Earnhardt Jr.

	Park

LONG POND, Pa. -- Steve Park escaped injury when he crashed Sunday on the first lap of the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

''I want to thank God for being with me and not getting hurt,'' said Park, who missed 12 of 36 races last year while recovering from a head injury. ''I was trapped and I tried to stay calm.''

Because of his injury last September in a Busch Series race in Darlington, S.C., and the severity of this crash, Park was being held for observation at Pocono's infield care center.

The crash, which also involved Park teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace, forced NASCAR to stop the race for 1 hour, 5 minutes, while an infield retaining wall was repaired. The track said it replaced 16 support posts and 110 feet of guardrail.

The accident began when Wallace hit the wall after leaving the first turn on the 2½-mile track. Park attempted to avoid contact, but got sideways and was hit hard by Earnhardt.

On a TV replay, it appeared that Wallace veered into Park. Ricky Craven then hit Park in the rear, causing him to get sideways and into the path of Earnhardt.

''I was on the outside of Rusty ... and he started moving up,'' Park said. ''I backed off, then he pulled back down like his spotter might have said something was on the outside.

''I got back up on the outside of him and he just came up on me.''

Wallace refused to blame his spotter, but conceded that in close racing a spotter cannot always see so well.

''You're supposed to drive the car yourself,'' he said. ''I can't put the responsibility on the spotter.''

	Steve Park walked away uninjured, but his car needed a helping hand off the track.

Park's Chevrolet, pushed across the grass by Earnhardt's, hit the steel wall and was badly crumpled, then flipped twice before coming to rest on its roof. It took course workers several minutes to free Park, who emerged to cheers from a crowd of 100,000.

Earnhardt, whose father, a seven-time NASCAR champion, was killed in a crash last year at the season-opening Daytona 500, raced from his car to the aid of his teammate.

''Seeing Dale Jr. was a welcome sight,'' Park said. ''He was elated when I said I was OK.''

They walked away arm in arm.

Earnhardt thought Wallace precipitated the contact, but Wallace wasn't sure.

''I don't really know what happened to tell you the truth,'' he said. ''All I know is that I was going straight and somebody got me in the back end. I think it was Steve Park.''

Park appeared to break to avoid Wallace, who was racing side by side with rookie Jimmie Johnson. The rookie said he didn't make contact with Wallace, a four-time Pocono winner hoping to set a track record with another victory.