Park making steady progress
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
October 3, 2001
2:44 PM EDT (1844 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. - Steve Park continues to improve during daily rehabilitation sessions with plans on making a return to the No. 1 Chevrolet in 2002, one of his closest friends told NASCAR.com on Wednesday.
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Steve Park
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Tommy Baldwin, crew chief of Ward Burton’s No. 22 Dodge and Park’s longtime confidant, assured NASCAR.com that Park, a two-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series winner who suffered a concussion in a freak accident during the NASCAR Busch Series race at Darlington last month, is chomping at the proverbial bit to get back in the saddle.
But that's not to say he's rushing through rehabilitation. He's already surrendered his ride to Kenny Wallace indefinitely in order to focus solely on rehab and a 100-percent recovery.
“Me and Steve always talk a lot. We talked last Friday night, and I’ll see him tonight,” Baldwin said. “He called me up (Friday) to bust my chops because the 1 car outqualified us. Me and Steve always had a bet that whoever outqualified the other wins a 100 bucks. So he called me asking for his $100 because the 1 car beat us.
“His spirits are really up. He’s in rehab every day working on all his mechanics of walking and seeing straight. He’s doing a lot better than he was from the get-go. We’re all expecting a full recovery out of this deal, unfortunately it’s just going to take some time.”
Baldwin said Park is still struggling a bit with his vision, but for the most part is making a timely, precise, recovery.
“He’s got to get all his coordination and eye movement back,” Baldwin said. “He definitely doesn’t want to rush his comeback like a couple other drivers have, and end up hurting their careers for a while. He just wants to take every step the doctors are telling him to do, even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if he’s already ahead of it, he’s still doing it and working hard at it.”
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Steve Park's mangled Busch Series ride.
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In the month following Park’s Sept. 1 accident, in which his No. 31 Chevrolet suddenly steered left down the track during a caution lap and was intersected by Larry Foyt at a high rate of speed, rumors have run rampant through the series regarding his health, most of which, according to Baldwin, aren’t true.
“He’s fine,” Baldwin said. “He’s been out to dinner and he’s up all day long in rehab. He’s working just as hard at this as he was when he broke his leg in that Atlanta wreck (in 1998, his rookie season). He’s just really serious about his work and driving a racecar, so he’s really listening hard to the doctors and doing what they say to get back to 100 percent as quickly as possible.
“He knows what’s going on with the world. Right away, two days after the wreck and me and my son went and visited him. It was dark and he looked up and knew who we were. Everything like that is fine. He’s just got to get his vision back a little bit better and get all those mechanics back to where he can drive a racecar with the reaction he needs to do it.
“He took a big time shot right there and thank God he’s a really healthy and fit guy to be able to take something like that. I just hope and pray he can get it all back together and get back in that racecar.”
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