The Buzz: Bob Park's seat is safe

Steve Park had very little choice when it came to a career path as he grew up on Long Island. Park's dad, Bob Park and his uncle, Bill Park, were successful Modified stock car drivers throughout the Northeast.

When Steve Park went to work for Dale Earnhardt in the mid-1990s and transferred his career hub to North Carolina, his father and mother soon followed. Bob Park, a lifelong racer, worked as a gear and transmission specialist and now is at Jerico Performance Products in Concord, N.C., one of Winston Cup's most preferred transmission suppliers.

	Steve Park Credit: Autostock

But Bob Park has also continued his race-driving career, thanks to his son's success in the Winston Cup Series. Bob Park drives Modifieds on the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams circuit, which travels to a variety of race tracks in the Carolinas.

Bob Park finished 17th in the 2002 SMART standings, seven spots in front of his son's current team manager at Richard Childress Racing, Bobby Hutchens, another veteran Modified pilot.

This season, driving a golden No. 49 car that visually recalls the No. 19 he drove in the Northeast, Bob is 12th in the standings after four races, with finishes of 10th, 12th, 17th and 10th.

Hutchens has not found the time to race his Modified in a SMART event to this point, with the next event scheduled June 13 at Friendship Motor Speedway in Elkin, N.C.

Craftsman Truck Series driver L.W. Miller, another relocated Northeast Modified driver, has two victories and leads the standings by 61 points over chassis manufacturer/driver Jay Hedgecock, who won the season opener at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.

Steve Park only laughed recently when he lost his ride in Dale Earnhardt Incorporated's Pennzoil Chevrolet, only to be re-hired in less than four days by Childress to drive the AOL Monte Carlo.

"That's why I had to find another job," Steve said at the time. "I had to take care of dad.

"I'm his car owner, his sponsor and we want to keep him behind the wheel. He's not gonna get fired no time soon."