attempt.  The red-and-black Ford sponsored by Combos would roll off just seven spots behind another driver making his Cup debut that day, Jimmie Johnson.  When he was interviewed, Kirby expected to finish inside the Top 25.  Things were looking up for driver and team.  Then, hours later, came tragedy.

Thursday’s activities at Charlotte wrapped up with an ARCA race, the EasyCare Vehicle Services Contracts 100.  With Kirby focusing on his Cup debut, his ride in the #75 Middleswarth Potato Chips Pontiac fell to Blaise Alexander.  After struggling as a development driver for SABCO Racing, Alexander returned to ARCA as one of five other drivers who’d also drive for Schacht in 2001.  Alexander came to Charlotte as one of the favorites to take the victory, having capped a stretch of five straight top-ten finishes with a win from the pole at Michigan in July.  Charlotte, Alexander’s first race since the Michigan event, saw him roll off on the outside of Row 2 alongside Kerry Earnhardt.

By Lap 64, Alexander and Earnhardt had combined to lead all but five laps and were still battling for the top spot.  Heading through Turns 3 and 4, race leader Earnhardt slid up the track behind the lapped car of Robby Benton.  Alexander moved to the inside and began to pull ahead.  Entering the dogleg, the #75 had just about cleared Earnhardt’s #2 when the two made contact, steering Alexander head-on into the outside wall.  The ferocious impact knocked Alexander’s car back into Earnhardt, sending the #2 sliding several hundred feet on its roof.  Earnhardt escaped quickly, but there was no movement from the #75.  Alexander, age 25, died of a basal skull fracture.  The race was stopped.  Earnhardt was given the win.

Thursday’s tragedy only added to the emotions of an overwhelming year.  Alexander’s death came less than eight months after Dale Earnhardt lost his life in much the same way on the final lap of the Daytona 500.  More significantly, America was still coming to terms of the September 11th attacks just a few weeks before, and by race day, news broke of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States' invasion of Afghanistan.  War pushed the race broadcast off the major networks, and the cable audience would watch Sterling Marlin take the win.  Marlin wanted to take a lap carrying the American flag, much like Brad Keselowski does today, but for some reason NASCAR deemed it unsafe.  Kirby, meanwhile, was left with a disappointing 42nd-place finish, involved in a multi-car crash on Lap 46.  Bob Schacht has not fielded a Cup car since.  Jimmie Johnson, who also wrecked, rounded out the Bottom Five in 39th.

The July 2002 race at Kansas was Kirby’s first start since the Charlotte debut.  He this time drove for car owner Ted Campbell, whose silver #57 CLR Ford was one of the seven cars Kirby sent home that October.  Like Kirby, Campbell was active in ARCA and was looking to make the transition into NASCAR.  He’d fielded ARCA entries for Mark Claussner and Kirk Shelmerdine in 1999 and 2000, and in the latter season earned a pole and a 3rd-place finish with Shelmerdine at Talladega.  Derrike Cope gave Campbell his first Cup start in 2001’s inaugural event at the Kansas Speedway, coming home 24th.  Chicago would also be his first start since then.

Much like this weekend’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, the 2002 Tropicana 400 also featured several cars with characters on their cars.  Back then, the theme The Muppet Show, which included eight drivers: Casey Atwood (with Muppet character Rowlf the Dog), Bill Elliott (Swedish Chef), Bobby Labonte (Pepe the King Prawn), Jeremy Mayfield (Dr. Honeydew and Beaker), Jimmy Spencer (Animal), Ricky Rudd (Gonzo the Great), Dale Jarrett (Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy), and Mike Wallace (Fozzie Bear).  Wallace drove in relief of Johnny Benson, Jr., who for the second time that season was sidelined by injury.  This time, the culprit was an early crash at Daytona eight days earlier that left him last in the Pepsi 400.

