Park's 2001 season began with a crash in lap 173 of the Daytona 500, in which he was one of eighteen cars involved. He was unhurt and had led for several laps prior to the crash, which itself was overshadowed by his employer Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash on the last lap. The following week, Park scored an emotional win for DEI by winning the Dura Lube 400 at North Carolina Speedway. He also competed in the Busch Series that season, but on September 1, he was injured in a crash at Darlington Raceway while driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Marsh Racing. While under caution, his steering wheel came off, causing him to yank a hard left. At the same time, Larry Foyt was speeding up to join the front for the restart, and he rammed the driver side of Park's car. Park was hospitalized with a brain injury and several broken ribs, and suffered double vision and slurred speech. Foyt said that his car was traveling "well over 100 miles per hour." The incident marked the beginning of Park's struggles to get back into NASCAR's upper divisions.