Park must back up words with actions

As the morning sun broke beautifully across north Charlotte on Wednesday, I sat down to the 8 a.m. SportsCenter and a soothing cup of coffee, which I promptly dumped all over my laptop.

	Marty Smith

Unfortunately for me, liquid caffeine doesn't have the same effect on a dial-up Internet connection that it has on your bloodstream. Quite the contrary, in fact. But I digress.

As the milk and sugar-substitute began forming a vapor-lock seal around each individual key on the keyboard, and effectively brought the functionality of my Toshiba to an abrupt halt, I managed to accept the misfortune with amazing calm.

This pleased me greatly. Of late I've given considerable focus to keeping things in perspective and curbing my usual mindless, fury-driven reaction to such blunders. It's out of my control and simply not worth the worry.

Some things, however, aren't so easily accepted -- even when out of our control. No one enjoys going bald. No one enjoys car accidents. No one enjoys being told they're not performing well in their job.

So imagine how Steve Park must feel.

For 19 dismal months all he's heard is that he can no longer get it done. For 19 dismal months he's had to look over his shoulder amid rumors that the unemployment line was imminent.

For 19 dismal months, he's taken the high road, accepting bad luck of incalculable proportions with grace and dignity and turning a deaf ear to those who discounted his ability and called for his job. That's not easy -- even with unwavering support from one of NASCAR's most-loyal fan bases.

Most would have lashed out long ago -- maybe during the comeback at Darlington last March, when he qualified fourth after everyone said he'd prematurely returned to the seat following a horrific crash that sidelined him for six months.

Or maybe during this very weekend last year, when rumors surfaced that his days at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. were numbered.

Or maybe during this past offseason, when teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. verbalized the necessity for Park to improve his performance.

	Park's No. 1 Chevrolet suffered heavy damage in an opening-lap accident Sunday at Fontana. Credit: Autostock

But Park never flinched, figuring it was out of his hands and he'd drive until told he couldn't. The negativity hurt him, but he never let on how much.

Until last Friday.

Obviously, he's had enough of the pessimism. He made that abundantly clear after earning the Bud Pole at California Speedway.

"Among all the hogwash that I have to read that all the press puts out there -- I mean, I have broad shoulders -- just dish it out because I can take it all," Park said.

"You know who is going to look like a fool when all this is done? All the press people, because when I'm in Victory Lane winning races, everybody that has had a bad thing to say about this race team is going to bite their tongue.

"I'm going to put it in their face and show it to them that not only were they wrong, but if they expect Steve Park to be polite to them and honor their wishes now that things are going good, that is not going to happen."

Wow. Two years of pent-up anger released in one fell swoop.

I love to see a guy that's been relentlessly picked on stand up for himself, especially a guy like Park who has done nothing but good throughout his career and still had to endure an emotional whooping.

He's George McFly with good looks and a fast car: great guy, means well, finally had all he could take of Biff's lip and threw the knockout punch.

That said, he didn't fully connect just yet. To get the TKO, he needs a return to prominence.

Shutting out journalists wouldn't prove anything. Like it or not, in today's NASCAR talking to the media -- i.e. promoting the sponsor -- is nearly as much a part of the driver's job as wheeling the car. Park knows that -- he's one of the best in the business at slyly sliding sponsor-mentions into interviews -- but I understand his point in saying what he said.

He's sick and tired of being fired in print, and what goes around unfailingly comes around.

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"You can just imagine what has transpired in the last year-and-a-half for me. It's been a tremendous amount," Park said. "But, I'm resilient. I'm like an old pair of shoes. You can just keep tossing me to the side and I'm just still fitting good every time you put them on.

"This isn't a 'Cinderella Story.' This isn't, 'You won the pole -- everything is going to be OK from here on out.' It's just a first step that we needed to take to lift this whole team up to where it needs to be.

"I'm telling you right now as we sit here -- I'm fixing to win races. That's the only way it's going to quiet all the critics down."

A good knockout punch has a way of shutting people up.

Ask Biff when he wakes up.

Marty Smith is NASCAR.com's Senior Writer. His column appears each Thursday. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.