Again, Kirby hammered out another strong qualifying run, this time earning the 26th spot for Sunday’s 400-miler.  Unfortunately, the team had to make an engine change, sending him to the rear with Mike Skinner, Dave Blaney, and Kurt Busch.  All of them would join 43rd-place starter Stacy Compton, who was looking to turn around a difficult season in A.J. Foyt’s #14 Conseco Pontiac.

When the green flag fell, Kirby fell to the back, trailing the field by a carlength in Turn 1 and by about a half-second in Turns 3 and 4.  On Lap 4, Dave Blaney pulled onto pit road, serving a penalty for passing before the green flag.  But just as Blaney’s #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford came in, the caution fell for Ward Burton’s spin on the frontstretch.  Blaney managed to stay on the lead lap, but Burton’s #22 Caterpillar Dodge was trapped behind race leader Ryan Newman, one lap down in 43rd.  Ward Burton was forced to make extended stops under the yellow, his right-front fender damaged from riding around on four flat tires.  The damage proved worse than the Bill Davis Racing team anticipated.  On Lap 17, the driveshaft fell out the bottom of the #22, drawing another yellow and sending him behind the wall.  Burton managed to return to the track once again, 117 laps down.  He limped around the rest of the afternoon, ultimately losing nine more laps before retiring with handling issues.

Burton’s return to the track lifted him to 41st and slipped Kirby to 43rd in the final 18 laps.  Laps down himself after apparent mechanical issues, Kirby held 42nd from the moment the #22 spun, then fell out in the middle stages.  42nd went to Michael Waltrip, winner at Daytona eight days earlier, whose #15 NAPA Chevrolet blew an engine in Turn 1 and stopped next to the outside wall.  40th and 39th went to a pair of engine failures: the former being Ken Schrader in the #36 M&M’s Pontiac and the latter Jeff Burton in the #99 Citgo / Bassmasters Classic Ford.

The race was won by Kevin Harvick, who recovered from a spin through the grass on Lap 197 to best Jeff Gordon by less than a second.

Kirby remained an active part-timer in NASCAR and ARCA through 2009.  He made nine Busch Series starts, all but one for Frank Cicci in 2002, and came home a career-best 17th that year at Milwaukee.  Two Truck Series starts followed in 2003, where he finished 24th at Loudon and a series-best 20th at South Boston.  In 2005, he returned to what was now the Nextel Cup Series, making seven starts for car owner Joe Auer in the #51 Marathon Multipower-3 HD Motor Oil Chevrolet.  This time, his best finish came at Chicagoland, where he ran 31st.  From 2001 through 2009, he made a total of 16 ARCA races, all but one for Bob Schacht, and again found success at Chicagoland, earning a pole position for the ReadyHosting.com 200.  Unfortunately, the rear end let go after 1 lap, leaving him 38th.  His most recent ARCA race in 2009, once again at Chicagoland, earned him an 11th-place finish.

Today, Kirby lives in his hometown, where he operates an ice cream shop.  But he still eyes a return to racing, perhaps even more closely as NASCAR returns to Chicago.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #57 in a Cup Series race in more than a decade, dating back to July 17, 1994.  That finish also belonged to Kirby’s ARCA team owner Bob Schacht, whose #57 Kenova Golf Construction Ford broke the transmission after 11 laps of the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Pocono.  As of this writing, the number hasn’t trailed a Cup field since Kirby’s run in 2002.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #57-Stuart Kirby / 124 laps / rear end
42) #15-Michael Waltrip / 136 laps / crash
41) #22-Ward Burton / 137 laps / handling
40) #36-Ken Schrader / 151 laps / engine
39) #99-Jeff Burton / 167 laps / engine

CUP: Open Team Roundup - Richmond September

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

QUALIFIED

#55 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Reed Sorenson
Started 38th, Finished 26th

For just the second time this season, both at short tracks in the last four races, the second Premium Motorsports entry led the Open drivers.  Ironically, Sorenson started worst among the group, squeaking past teammate Cole Whitt to lock himself into the field, and his flat black Chevrolet was among the first cars to be lapped.  But with a determined run by driver and crew - including the team’s gas man who was pulled off his feet when the can failed to disengage - and the driver left with his second-best finish of the year, trailing only his 22nd at Daytona in July.  Next week, Sorenson rolls into Chicagoland, where he finished a track-best 7th as a rookie in 2006, then 12th in 2007.

