Any hope for Steve Park?

I wish I could say yes, as I've always loved Steve, but in today's NASCAR, with its "What have you done for me lately" attitude, I'd have to say no. It's great to see folks care about him, and I will forever think of him as young, but in reality, Steve will turn 43 in August, and once a driver passes 40, folks stop looking. If Bobby Labonte can't land a decent ride, then for sure, Steve can't either.

No one can consider the Tommy Baldwin entry as a real ride, as the car starts and parks on a weekly basis. I love Tommy as well, so that makes it a double shame, but facts are facts. There is no sponsorship to be had that will help the underfunded teams compete with the multi-car behemoths of the sport such as Hendrick, Roush, Childress and Gibbs. In reality, NASCAR would have trouble filling a 32-car field with viable entries, let alone the 43 they demand each week.

Someone mentioned Steve's accident, and I'd like to refresh everyone's memory on that. It was at Darlington, on the Southern 500 weekend in 2001. Steve was at that time, driving the #1 car for DEI, and you might recall, had won the race for DEI at Rockingham, the week after Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona.

He entered the Busch race that weekend, which at some point went under a red flag. When the cars returned to the track, and were lining up behind the pace car, Steve's car suddenly made an abrupt left turn. Larry Foyt, the driver of a lapped car, was coming up the inside circa 100 mph, had no chance to miss him and T-boned his driver's door.

Everyone, including me, thought the kid was dead when they wrapped a makeshift "tent" made from a tarp around the wreck. He wasn't dead, but suffered a severe head injury. Apparently the steering wheel had been removed at some time and was never properly secured to the steering column, so it came off in his hands. Without it, a driver is at the mercy of the car. Had the car veered right, all would have been well. However, the car decided otherwise.

I know he still drives, but that injury was really the end of his career as he knew it. Such a shame!

~PK

I didn't even know that he was in the race until I saw his name flash by on the TV screen. He was doing pretty well until he got shuffled in the back of the pack. He came back later with a 13th place finish. I was happy to see him race out there but, highly doubt he will ever race in Sprint Cup again. The race was supposed to honor Nascar modified legend, Richie Evans. I would not be surprised if he lands a ride in the Nationwide Series in the near future. Steve is one of those drivers that everyone likes. After seeing him win after Dale died, I thought that he had a good future for him. After his big crash, I forgot about him for a very long time. Park took a lot of hard hits over his career. The one at Atlanta, The Darlington race, and finally the horrible crash a Pocono. Then he raced in the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series for a couple years before he completely disappeared off the grid. Lately he has been doing the Camping World East Series , in which he has been doing not bad after he won in it last year one time. In many interviews with Park he is usually asked if he will ever return to Nascar again. He always has stated that he does want to and he thinks about it a lot. He just had his first child and well,I think he is happy where he is right now.

I had wondered the same thing. I always wanted to know ..who did Steve Park piss off? He is friendly, well liked by everyone, works hard and races fair and can't seem to catch a break. Even when he does something worth reporting, it is always buried in the back pages or the last minute of a NASCAR report as an afterthought. Kind of a similar story to Bobby Labonte's - beyond the age where owners want to take a chance on you, too many younger drivers and a limited number of vacant seats. I sure hope that something opens up for him soon.

@ Ben - thanks for the update...I didn't know Steve had become a father. Nice.

No. I really felt for him after that horrific Busch Series wreck, then followed that up with that awful crash at Pocono in the Winston Cup series. He is in his 40s now so I just don't see a comeback in his future. I could see him running the restrictor plate races as most everybody has an equal chance to win those things. But it is still an amazing story to see him back on the track. He was nearly killed, and still has some lasting effects from the crash, but to see him back on the track was a great moment whether you were a fan of his or not.

I wish....but I don't think it's going to happen. I had hoped that they at least interviewed him before the race, since he was running a special car, but that didn't happen. As you said they barely even mentioned his finish. Everybody says these races are just luck races, I think if you survive the wrecks and bring the car home in one piece, that there is a little bit of talent in it also.

I think he will continue to race, however he likely won't be able to land much more than a start and park type of ride. It is really too bad because he is/was a very talented driver.

so what if he finished 13th? only about 15 cars completed the race.

Steve Park's recovery and return to Cup racing was certainly newsworthy. I was very disappointed at the way the media basically ignored him.

If Danica was there, she would have gotten a press conference - even if she finished dead last.

I hope i was very excited when he was in the top 15 but i dont think so

unfortunately.no..wasn,t he badly injured years ago??if so sorry,something is missing,i saw him race nascar mods and thought he was great,just hope for the best,,wish him well.