Steve Park Credit: Autostock

Claire B. Lang interviews Steve Park

Claire B. Lang is the host of "Dialed In", which airs Monday through Friday from 4pm-7pm ET on XM Satellite Radio's 24-hour NASCAR Radio Channel 144. This week Claire spoke to driver Steve Park.

Claire: Claire B. Lang in the satellite studios of XM Satellite Radio in Charlotte, NC, on the line with Steve Park. I've had so many calls related to what the heck is going on with Steve, he will not be in the truck this weekend at Martinsville and that of course is the truck from Orleans Racing. Steve, can you kind of tell us what has come down this week and maybe give us a little bit of an insight as to why?

Steve Park: Yeah, I can actually. I just want to let all the fans know, all the XM fans know, that I'm ok and me and Michael Gaughan talked for almost two days about this. It wasn't a firing or a parting ways in bad terms or anything. You gotta remember in the last two years that we built the team last year as a team that can win races and we proved that this year coming out in California and winning the race out there. That was a big thing in my racing career to be able to drive to Victory Lane in California and be one of a few people that can say they won in all three NASCAR top series. That's something that people can't erase from my past.

Claire B. Lang

Again, I'm back to Orleans Racing. I mean, it's just ... we were like family. Mr. Gaughan decided with some of the cutbacks that Dodge is having next year that he wants to scale back to one team and that one team is going to be the No. 77 because they do have a sponsor in Jasper.

With all that said, we had discussed that the option for me would be best being released with five races left because it gives me the option, all these people that are looking to put deals together for next year, it puts you out there to make and receive phone calls and listen to options for next year, and it's done just that.

My phone has been ringing for people making sure I'm ok and that things are ok, and that Orleans Racing is ok. Orleans Racing is strong as ever and the No. 62's gonna be parked unless they can get some sort of sponsor that's gonna help it move on, but Michael told me that as for next year, the remainder of this season is up in the air if they can get a sponsor and next year they're going to park the truck and go to a one truck team and obviously with Jasper on board that team's going to be the No. 77 team.

Claire: Were you shocked to hear about this? Did you know that this was coming? Did you have any indication that this was coming down, for the remainder of this year for sure?

Steve Park: Well, it came as a shock for the remainder of this year. I knew the rumblings that Dodge, which again, is a great company and they've given us great support over the last couple years, with them just scaling back a little bit, it's made for a good business decision.

Michael Gaughan's not a great business man because he makes bad business decisions and that's really what it comes down to is just looking at it and the funding to properly have two teams run up front has become astronomical. Without the support, the full support of Dodge, it makes it tough for him to make a good business decision of having two teams and not spending a boatload of money.

He's made his decision and confronted me about it and we had talked about it and we kind of both agreed on how the decision should come down. What really kinda gets to me is that I have a lot of loyal fans on XM Radio and all the Sparkies and all the race fans that I have out there that, this in no way really leans on the Gaughan family or Michael Gaughan, I mean this is really a thought about decision on what would be proper for him and for me.

It's worked out already because when people think that you have a secure job at Orleans Racing that you're passed over for deals that are coming together for next year, we wanted to try to avoid that. It's worked out already. There are four deals for next year that I didn't even know were out there until the word came out.

In his decision, in his thought process on being able to release me and making a little bit of a splash, if you want to say that, gives people the opportunity to know that I am looking and entertaining offers for next year and again looking to get back involved in racing in some way or form, either in the Busch Series or the Truck Series, or possibly the Cup Series that's going to take me to the Winner's Circle again.

Claire: If I was to put a term related to you, I would call it "survivor." You're a guy who seems to land on his feet no matter what happens. Where do you draw that from? You've been through so much and you continue to survive.

Steve Park: Well, I think I have to start with my parents. My parents have been racers and survivors for years. They're still great friends of mine and great supporters of me. I think all this big time racing stuff has hardened me in some ways too.