#30 The Motorsports Group
Driver: Josh Wise
Started 36th, Finished 30th

Josh Wise was already down three of his four laps by the 85th circuit, dropping him back to 38th, but managed to bounce eight spots up the field by the checkered flag.  Wise’s best finish in five previous Chicagoland starts were his two most recent, when he ran 33rd for Phil Parsons Racing and Go FAS Racing, respectively.

#93 BK Racing
Driver: Matt DiBenedetto
Started 25th, Finished 37th

When rookie Dylan Lupton returned to Sprint Cup for the first time since his Sonoma debut, he and BK Racing teammate Matt DiBenedetto switched rides, locking Lupton into the field in DiBenedetto’s #83.  DiBenedetto himself worked his way to 24th in Happy Hour and ended up one spot short of Round 2 with the 25th-fastest spot.  Unfortunately, both teammates were swept-up in late crashes.  DiBenedetto caught the outside wall on Lap 355 while Lupton collided with a stopped Ryan Newman, during the big wreck with 38 to go, perching his Toyota atop Newman’s #31.  DiBenedetto, expected to return to the #83 next Sunday, made his Chicagoland debut last year and finished 39th.

#21 Wood Brothers Racing
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Started 20th, Finished 39th

For just the third time in 2016, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team ranked worst among the Open teams, victims of early misfortune.  Contact during a race with Austin Dillon and Trevor Bayne caused his #21 to trail smoke, and on Lap 11 his Ford slapped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2.  Blaney remained behind the wall until Lap 123, coming out 112 laps down, and made at least two more trips to the garage as the car struggled with oil pressure issues an a possible dropped cylinder.  The persistence paid off with just seven laps to go, when he bumped Paul Menard to last.  Next Sunday will be Blaney’s first Cup race at Chicagoland, though he has finished in the Top 5 there in both XFINITY and Truck Series competition.

DID NOT QUALIFY

#98 Premium Motorsports
Driver: Cole Whitt
2016 Stats: 23 Starts, 3 DNQs

Left with his first DNQ since the spring race at the same Richmond track was Cole Whitt, his car slowest overall and just under two tenths of a second behind the next Open car of teammate Reed Sorenson.  Whitt looks for better results next week with a fifth Chicagoland start, a track where his best finish of 29th came last year for Front Row Motorsports.

DID NOT ENTER

#26 BK Racing
#35 Front Row Motorsports
#40 Hillman Racing
#59 Leavine Family / Circle Sport Racing

None of the other part-time Open teams attempted the race in Richmond.

CUP: Paul Menard grabs last place away from Ryan Blaney with seven laps to go at Richmond

SOURCE: FOX Sports

Paul Menard picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond International Raceway when his #27 Dutch Boy / Menards Chevrolet fell out after a crash ended his run 264 of 407 laps into the event.

The finish, which came in Menard’s 353rd series start, was his second of the season and first since Kansas this past spring, 15 races ago.

Coming into Richmond, Menard hadn’t failed to finish a race since Kansas, lifting him to 22nd in the point standings.  His best run in that stretch came during the grueling 400-miler at Indianapolis, five years since his breakthrough first victory, where he came home 10th.  He also started a season-best 3rd last month at Pocono, but had to settle for a 35th-place finish.  Last week at Darlington, he won the pole for the XFINITY Series race.  The next day, he looked for another strong run in a throwback paint scheme resembling the Hendrick Motorsports entry Al Unser, Jr. ran in the 1993 Twin 125s at Daytona, but a late wreck with Kurt Busch left him 16th.

