Steve Park says, "it's not a Cinderella story." However, his pole-winning effort this weekend does have fairy tale qualities.

Since suffering a closed head injury in a freak crash at Darlington in August of 2001, Park has struggled to regain his winning form. After spending seven months on the mend, Park returned to competition in March 2002.

In the 41 races since his return, Park has recorded just three top-10 finishes.

However, with a qualifying lap of 186.838 mph on Friday, Park captured his third career pole.

"It's big. This is all we've worked for," Park said. "We need to win a race now. We set our goals pretty high this year to win poles and to win races and I have the confidence in the Pennzoil team that we can do that."

Confidence aside, Park's mediocre performance this season -- just one top-10 and no top-fives -- led to frustration. As speculation has swirled about Park's future with Dale Earnhardt Inc., he has publicly rejected rumors that his job is in jeopardy. Still he realizes there is only one way to avoid the scrutiny.

"The only way to quiet the critics is to win races," Park said. "I've gotten broad shoulders the last year and a half and this is one of those things where they can talk all they want but we have to do our job. We have to do what we did (Friday) win poles and follow that up by winning races."

Park has assurance from his team that they remain behind him.

"Steve and I talked about three weeks ago and said, 'let's pull for each other, let's help each other.' When that happens, no matter what anybody says outside these walls, we're not going to concern ourselves with it," said Ty Norris, DEI's executive vice president. "We just said. 'Let's believe in ourselves, in each other, in Tony Gibson (crew chief) and everybody on that Pennzoil team. And, 'Steve, if you don't believe in them and they don't believe in you, then we'll all sit down like men.' We're not going to handle it like we did last year because we flat out butchered it."

Rusty's frustration
Rusty Wallace has 54 career victories, but It's been 71 races since his last one. The drought has left him frustrated and looking for answers.

"I've never gone two years in my life without winning in any series," Wallace said. "Because of that, you've got to look around and make sure everybody is doing the job. The sponsors don't want to hear anything else."

At the beginning of 2002, Billy Wilburn replaced Robin Pemberton as crew chief. As the team's struggles continue, he has felt some of the burden.

"(Wilburn is) feeling the pressure like I am," Wallace said. "He doesn't like hearing that he's the only crew chief I've ever had that I haven't won with. There's pressure on him, and there's pressure on me to make sure I keep making the right decisions."

Still there has been a transition. But rather than grading on a curve, Wallace has held Wilburn to a high standard.

"The first thing I told (Wilburn) when he came on board was that I wanted first class pit stops," Wallace said. "Last year he got a C on that. This year he's getting an A. Bill made a guarantee the first of the year that we'd win this season. I hope he's right."

Wallace's last victory came at the California Speedway in 2001.

Gordon to double dip, again
For the fourth time in his career Robby Gordon will attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., on the same day.

Gordon will replace the injured Dario Franchitti for Andretti Green Racing.

"I still would like to win (the Indy 500)," Gordon said. "I'm very fortunate to have a great team owner like Richard Childress that will let me go drive for another great team like Andretti Green Racing. So I think I've got two great shots on Memorial Day weekend."

In 2002, Gordon finished eighth in the Indianapolis 500 and 16th in the 600-mile Winston Cup event at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

During the second leg of this Iron Man task a year ago, Gordon felt the physical effects of attempting to race 1,100 miles on the same day.

"I felt great after Indy last year but I got some cramps in my stomach about 400 laps into the Charlotte race," he said. "This year I'll take the IV on the airplane and hopefully we'll be a lot better off."

Gordon has made eight Indianapolis 500 starts and has recorded five top-10 finishes. His best performance was 1999 when he led 28 laps and finished fourth.

Fast laps
During Saturday's first practice, Johnny Benson blew his motor. He slid in his own oil and crashed, collecting Sterling Marlin. Both drivers will go to a back-up car for Sunday's race.

On Friday, Jimmie Johnson was recognized for his 2002 California victory by being inducted into the California Speedway Walk of Fame. He placed his handprint in cement and was awarded a wake board as a personalized gift.

Tony Stewart threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Boston Red Sox vs. Anaheim Angels game Friday night. Witnesses say the pitch was high and outside.