Steve Park Rules!

Steve Park Pre Race Report - Atlanta

Steve Park - #67 South Padre Island

Racing Event Preview

EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 - October 29, 2005

Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA

Notes:

The No. 67 South Padre Toyota Tundra at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend is Chassis No. 23-46. Bill Davis Racing driver, Johnny Benson, ran chassis No. 23-46 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in the spring race. Benson brought the Toyota home in the 11th position after a late race speeding penalty.

Park makes it four for BDR … Steve Park is joining forces with Bill Davis Racing this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway and next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to race the No. 67 South Padre Island Toyota Tundra. This will be the first time Park has raced for Davis, as well as Toyota. Park was released earlier this month from Orleans Racing due to uncertainty about the team’s 2006 racing program and intentions to give Park the time he needed to explore opportunities for next year. Park only missed one race since his release, that being this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway. He earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory earlier this year at California Speedway, which put him in an elite class of drivers who have grabbed wins in all three of NASCAR’s major touring series. He has scored two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes in 20 starts this season. BDR has seen similar success this year with its truck racing program. Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra, grabbed the first and second wins of the year for BDR. Skinner, together with Johnny Benson, driver of the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra, and Bill Lester, driver of the No. 22 Toyota Tundra, have accumulated 12 top-five finishes and 21 top-10 finishes, in addition to seven poles in 21 starts. For more updates regarding Park and BDR joining forces, go to www.billdavisracing.com.

South Padre at Atlanta … South Padre Island is a year-round beach resort located 2.5 miles off the southern tip of Texas. The stresses of the world are left on the Queen Isabella Causeway that connects the mainland of Texas with South Padre Island. Featuring the widest, cleanest beaches in the Lone Star State, South Padre Island offers a wide variety of diversions that create not just a successful getaway, but a lasting memory. To learn more about South Padre Island go to www.sopadre.com or call 1-800-SOPADRE.

Tune in … Qualifying for the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 29. The EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 will follow later that same day, starting at 3:15 p.m. ET, and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio Channel 144.

Steve Park comments:

You are heading back to Atlanta Motor Speedway. You’ve had four weeks off now, so I bet you are raring to go … “I am definitely ready to go. I didn’t like missing out on the action this past weekend at Martinsville, so I am very grateful to Bill Davis, Toyota and South Padre Island for giving me this great opportunity to drive for them and represent them.

“The great part is I love racing at Atlanta. I’ve only raced there two times in a truck. We had a better run last year than we did earlier this year. Going into the truck race there in March, I thought I had a chance of winning, but we lost the engine so early on that we never really got to see what the full potential of that run could have obtained. But, I’ve run well there in all three series—Cup, Busch and Truck—so I’m planning to put on a good show for everyone this weekend as well.”

Tell us about South Padre … “South Padre Island is a little piece of paradise located in the southern part of Texas. I got the opportunity to visit there last year and hang out with the mayor, meet the fine people of South Padre and just have a great time. It is a great place. I think a lot of people probably know it best as a Spring Break hot spot, but it is much more than that. It truly is more diversified than that. It is actually a great place to take a family for a nice getaway for some rest and relaxation.

“I got hooked up with some very nice people from South Padre Island earlier this year. They came on board with me in Texas for this past June’s truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. We had a lot of fun and had a pretty good run together, so they’re ready to do it again. I even got to make it to visit South Padre to thank everyone for sponsoring us. It is a beautiful place, full of palm trees, and I must say it is one of the best business trips I’ve ever taken.”

Is this weekend with BDR, Toyota and South Padre Island a sign of what is yet to come? “That is a good question. I would like to see what all we can do together further down the road, but right now we are taking this race by race. I know if we win one of these races here in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be taking a bunch of folks on a trip to South Padre for a little fun in the sun.”