Menard began the Richmond weekend 25th in the opening practice, 19th in Happy Hour, then slipped to 30th in qualifying with a lap of 122.078mph.  41 cars joined Menard in the effort to make the field with Cole Whitt’s #98 Standard Plumbing Supply Chevrolet sent home, sweeping the DNQs at Richmond for 2016.  Starting last would be rookie Jeffrey Earnhardt in the lime green #32 Corvetteparts.net Ford for Go FAS Racing.  The #83 E.J. Wade Construction / Union Bank and Trust Toyota of Dylan Lupton, the rookie making his first Cup start since Sonoma in June, was seen rolling off pit road during the first pace lap, but was not incurred a penalty.

Jeffrey Earnhardt remained in 40th at the end of Lap 1, followed by Premium Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson in the #55 Chevolet on Lap 2.  As Sorenson continued to trail those early laps, reports came that 20th-place starter Ryan Blaney had problems.  Not long after the start, Blaney’s #21 SKF Ford for the Wood Brothers had made contact racing Austin Dillon and Trevor Bayne, causing the #21 to trail smoke.  Unfortunately, he didn’t come to pit road soon enough, and on Lap 11, Blaney smacked the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, drawing the first caution of the day.  Blaney’s Ford sustained heavy damage to the right side, particularly the rear clip, forcing him to the garage area.  The first car to lose a lap, and now running last, Blaney appeared headed toward the first last-place run for the #21 in a Cup race at Richmond.

But the Wood Brothers team didn’t give up.  On Lap 123, the crew had managed to piece the car back together and send him back out, a distant 112 laps behind the leaders.  He was joined at the rear by Landon Cassill, who around Lap 54 had also pulled into the garage with an issue in the brake line of his #38 MDS Transport Ford.  Cassill, too, returned to the track by Lap 98, 44 laps behind, and just like that all 40 cars were on the track again - that is, except for at least two more trips to the garage for Blaney on Lap 163 and 169 for a drop in oil pressure and a possible dropped cylinder.  Blaney returned to competition once more on Lap 182, now more than 120 laps behind.  As the race entered its second half, it seemed unlikely he would climb any further.

Then, on Lap 265, it happened.  Paul Menard was still on the lead lap, running around the 12th spot, when his Chevrolet also began trailing smoke from an apparent tire issue.  As Menard paced himself around the track, he raced to the outside of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #17 Zest Ford into the first corner.  The two made contact, sending Menard spinning backward into the outside wall.  Unlike Blaney, this damage proved too much for Menard’s Richard Childress Racing team to repair, and he soon became the race’s first retiree.  With the other 39 drivers still on track, Menard quickly fell into the Bottom Five on Lap 268, then with seven laps to go, was finally passed by Blaney.

Blaney finished 39th, 121 laps down.  Cassill ended up on the other end of the Bottom Five in 36th, 42 behind.  Between them were 38th-place Matt Kenseth, who lost a tire while running inside the Top 10 on Lap 336, sending his #20 Dollar General Toyota hard into the outside wall of Turn 3.  37th went to Matt DiBenedetto, the previous day’s XFINITY Series last-placer, whose first turn in BK Racing’s #93 since the Daytona 500 ended with his own collision with the outside wall.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #27 in a Cup race at Richmond since September 9, 1995, when Elton Sawyer’s Hooters Ford fielded by Junior Johnson was involved in a crash after 66 laps of the Miller Genuine Draft 400.  It was Menard’s first last-place run in a Cup race at the track.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #27-Paul Menard / 264 laps / crash
39) #21-Ryan Blaney / 279 laps / running
38) #20-Matt Kenseth / 335 laps / crash / led 3 laps
37) #93-Matt DiBenedetto / 352 laps / crash
36) #38-Landon Cassill / 358 laps / running

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Premium Motorsports (5)
2nd) BK Racing (4)
3rd) HScott Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, The Motorsports Group (3)
4th) Hendrick Motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing (2)
5th) Chip Ganassi Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports (1)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (17)
2nd) Toyota (5)
3rd) Ford (4)

2016 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

XFINITY: Matt DiBenedetto’s 10th last-place run for #10 comes at Richmond

SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums

Matt DiBenedetto picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Friday’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at the Richmond International Raceway when his unsponsored #10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota fell out with a vibration after he completed 4 of 250 laps.

