Park

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Injured NASCAR driver Steve Park had another successful test session Monday, then promptly said he's tired of being asked when he'll race again.

"It seems like that's all people ask anymore and I just don't know how to answer," Park said after turning some laps around Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Park was injured last September in a wreck during a Busch race at Darlington Raceway. He sustained a brain injury that has led to slurred speech and double vision.

He's started wearing eye glasses to improve his sight, but is bothered by how his speech sounds and is often discouraged by it.

"It's easier when you break your arm or leg," he said. "With a brain injury, it might take the same amount of time to heal, but it's not obvious when it's better.

"I can't talk right, that's just part of the injury. But you don't talk much behind the wheel of a race car, and I can drive the heck out of a race car."

Park ran a fast lap Monday of 176.560 mph, almost 10 seconds off the identical speed of 185.418 that Kenny Wallace and Shawna Robinson posted when they went on the track.

The test session came a week after he turned laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., with his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates and under the watchful eye of NASCAR officials. Park must successfully prove his reflexes and skills are good enough before he'll be cleared to race again.

He said the session with his teammates made him think his return is near, although he wouldn't give a date.

"We were wide open, and our lap times showed we weren't holding anything back," Park said. "I know I can race now. I just want to make sure when I come back I can be in a position to win."

Wallace, the fill-in driver for Park at DEI, indicated last weekend that Park could be back in a race next month when the Winston Cup series travels to Darlington.

"Steve thinks that would be quite a comeback," Wallace said.