Credit: Autostock

Going to work for Dale Earnhardt and having him pass while I was still with the team just seems like it has given me a hardened look at all this stuff. Racing, NASCAR racing, is big business. People have to look at it as a business standpoint. This decision right here comes right down to business. Mr. Gaughan spends a ton of money to fund not only one team, but two teams.

Without the support of sponsors like Jasper and Dodge it makes it very difficult. In order to be successful you've gotta spend the money. It makes it very hard when you're spending a lot of your own money and not having the sponsors to help put your race team up in the front where it needs to be.

Claire: Steve, where do you think that your interests lie at this point? Where do you think that you would like to race? Would you like to stay in the Truck Series if a ride is available? And how much is out there at this stage right now? I mean, how many opportunities are there for a guy like you? What's available?

Steve Park: Well Claire, the honest answer to that question is I mean, I just want to race in equipment that I can win in. That's the main thing. You've gotta surround yourself with good people, a good race team. If it's cars or trucks, you want to be able to be in a position to win races. I'm not that twenty year old kid that's looking for his first ride in the Truck Series.

I mean, it seems like a lot of the Cup owners nowadays are looking for the new eighteen year old kid who's come through the pike, and then you got guys like Rusty and Mark Martin who are winning races and running up front in the Cup Series. I kind of fall in the middle of that I think.

I'm just looking for a place that I can call home where I know I have a lot of wins left in me and want to be associated with a team that feels the same way I do that we can win races and have the equipment and the people we need to do that.

That's what racing's all about, it's all about winning. Dale Earnhardt had taught me a long time ago that if he hung one sign on the wall that would make everybody happy would be "just win" because when you win, you're happy, your owners are happy, your sponsors are happy, the people are happy, the crew's happy and everybody's happy.

Claire: Are you saying that if they got a sponsor for that truck for the rest of this year, if some sponsor would come on board that there is a possibility then that you would still be racing it or are you out of that no matter what happens?

Steve Park: Well, if a sponsor called up Mr. Gaughan and said "We want Steve Park and we want to drive that truck," he would be super open to hear that. He would do that in a heartbeat. Right now that's not happening. Orleans Racing and Orleans Hotel & Casino is Mr. Gaughan. So he's pretty much self-promoting himself and promoting the hotel that he runs and he's a part of and without a sponsor coming up and saying that this is what they want to do, it makes it hard for him to go on next year.

I mean, this year is all about me finding an opportunity to go somewhere else. That's why we've come out five races left in the year, so more opportunities don't go by and people don't think I can't be a part of that because I'm locked in to Orleans racing.

But for next year, his intentions are parking that truck no matter what and running the one truck with the No. 77 team, so unless a sponsor comes on board that truck is gonna sit the remainder of the year unless somebody has some sort of funding to operate that truck, it's going to sit and his intentions next year is to have a one truck team again.

Claire: So when you look at your career, and what you've got left to give, and how you're doing, and how the Truck Series was for you up until this point, would you say you have a lot to offer a team?

Steve Park: I think so. I've been involved in the sport for a long time. I kind of know the ins and outs of it and I've made a lot of friends in the sport. We've proven this year that we can win races and put in the right opportunity that we can ride up front week in, week out, Truck Series, Busch Series, whatever the case may be.

I'm looking forward to the next opportunity. My career has only been two and a half teams long. I spent most of my career in Earnhardt's Busch car and Cup car and actually loved it there until it was time to move on, and then filled in for Jeff Green at RCR, and then landed at Orleans Racing in the Truck Series. So, it's been a great career and it's been with some great people, but it's not over yet.

I mean, I feel I have a lot of wins left in me. I'm young enough to move up front and win races and move people to the side if need be. With the right sponsor and the right team I'm confident we can do that. I want to get back associate with a sponsor that you can represent a company and be proud of it too. I mean, there's a lot of things I can give to a team, and I'm just looking forward to the next opportunity.