The finish, which came in DiBenedetto’s 62nd series start, was his tenth of the season, second in a row, and third in the last four races.

DiBenedetto returned to Richmond for another double-duty weekend, but with a single twist: for the first time since the Daytona 500, he would have to qualify for Saturday’s Sprint Cup race on speed, having switched rides with newcomer Dylan Lupton.  Once again, DiBenedetto rose to the occasion.  He qualified 25th for the Cup race, and after a 37th-place run in XFINITY practice, vaulted to 12th in Round 1 of XFINITY qualifying with a lap of 119.090mph.  DiBenedetto sat out Round 2 and instead settled for a 24th starting spot on Friday.

DiBenedetto was one of 43 drivers on the preliminary entry list, which again was whittled down by race day.  First to withdraw was King Autosport’s second team, the #92 Chevrolet to be driven by Dexter Bean.  Then two more drivers failed to qualify, both in black Chevrolets: Morgan Shepherd in his #89 and the second Vroom! Brands #77 of Austin Theriault.  Theriault was one of a number of drivers to find trouble in practice, his car making contact with the outside wall.  That same session, Chris Cockrum was forced to a backup car after a wreck in his #25 Lily Trucking Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing.  The Obaika team worked out a deal with Ware for Theriault to drive in place of Cockrum in the #25, which did not complete a qualifying lap and ended up starting 40th and last in the field.

Through the first caution on Lap 50, three of the Bottom Five drivers pulled out of the race.  DiBenedetto parked the #10 after four laps, followed by Timmy Hill in Motorsports Business Management’s #40 Taiga Coolers Dodge.  Mike Harmon, the third of this group, had an oil leak on his own unsponsored #74 Dodge during that first caution and wound up 38th. 37th went to Theriault, his Chevrolet overheating after 84 circuits.  Rounding out the group was 27-year-old Alli Owens, whose XFINITY Series debut ended with a busted clutch on her #97 Obaika Racing Chevrolet.  These were the only five DNFs of the race.

In Saturday’s Cup race, DiBenedetto finished 37th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was TriStar Motorsports’ sixth last-place finish in the previous ten XFINITY races at Richmond.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #10-Matt DiBenedetto / 4 laps / vibration
39) #40-Timmy Hill / 21 laps / electrical
38) #74-Mike Harmon / 51 laps / oil leak
37) #25-Austin Theriault / 84 laps / overheating
36) #97-Alli Owens / 156 laps / clutch

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) TriStar Motorsports (15)
2nd) RSS Racing (3)
3rd) B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Inc., JD Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (2)
4th) Chip Ganassi Racing (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Toyota (15)
2nd) Chevrolet (7)
3rd) Ford (2)
4th) Dodge (1)

2016 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

5/3/03: The story of Steve Park: serious crashes, thrilling victories

SOURCE: ThatsRacin.com

On May 3, 2003, Steve Park picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup career in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at the Richmond International Raceway when his #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet was involved in a crash that ended his night after 42 of 393 laps.

The finish, which came in Park’s 156th start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup race since July 28, 2002, his terrifying first-lap accident with teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. during the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono.

Both crashes were among the many challenges faced by the East Northport, New York driver.  Park came from the modified ranks, driving for his father and series veteran Bob Park.  In the decade following his 1986 debut, Park won 16 races, and twice finished second to champion Tony Hirschman in 1995 and 1996.  He’d also dabbled in closed-fender racing in the Busch North Series (now K&N Pro Series East) and the NASCAR Busch Series (now NASCAR XFINITY Series).

1996 was a huge year for Park.  On top of his runner-up finish in the modified ranks, he scored two wins in just eleven starts in the Busch North Series, finished 11th in his Truck Series debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park and 4th in his second start at Loudon, and by season’s end began to drive for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI).  Park finished the ‘96 season with a 34th-place running in his first Busch Series start for DEI at Charlotte, then 15th in the Truck Series season finale at Las Vegas.  The next year, Park would run full-time in Busch competition, replacing Jeff Green as driver of the flagship #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet.

