DARLINGTON, S.C. -- If you're frustrated sitting in parked traffic, imagine the problem with a jam-up at close to 170 mph.

That seemed to be the case all day long at the Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Steve Park's return to NASCAR racing was ruined when he slid into the lapped car of Stacy Compton while leading the race early on.

Tony Stewart, also in front at the time, was the airlifted to Carolinas Hospital System in Florence with lower back pain after an 11-car pileup on the old track's narrow turns one and two.

"Lapped cars have just got to realize they've got to get out of the way," said Jimmy Spencer, one of the wrecked cars. "A lapped car isn't going to win this damn race."

Polesitter Ricky Craven, taken out on in the same wreck that caught Park, said he tried to be patient. "You see where that got me," he said.

Jeff Gordon, who led 176 laps yet finished ninth, said if you run into traffic and have to slow down, there's little grip.

"The tires are worn out and when you stand on the brakes too hard, you lock them up and go into the wall," he said.

There's not much you can do at Darlington, the circuit's oldest superspeedway with one groove and the slogan "Too Tough to Tame."

"I don't think it's the lapped cars' fault," said Sterling Marlin, who made it through the late wreck for victory. "This track's so slick, you have to race the track."

NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter, the president here for eight years, said that was "just Darlington being Darlington."

Try telling that to Park, who needed six months to recover from a September wreck here.

"When you have an opportunity like we had today to try and run up front and try to win and have it cut short is kind of disappointing," Park said.

No Burtons?
With Jeff Burton in 11th and Ward Burton in 31st, it marked only the second time in the past 11 Darlington races that no Burton made the top 10.

The brothers from South Boston, Va., have made this historic track their raceway of choice the last five seasons.

Jeff swept Darlington's two races in 1999. Older brother Ward won the Mall.com 400 here in 2000 and the Southern 500 last September.

But they couldn't get it together Sunday.

Jeff spent two days testing at Darlington last week. The closest he came, however, was ninth.

"We had a good test, but we sure didn't race very well," he said.

Ward was in the top eight most of the day, but fell back as part of an 11-car wreck late in the race.

"If we could have had a long run at the end, it would have come down between us," Jeff Gordon and winner Sterling Marlin, Burton said. "We just never got enough long runs."

NASCAR honored
Three cheers for the red, white and blue. NASCAR was honored this week with the American Legion National Commander's Public Relations Award in recognition of its patriotic displays during prerace ceremonies.

"NASCAR has paid tribute to America and the hallowed tradition of citizen-soldier," said American Legion National Commander Richard J. Santos. "NASCAR earned a place in the American Legion's winner's circle."

The American Legion cited the national anthem being played before each race and tributes to armed forces -- including dramatic jet fly-overs -- that normally are broadcast in their entirety.

"Everyone in the NASCAR family, the teams, the tracks, the sponsors and the fans, that's who this award represents," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "Patriotism comes naturally to all of those individuals."

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