Steve Park Injured at Atlanta

Park breaks leg in Atlanta accident By NASCAR Online Staff HAMPTON, Ga. (March 6, 1998) - Pennzoil Chevrolet pilot Steve Park suffered a broken femur in his right leg in an accident during Friday's NASCAR Winston Cup Series practice session for the PRIMESTAR 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Steve Park's run for rookie honors has been set back by his accident during practice at Atlanta.

Park underwent surgery Friday night at Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta to implant a steel pin in his right leg. He was also diagnosed with fractures to his left clavicle and left scapula. The East Northport, N.Y. native also has two broken front teeth.

A CT scan proved negative, and no internal bleeding was found during Park's examination.

Park, who drives for Dale Earnhardt, was exiting Turn 4 when his Monte Carlo slammed into the outside wall after something apparently failed on the right side of his car. The car came off the wall, continued on down the track, and smacked the wall twice more before shooting across the grassy apron and slamming into the pit road wall head on. The car then bounced off the wall and stopped facing the grandstand.

Once the car stopped on pit road, Park was attended to by emergency medical technicials. It took the safety crews nearly 15 minutes to cut through the twisted sheet metal to remove the Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate. Park was removed from the car on a backboard and wearing a cervical collar.

Park was then taken to the infield care center and then airlifted by helicopter to the hospital for further examination.

Rain had delayed the beginning of the practice session, but the track was completely dry when the accident occurred.

Park's accident, which happened approximately 40 minutes into the scheduled one-hour practice, brought an end to the session. Before the wreck, Park had posted the 14th-fastest lap at 190.156 mph.

NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division veteran Phil Parsons replaced Park behind the wheel of the No. 1 Chevrolet for Bud Pole Qualifying on Friday. Parsons, a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series regular, turned a lap of 30.080 seconds, at an average speed of 184.309 mph. Parsons' lap was 48th fastest of 50 cars who qualified.

Parsons is scheduled to practice and qualify in the Pennzoil Chevrolet on Saturday.

Park is currently 42nd in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series standings. He posted finishes of 41st and 31st in the first two events of the season, but failed to qualify for last weekend's running of the inaugural Las Vegas 400.

Source: NASCAR Online