Park and DEI gelled quickly in ‘97.  They came home 7th in the season opener at Daytona, the first of 20 Top Tens in the 30-race season.  His first Top 5 came two rounds later at Richmond, a 3rd after leading two laps, and eleven more top-five runs would come by season’s end.  And at the Nashville (Fairgrounds) Speedway, just ten rounds in, Park led 123 of 320 laps, besting Jeff Green by more than two seconds.  Park would win twice more at Michigan and Richmond, placing him third in the season standings behind champion Randy LaJoie and runner-up Todd Bodine.  Once again, Park was moved up the ladder to Winston Cup.

Prior to 1998, Park had made five Cup starts and finished better than 33rd only once - a 15th in the Atlanta finale.  Regardless, hopes were high that Park could contend in a strong rookie class that included Kenny Irwin, Jr., Jerry Nadeau, and Kevin Lepage.  The first full-season Cup attempt by DEI attracted sponsorship from Pennzoil, who pulled most of its support from Bahari’ Racing after seven seasons.  On the pit box was veteran crew chief Philippe Lopez.  But the struggles of 1997 remained.  Park finished 41st at Daytona, 31st at Rockingham, and failed to qualify at Las Vegas.  Then, in the lead-up to the next race in Atlanta, his luck turned even worse.

During practice for the Primestar 500, Park blew a right-front tire in Turn 4, sending his car hard into the outside wall.  Out of control, the #1 skidded into the barrier on the frontstretch, slid across the wet infield grass, and smacked into the pit road wall.  The impact broke Park’s femur in his right leg, his left clavicle, left scapula, and broke two of his front teeth.  Extensive surgery in the Georgia Baptist Hospital led to a hiatus of more than five months, during which time three other drivers raced his car.  When Phil Parsons and Ron Hornaday, Jr. couldn’t get the #1 into the field on speed at Atlanta and Darlington, DEI turned to Darrell Waltrip, who had just been forced to close his #17 Cup team amid financial issues.  Ironically, Waltrip gave the team some of its best runs that season, running 5th at Fontana and leading late at Pocono before finishing 6th.  When Park returned at Indianapolis in July, he finished no better than 11th.

But DEI stuck with their driver, and slowly but surely, Park began to improve.  He earned his first Top 10 in Cup at Michigan in 1999 when he came home 6th, and earned four more by season’s end, lifting him to 14th in the final standings.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who made his own Cup debut that season, ran alongside Park during the 2000 campaign, and even bigger steps were made.  Park’s first top-five came when he broke through with a stunning victory at Watkins Glen, holding off three-time Glen winner Mark Martin in the final laps.  He also earned his first poles at Bristol and Homestead, won the Winston Open at Charlotte, and nearly tripled his top-ten count on his ay to a career-best 11th in the standings.

2001 promised to be an even bigger year as DEI hired Michael Waltrip to debut its third team, the #15 NAPA Chevrolet.  But everything changed after Dale Earnhardt’s tragic death on the final lap of Waltrip’s win in the Daytona 500.  The following race at Rockingham was a decidedly somber affair.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 2nd to Waltrip at Daytona, wrecked on the first lap and finished last before rain stopped the day’s events.  Postponed to Monday, the Dura Lube 400 still had more than 300 laps to go and now even fewer fans in the stands.  But this time, it was Park who carried the flag.  In a mostly green-flag affair, Park, the outside-polesitter, led for 167 laps and this time held off a furious charge by Bobby Labonte.  Days before Kevin Harvick’s photo-finish at Atlanta and months before Dale Jr.’s emotional thriller at Daytona, it was Park who began the healing process.  But, unbelievably, his own season would face another near-tragedy.