Claire: As you take calls, do you get the idea that there is more available in the Truck Series or the Busch Series, or would you be up for racing opportunities like the Hall of Fame Racing, or is it too late to get in on some of that?

Steve Park: The problem is those opportunities have been out there and I think because the fact that people might have thought that I was locked in to Orleans Racing that maybe you were passed by on that. So it's just sitting and waiting to see what kind of happens and making the phone calls and seeing what people have to give.

For me, I'm open to every opportunity. If it's a race team that's very capable of growing and growing to a team that can win races, that's great. I just don't want to get an opportunity that the people don't want to win as bad as I do. I want to win as bad as the next guy. So, if it's Cup, Busch, Truck -- I just want to win races.

Claire: I appreciate you taking the time and I am very impressed with you over the years that right about the time you think that you're down and out, Steve Park is never down and out. That's why I call you the "Survivor" because it's so true. You are not a person who gives up very easily, you always keep your head up, you always take the high road and this is another one of those opportunities I guess to survive, to show people how you will land on your feet.

Steve Park: I think so Claire. I mean, it really goes back to, I have a huge fan base and a lot of fans that really keep me pumped up. It makes racing that much more exciting because it's appreciated what you do out on the race track and it's appreciated what you do outside of the race track. That's what NASCAR racing is all about.

It's all about meeting and greeting the people and having them associated with you and whatever sponsor you have involved in your team and the loyalty that you see. So I mean, between the great Sparkies that we have out there and all the Steve Park fans that we have out there, we're excited. We're looking at this as our next opportunity to find something great and we'll celebrate with all the fans that we have out there and the new team we're associated with in Victory Lane.

Claire: Do you get a lot of emails after something like this comes down? Have you read emails from a lot of people? Do you get communication from the fans?

Steve Park: Yeah, actually I get a huge amount of response. Again, I just want the fans to know and all the XM listeners that this in no way reflects on Orleans Racing, this was, this was a good business decision which made me feel like I was a big part of. I mean, so I'm as much to blame, if you want to call blame of this, than the Gaughan's are and Orleans Racing.

I mean, we sat down and talked about this. To be a part of that and to feel like you're a part of a decision, which I haven't seen in the past sometimes that, it's made me feel good that I was part of the decision process. Really, I was one of the guys that made the call saying that, you know what, there are opportunities that are out there and a lot of people think that I'm locked in and comfortable at Orleans Racing and this has kind of proven that I'm not and that I'm looking for the next opportunity.

So, it's really opened up a lot of eyes to people that are thinking "Hey we thought Steve Park was locked in at Orleans Racing and now he's not" so again, we're looking for our next opportunity. I just want all the fans out there to know that Orleans Racing has been great to me.

Over the last two years I mean, just to think of winning in California and sealing the deal of winning in the top three NASCAR series is something that couldn't have been accomplished without Orleans Racing. Again, this no way reflects on them and Brendan and Mr. Gaughan, it was a great business decision on Mr. Gaughan's part to keep his team around, winning races, and giving them the parts and pieces they need to do that. Unfortunately it just didn't include me and we gotta move on to find a bigger and better thing.

Claire: Will you keep me posted? Because I'd sure like to hear from you on a regular basis how things are going, so please keep me posted on this and I appreciate you coming on with me and explaining all of this. It's always good to talk to you Steve Park.

Steve Park: Well Claire, I just love your show and as you know I'm a big XM listener. Again, just want to thank all the race fans out there. We'll keep them posted on what's going on. We'll come back on your show if you have us, and let you know what the new deal brings.

And again, just want to thank all the race fans and all the listeners out there for supporting pretty much no matter what I do. (laughs) It seems like if I go boat racing I'll have a large contingent of fans. I wanna stick with NASCAR and try to race either in a car or a truck, but you guys will be the first to know.

Claire: Well thanks so much Steve. I appreciate it. You have a great day, ok buddy?

Steve Park: Alright Claire. Thank you very much.

Courtesy of XM Satellite Radio