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Back on track DEI building block Park returns to Darlington RacewayPosted: Wednesday March 13, 2002 1:52 PM
By Denise N. Maloof, CNNSI.com When Steve Park's world crumbled in an explosion of sheet metal, the repercussions weren't his alone. Sure, only Park can articulate the pain, the blurred vision, the frustration of relearning how to walk and talk. But for those who watched his helicopter evacuation from Darlington Raceway, the horror of Sept. 1, 2001, will always resonate. "At first I was heartbroken," said Ty Norris, vice president of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. "Because Steve is the foundation of our Winston Cup effort. When we put our first building block together, Steve was standing there laying it down for us. And to have him taken away after Dale was taken away within six months of one another was devastating. "You can only take so many body blows before you finally go to your knees." Park's, of course, were the most severe: a brain bruise that required six months of rehabilitation. He remembers almost nothing but believes, as do his employers, that a detached steering wheel caused his Busch series car to veer sharply toward an inside Darlington wall during a caution period that day. The car behind him, driven by Larry Foyt -- who was attempting to catch up with the lapped cars on the inside lane -- T-boned Park's car.
And the physical and emotional effects were devastating. Gone was the driver whose emotional February victory at Rockingham, just a week after his boss' death, boosted the entire Winston Cup series. Gone was the budding star who finally seemed to be replacing potential with results in his fourth full Cup season. "It could have taken six years," Norris said of Park's rehab. "It could have taken forever." Yet, it's almost over now. Park returns to Cup competition this weekend in Darlington, a decision framed by his own recovery timetable, not the emotional significance of location. For the past month, he's logged hundreds of test laps, first at Charlotte with DEI teammates Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his substitute, Kenny Wallace, then at Atlanta with those same DEI comrades and other drivers. The week before the Atlanta event, Park drove 600 laps at Darlington, mostly under simulated race conditions. But it was his Charlotte session, his first at full-throttle, that forecast a complete recovery. "He did so well, I walked up to him and I said, 'Do you want to go to Rockingham?' " Norris said. "And he said, 'No, I'm not ready.' After the Atlanta test I called him -- he did so well -- I said, 'Do you want to go to Las Vegas?' And he said, 'No, I don't want to go to Las Vegas cold turkey.' So after the Darlington test, I said, 'Do you want to go to Atlanta?' And he said, 'No, let's stick to our plan and go to Darlington.' And so that's what we did. It was his decision, made very methodically." Behind the scenes, it was Norris, in concert with other DEI decision-makers, who pulled crucial strings during Park's recuperation; hiring Wallace as a substitute driver, scheming what-ifs aimed at Park's return, and still managing all DEI teams. "We have had to run our business and continue to run our business," Norris said. "But the most annoying part about running a business is that you can't forecast what's going to happen in 10, 12 months. We didn't know what was going to happen in three or four weeks. Is he coming back? Is he not coming back? Are we going to keep running Kenny? Are we not going to run Kenny? What if Kenny's leading the points when Steve comes back? What if Kenny's won four races? What do we do?" The answer came, in a roundabout way, from Jim Postl, the CEO of Park's sponsor, Pennzoil. "He said, 'Why worry about things that you can't control?'" Norris said. "'Why worry about things that may never happen?' And so we said OK, you know what? We'll just wait. And it just has all worked out." But not without heart wrenching and hand wringing. Distorted vision was only one hurdle Park had to clear during the last few months of 2001. And the outgoing guy with a megawatt smile wasn't himself despite corrective glasses, steady workouts and occasional goodwill visits to the shop. "As January came around, every two weeks he progressed another percentage, whether it was 50 or 60 percent or whatever," Norris said. "It was amazing to see. It was like all of sudden switches started coming on, and the personality came back. And I think that was the one thing that concerned me at first, was that he had lost some of his personality." Among the non-medical unsung heroes, according to Norris, is Bill Shoppe, a friend and employee of Park's who became his shadow, driving him to rehab and doctor appointments. "We supported him in any way he wanted support," Norris said of Park. "But we did not call him up and say, 'OK, how are you today? How are you today?' We just didn't do that. We gave him all the room he needed." There's also an undercurrent of thankfulness at the mention of Wallace, who now defaults to a full-time Busch ride, and who remains under contract with DEI through 2002 as a test and substitute driver. Norris cites Wallace's gallantry as a primary factor in the No. 1 team's perseverance. "He was so positive and helped us out so much," Norris said. "We proved to us we had a great race team that was competitive no matter what. And then at the same, we helped prove that Kenny was a good race-car driver. So we did a lot for each other. And there's no one else in this garage that could have done the same thing the way Kenny Wallace did it. He did it with a lot of class, a lot of dignity. In fact, he made it a point to become Steve Park's best friend. "He kept calling him and saying, 'Let's talk, let's go to dinner, let's hang out.' Because he wanted him to understand, 'This is your car. I'm just here till you get ready.' And that helped Steve settle down with any questions that he may have had, and Kenny just handled it with so much style. He could have made it very difficult. Because he could be sitting here saying, 'No, I'm not getting out of this car because I did this.' He hasn't been that way. He's been perfect."
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