Coming into that September’s Southern 500 weekend at Darlington, Park was 10th in points, looking to carry a streak of four top-ten finishes into a track where he’d come home the runner-up to Dale Jarrett in the spring.  He looked to run double-duty that weekend, making his seventh Busch Series start of the year in Ted Marsh’s #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet.  Park started 15th in the Busch race, the South Carolina 200, and was still running mid-pack when rain slowed the event on Lap 11.  As the field continued to follow the pace car on Lap 20, Larry Foyt ran his #14 Harrah’s Casino Chevrolet quickly along the inside line, looking to catch up with the other lapped cars.  As Foyt came off Turn 2, he was shocked to see Park’s #31 veer left in front of him.  At the worst possible moment, Park’s steering wheel had come off, exposing his broadside to the oncoming Foyt.  Unable to avoid a collision, Foyt slammed head-on into Park’s driver’s door, destroying both cars.

Just as in Atlanta in 1998, Park was hospitalized with broken bones, this time several fractured ribs.  But unlike 1998, he ths time suffered severe brain injuries, injuries which have continued to affect his vision and speech to this day.  Again, Park was out of the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet, which he this time handed over to Kenny Wallace for the final 12 rounds of 2001 and the first four of 2002.  And, just as in 1998, Wallace enjoyed a number of strong runs.  Wallace, who lost his own Cup ride with Eel River Racing, won the pole that November at Rockingham and led 101 of 393 laps, only to finish a distant 2nd behind surprise winner Joe Nemechek.  And when Park returned in the early part of 2002, he’d score just two Top 10s the rest of the year, be involved in that terrible crash with Dale Jr. at Pocono, and leave a disappointing 32nd in the final standings.  But, once again, DEI stayed with their driver, and Park returned in 2003 to join Waltrip and Earnhardt, Jr.

Coming into the spring race at Richmond, Park had just earned his first pole position in nearly three years, leading the field to green in the Auto Club 500 at Fontana.  But, unfortunately, a good run wasn’t in the cards.  Once the green flag fell, he was forced into a three-wide battle between Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott, sending him back into a race for 5th with Ryan Newman.  Coming off the second corner, Park and Newman made contact, sliding them into the outside wall, then sending Park careening into the inside wall.  Park avoided injury, but was handed a 40th-place finish, his sixth finish outside the Top 20 in the first ten races.  Now 30th in points heading to Richmond, Park was once again back at square one.

The Pontiac Excitement 400 weekend was marred by another terrible practice crash, but this time the victim was Jerry Nadeau.  In his first season with MB2 Motorsports in the #01 U.S. Army Pontiac, Nadeau was mired 34th in points, but had earned a strong 4th-place run at Texas and came home 14th the day Park wrecked at Fontana.  He’d also qualified 11th for the race that Saturday.  But moments into practice on May 2, Nadeau’s Pontiac lost control in the first corner and slammed the unprotected barrier flush with the driver’s side.  The Connecticut driver had to be cut from his car and rushed to hospital, where trauma doctors gave him just a six percent chance of survival.  Nadeau pulled through, but suffered a fractured skull, a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and a concussion, leaving his left side completely immobile.  Like Park, Nadeau still contends with these issues to this day, and has been consulted on the ongoing concussion and balance issues suffered this year by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Meanwhile, back at the track, Park started 23rd for Saturday’s 400-lapper.  Sent home along with Nadeau were Hermie Sadler in his own #02 GoTeamVa.com Pontiac, current XFINITY Series owner-driver Derrike Cope in his #37 Friendly’s Ice Cream Chevrolet, and Travis Carter’s #66 Kikkoman Ford of Japanese driver Hideo Fukuyama, who was attempting a partial schedule with a pre-Kickstarter program called the “Hideo Fukuyama Racing Project,” or HFRP.

