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Saturday, August 11
Park struggling in return to the Glen
Associated Press

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- So much for the good fortune of being the defending winner of the Global Crossing.


	Park

Steve Park, whose victory at Watkins Glen International last August was the first of his Winston Cup career, has had nothing but problems since he returned this week.

On Friday, his brakes failed just as he was set to qualify, forcing him to take a provisional that has him starting 37th in Sunday's race.

"That's got us starting almost last, but the car is running good," said Park, who won last year after starting 18th, a race record. "I really feel if we can get the Pennzoil Chevy handling where we need to be, we might be able to come from the back and post a decent finish."

On Saturday, Park bumped with Stacy Compton during practice and damaged the left front fender.

"We got with the 92 in turn 1," Park said. "Once the bad luck starts, it never stops. Hopefully, we can get it all out of the way before the race."

Good Fellows
When practice for the NASCAR Global Crossing ended on Saturday at Watkins Glen International, Ron Fellows was wearing a sheepish grin.

The road-racing star from Canada was fastest in the final session, edging polesitter Dale Jarrett, Robby Gordon and Jeff Gordon.

"That's a good sign -- we're not any worse than the rest of them," Fellows said with a laugh. "The sunshine is playing havoc with the grip level. That's probably as slick as I've seen this track, and that's probably what we're going to race on tomorrow if it stays sunny like this."

A 70 percent chance of thunderstorms was forecast for Sunday, but that wasn't about to dampen Fellows' enthusiasm for Watkins Glen. He's won three straight Busch series races, two Craftsman Truck races and finished second to Jeff Gordon two years ago in the Winston Cup race -- in a car that was built in less than two months.

"I was surprised at the notoriety I got for finishing second," said Fellows, who will start sixth in the seventh Winston Cup race of his career. "I can't imagine what a win would be like. But I just have to treat it like a 90-lap car race and forget about the importance of it. For me, as a road racer, this is my Daytona 500.

"As a kid growing up in Canada, Formula One was it. In North America, Winston Cup is Formula One," said Fellows, who broke a valve in last year's Global Crossing, completed only 20 laps and finished dead last. "It's huge. That's why we're here. It's a goal we've been shooting for."

Safety first
If more gains are to be made in safety, Dodge mastermind Ray Evernham thinks the biggest will come in driver restraint systems.

"Looking at the front of the car is something we can do, and looking at the sides of the car is something we can do, but right now the biggest gain I think we're going to make is in the driver compartment," Evernham said.

"Right now, the only thing we have information on is knowing that we can protect our drivers better with better seats, things like the HANS device, that's the area we need to be working in. And I feel really comfortable and confident that we're going in the right direction, I really do.

"These problems didn't happen overnight," Evernham added. "It's been something that's been building and I don't think there's going to be a quick, easy answer for it."

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