Park 'making progress' as Wallace readies ride

September 20, 2001
2:40 PM EDT (1840 GMT)

DOVER, Del. -- Injured driver Steve Park has not yet recovered enough to visit his team’s Dale Earnhardt, Inc. shop in Mooresville, N.C., but he has made a significant recovery from the brain injury he suffered in a freak accident at Darlington Raceway Sept. 1, his crew chief said.

Steve Park is "making progress" from the concussion he suffered at Darlington three weeks ago.

Paul Andrews, who will engineer the No. 1 DEI Chevrolet for substitute driver Kenny Wallace in this weekend’s Winston Cup MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway, said Park, 34, is “making progress.”

Doctors initially said Park would make a complete recovery but would be sidelined from four to six weeks. Now, three weeks after the accident, they have determined it would take at least four more weeks for the bruise on his brain to heal.

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“After the accident, he was making huge leaps and bounds pretty much overnight, and now the progress is real slow,” Andrews said. "If you see him daily, you really don't see a change. But if you wait a few days to see him, then you'll see a small amount of progress -- but he's definitely doing fine. The doctors are real happy with his progress but it's just going to take some more time."

It has yet to be determined if Park will return to the seat of his Winston Cup car this season.

“He's doing four or five hours of therapy daily, and that pretty much drains him,” Andrews said. “I think there's still some medication involved. The therapy wears on him pretty hard and hopefully we'll see him here at the shop -- maybe next week.

“I talk to him as often as I can. I talked to him (Monday) and he sounded real good."

Steve Park remembers nothing from this accident.

Park has no recollection, Andrews said, of the accident. His car abruptly turned left under caution and was struck behind the driver’s door at more than 100 mph by Larry Foyt’s Chevrolet, which was accelerating up the inside lane of the race track to line up for a restart.

The steering wheel of Park’s car was detached when rescue workers reached the unconscious driver, leading to the conclusion that Park did not properly fit the wheel back on the steering column after the race resumed following a red flag for rain.

This weekend, Wallace will drive the same Monte Carlo that took Park to second-place finishes at Darlington and Dover as well as Victory Lane at Rockingham earlier in the year.

“This car we are racing this weekend is really a great car,” Wallace said. “That Pennzoil Chevrolet was really strong at Darlington and I can’t wait to get back in it. I’m confident that we can get a good finish from Dover.

Kenny Wallace has finished 41st and 21st since taking over for Steve Park.

“We all want Steve to get better and return to the Pennzoil car and I am just here to help out. My personal goals are to capitalize on this great race car that I’m driving now. This is definitely my best opportunity and I’m definitely going to make the most out of it.”

For the Wallaces and many others in the NASCAR community, last weekend was a time to reflect.

“Like everybody affiliated with NASCAR, whether it be Busch, Truck or Cup, I was ready to do whatever I was called on to do,” Wallace said. “But I have to admit that for the first couple of days I didn't know what to do. Luckily, this whole situation has forced me to look around and see what happens at my home on the weekends -- we actually had a great time.

“All the press and everybody was saying this should be a time to just sit back and slow down and be with family and that's what we did."

Wallace admitted, however, that returning to the sport he loves would take an adjustment this weekend.

“I know NASCAR and I know what NASCAR stands for,” he said. “Nobody has told me, but I know they've got something planned (at Dover). I'm just really looking forward to it -- looking forward to singing along with them.

“I think our lives are changed. I don't think a lot of us realize it right now. I applaud them for the actions they're taking. Beefing up security in anything we do right now is good. It would take an idiot not to. We can't act like everything is fine because it's not fine. I'm glad they're doing what they're doing -- anywhere.

“You can't act like nothing's wrong and go on as normal. You don't go on like everything's fine. We needed some time off. And now it's time to go back racing."