Park "alert, talking" after crash

By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
September 2, 2001
1:33 PM EDT (1733 GMT)

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- NASCAR Winston Cup regular Steve Park was "alert and talking" before being airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital after he was involved Saturday afternoon in a wild accident with Larry Foyt.

Steve Park

The wreck occurred under caution about 2 p.m. ET on the backstretch at Darlington Raceway during the NASCAR Busch Series South Carolina 200.

After the race restarted at 2:25 p.m. ET, Darlington public relations director Cathy Mock reported that Park was airlifted by helicopter to Carolinas Hospital System in nearby Florence.

A Dale Earnhardt Inc. employee said Park was initially knocked unconscious in the accident, which Foyt said occurred while he was accelerating in third gear at “more than 100 mph.”

Park's car is hauled off.

“He was moving all four extremities,” Mock said of Park, “and he was alert and talking” when he was airlifted from the track.

At 3:40 p.m., a bulletin said Park would remain in the hospital overnight for observation. A CT scan revealed a “moderate concussion and a possible fracture or dislocation of the left sterno-clavicular joint.”

At about 3 p.m. ET, Foyt was released from the infield care center. He emerged from his transporter limping heavily, he said, from smacking his right knee on the steering column in his car.

Larry Foyt's machine comes to a stop after the accident.

“You know, it happened so fast,” Foyt said. “It was the hardest hit I’ve ever taken in my career. Right now I’m just worried about Steve and I hope he’s OK.

“I was in a hurry to get back up to the front because we were about to go double-file restart so I was just kind of coming up through there. I was watching the guys warm their tires just to make sure no one swerved over. It looked like something obviously broke on Steve’s car. He swung right down in front of me and I tried to do everything I could but it happened so fast, there was really nothing I could do.”

Park, 34, who drives a limited schedule in the Busch Series in owner Ted Marsh’s No. 31 Chevrolets, was riding 14th in line in the middle of the lead lap cars running behind the pace car. Coming off Turn 2 of the 1.366-mile oval, his car suddenly snap-spun to the left.

Foyt’s No. 14 Chevrolet was running very quickly up the inside of the track on its way to “double up” on the inside line for the restart that was scheduled on lap 21 after about a 23-minute rain delay. When Park spun right in front of him, Foyt had no chance to stop and T-boned Park’s car on the left side.

While the race was still under way, some of Marsh’s team members said NASCAR had impounded the car and had told them NASCAR had “no idea” what had caused it to veer suddenly to the left.

Safety workers had to use a cutting tool to remove Park from his car, where he was trapped for as much as 20 minutes. At that time, MRN Radio reported Foyt was in the infield care center taking an IV after he complained of being “woozy” after being transported by ambulance to that facility.

Park’s full-time ride is in Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s No. 1 Chevrolet. He had qualified 34th for Sunday’s Mountain Dew Southern 500. Kenny Wallace, who finished 18th in the Busch Series race, was enlisted to practice the car in Winston Cup Happy Hour.

Park’s status for the NWCS’s 25th event is unknown at this time.

“Right now we’re taking it a little bit at a time,” Park’s crew chief Paul Andrews said. “Kenny Wallace will practice the car in Happy Hour. Other than that, we’re taking it one step at a time and we haven’t made a decision about tomorrow yet.”