Charlotte, N.C. ? Steve Park was hired Thursday to drive for Richard Childress Racing, the same team that fielded cars for the late Dale Earnhardt.

Park was fired Tuesday at Dale Earnhardt Inc., where he was the first Winston Cup driver the late car owner ever hired.

Now he’ll drive the No. 30 Chevrolet for Richard Childress, who was Earnhardt’s longtime boss.

“A mentor like Richard and a change of scenery is something I’m really looking forward to,” Park said.

Park takes over for Jeff Green, who was fired Monday but essentially swapped jobs with Park when DEI hired him for the No. 1 Chevrolet.

Earnhardt put Park in the first Winston Cup car he fielded in 1998. He eventually expanded to a three-car operation, hiring son Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip, and made DEI one of the top teams in NASCAR.

Park won the 1997 Busch Series rookie of the year title for Earnhardt, then made his Winston Cup debut the next season. He ran just 17 events, though, because he was badly injured in a crash.

He came back to give Earnhardt his first win as a Winston Cup car owner with a victory at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in 2000.

Park’s only other victory came in 2001 at North Carolina Speedway, just one week after Earnhardt’s death in a wreck at the Daytona 500.