Day Ends Quickly for Park

After NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying on Friday, Steve Park was ready to talk. Feeling testy about his pole qualifying position, Park entered the media room and took aim.

He was ready to win, he said.

He held up his end of the bargain with his team, he said.

He was tired of being written off by the media, he said.

“I am,” he said, “fixing to win races.”

Park finished 40th out of 43 cars Sunday in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway and instigated the quickest yellow flag in track history in a Winston Cup race.

And, for a guy who dished it out after performing well Friday, he had nothing to say -- he declined to comment -- after his miserable performance for Dale Earnhardt Inc., with which he has been rumored to be on thin ice for poor performances this season.

Park had already dropped to fifth place before causing a first-lap crash in Turn 2.

“I don’t know if someone got into the [Park] car or not, but all I know is the 1 car got loose and got up and shoved me into the wall,” said Ryan Newman, who started fourth and had been third-fastest in Happy Hour. The only two cars faster than Newman in the final practice session before the race were winner Kurt Busch and Rusty, Wallace, Newman’s third-place teammate.

No car got into Park. He simply twice made contact with Newman and did three complete spins before coming to rest inside of Turn 2. Both cars went behind the wall and returned to the race, but it didn’t matter much. Newman completed 34 laps and finished 42nd, and Park completed 138 and finished 40th.

Park is 30th in the series. Teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip are second and sixth, respectively.

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There has been talk of NASCAR adding a second race at Fontana, although the track will probably have to add lights to get it done. One owner who relishes a second stop is Jack Roush.

“From a team sponsor standpoint, I think it’s real important,” Roush said. “From a racer’s point of view, I’d very much like to come to California a second time next year.”

Roush would also like to go to Texas and Las Vegas twice in a season too.

“There are a number of venues we need to attend more than once,” he said.

Bill Miller, president of California Speedway, said that if there’s a second date, his facility will have the lights.

“At that point, we would make that investment,” Miller said. “We received on Thursday approval from the county to have our use permit changed to be able to run at night.”

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Matt Kenseth retained his lead atop the Winston Cup standings, but lost ground to Earnhardt Jr. Kenseth finished ninth. Earnhardt finished sixth despite starting last -- instead of eighth -- because he changed Chevrolet engines.

“We messed up in the pits, and we all got on my team pretty bad,” said Earnhardt, who suffered a concussion in last year’s race. “I’m pretty happy with the finish we got.”