Finally, a Prime Place to Park

Steve Park, who has seemingly been on the verge of losing his job as driver of Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet because of poor performances this year, made a strong statement toward saving his seat Friday by winning the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 500.

Park’s qualifying speed of 186.838 mph at California Speedway was the best of 45 Winston Cup drivers who made two-lap qualifying efforts.

It was a distinct surprise to the NASCAR nation.

In nine races this year, Park had not qualified better than 12th, at Talladega, and has not finished better than 10th, at Las Vegas.

And while Park, a 35-year-old New Yorker, was struggling in the back of the pack, his teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, were having success in supposedly equal equipment. Waltrip won the Daytona 500 and Earnhardt won at Talladega. Earnhardt is second in Winston Cup standings, Waltrip eighth. Park is an embarrassing 27th.

“All year long, we haven’t really qualified good at all,” said Park, more exasperated than pleased. “I think the press sometimes thinks that we don’t know that. They have to remind us that we’re not qualifying good.

“We have worked extremely hard to make sure we qualified good. We have 250 employees back at the shop. So, if you don’t think this is a team sport, it truly is. These guys, when they were asked to work 20 hours a day to make a car capable of qualifying better, they were up to the task. Today, it showed that all their effort is not wasted effort.”

Perhaps Park’s rough season is not so surprising, considering that he and good luck have not been constant companions.

In 1998, he missed 15 races after a crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway in which he broke his collarbone and shattered a leg. In 2001 he suffered severe head injuries at Darlington during a Busch race that ended his season and also kept him out of the first four races in 2002.

Earlier in 2001 he scored an emotional victory at Rockingham, N.C., only eight days after the death of Dale Earnhardt, his car owner, at Daytona. That was his last win.

Park insisted that his quick time Friday would make no difference in his future with the DEI team.

“What makes a difference is your thinking of it,” he said testily to reporters. “I feel like my place is solid. Our relationship is one that dates to ‘96, when Dale Earnhardt hired me to come to this race team, so it’s a long-standing relationship that I’ve had with [team manager] Ty Norris and Teresa Earnhardt and it’s one that I’ve not giving up on. If I drive the Pennzoil car for 20 years, that’s great. The main thing I want to do is win races and get back to the form that this team was heading for before I got hurt. We’re not going to quit until that is done.

“It has been a year and a half since I sat here [at a news conference]. I am resilient, like an old pair of shoes. You can toss me aside, but you put me on and I will still fit good.”

For most of the day, veteran Bill Elliott, who was the first driver on the track, appeared ready to take his first pole since last year at Pocono, a stretch of 25 races. Elliott won his first Winston Cup race 20 years ago at Riverside International Raceway, which was located a few miles east of Fontana before it was razed.

Elliott pushed his Dodge to a 186.824-mph speed, then sat and watched as the field took shots at it. It lasted until Park, the 37th car out, beat him by a three-thousandths of a second.

“We can joke about it, but Steve [Park] has been through a lot, and I’m really proud of what he did today,” Elliott said. “He’s had a tough year. This will be good for him.”

Tony Stewart, last year’s Winston Cup champion still looking for his first win this season, was third at 186.732 in the Home Depot Chevrolet.

Ryan Newman, who set the track record of 187.432 last year, was fourth in a Dodge at 186.649.

Robby Gordon, before qualifying 26th, announced that he would run in the Indianapolis 500 as a replacement for the injured Dario Franchitti on Michael Andretti’s team.

Gordon has four top-10 finishes in eight Indy 500 starts. He will run the 500 on May 25, then fly to Charlotte, N.C., to drive in the Coca-Cola 600 Winston Cup race at Lowe’s Speedway.

“I’m thrilled to have the chance to attempt one of the ultimate racing challenges again this year and hopefully win both races,” said the veteran driver from Orange.