Starting 43rd that Saturday was another owner-driver, current pace car driver Brett Bodine in his own throwback #11 Hooters Ford.  Joining him at the rear were Busch Series driver Jason Keller, tabbed to drive a backup car for Jerry Nadeau, and Bill Elliott, who changed engines on the #9 Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge for crew chief turned car owner Ray Evernham.  By the end of Turns 1 and 2 on the first lap, both Elliott and Keller got by Bodine, dropping the #11 back to last.  By Lap 7, 43rd belonged to Elliott Sadler, who was in his second season running the #38 M&M’s Ford for Robert Yates Racing.  Lap 11 saw Robby Gordon fall to last in the #31 Cingular Chevrolet, one of many cars fighting handling issues in the early laps.  Gordon, the first driver to lose a lap, then made an unscheduled stop for tires and a spring rubber in the left-rear on Lap 21.  Gordon was still last when the first caution of the night fell on Lap 44.

Park had worked his way into the 20th spot and was working his way through Turns 1 and 2 when he lost control at corner apex, sending his car spinning backwards into the outside wall.  The car made heavy contact wit the right-front, and then-rookie Jamie McMurray had to spin his #42 Texaco / Havoline Dodge to miss him.  The accident saved several cars from going a lap down to race leader Joe Nemechek, but caused enough damage to end Park’s night.

Crashes filled most of the remaining spots in the Bottom Five.  42nd went to “Mongo,” Darrell Waltrip’s nickname for the dog that was the logo for Sirius Satellite Radio on the hood of Jimmy Spencer’s #7 Dodge, wrecked on Lap 141.  41st went to Tony Stewart in the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet, who tangled with Elliott Sadler on Lap 224.  40th went to the #30 America Online Chevrolet of Jeff Green.  Green, that year’s Daytona 500 polesitter, was furious after contact from teammate Kevin Harvick sent him into an accident with Jason Keller and Penske teammates Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman, with Newman’s #12 Alltel Dodge rounding out the group in 39th.  Green confronted Harvick’s crew chief Todd Berrier on pit road and had to be separated by Richard Childress.

In the aftermath of the rain-shortened race, won by Nemechek in Hendrick Motorsports’ #25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet, Green was released from Richard Childress Racing and Park, in short order, was released by DEI.  The result was a quick driver swap where Park would run Chilress’ #30 and Green in the #1, effective by the time the series rolled into its next events in Charlotte for The Winston and the Coca-Cola 600.  This time, neither driver benefitted greatly from their trade.  Green was released by DEI after the Southern 500 and finished out the year sharing Petty Enterprirses’ #43 Cheerios Dodge with Christian Fittipaldi.  Park finished 5th at Michigan in August then failed to qualify for the fall race at Talladega.  Green was re-signed with Petty for 2004.  Park, however, was dropped by Childress for then-rookie Johnny Sauter.

With the exception of a single attempt for Ultra Motorsports in Jimmy Spencer’s old #7 Dodge, Park turned his attention to the Truck Series in 2004, driving the #62 Orleans Racing Dodge fielded by Brendan Gaughan’s father Michael.  The next year at Fontana, Park broke through yet again with a win at Fontana, but Dodge’s gradual withdrawal from the series caused the driver to gradually leave that series as well.  For the next few seasons, Park returned to the modified and East Series ranks of his younger years, winning a race in the former.  He also returned to Cup briefly in 2010 and 2011, making two starts for Tommy Baldwin in paint schemes resembling modifieds.  LASTCAR was among the supporters of Park’s 2011 attempt at Loudon, which unfortunately missed the race.

Park still makes the occasional race today, and continues to fight the battles he’s waged since his injuries at Darlington.  He’s been active in IMPACT, an initiative for concussion research, and also owns a Batteries Plus Bulbs franchise in Mooresville, North Carolina.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time the #1 car finished last in a Cup race at Richmond since March 2, 1997, when Morgan Shepherd’s Delco Remy America Pontiac, fielded by car owner Richard Jackson, lost an engine after 131 laps of the Pontiac Excitement 400.  2003 was also Park’s only last-place finish in a Cup race at Richmond.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #1-Steve Park / 42 laps / crash
42) #7-Jimmy Spencer / 139 laps / crash
41) #20-Tony Stewart / 223 laps / crash
40) #30-Jeff Green / 267 laps / crash
39) #12-Ryan Newman / 277 laps / running / led 24 laps