Catchfence

Paul Menard - Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images

No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet Impala

Race Notes and Quotes

This Week’s Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 338 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet Impala was a brand new addition to the RCR fleet for the 2011 season and was last seen on the track at Talladega Superspeedway when Menard brought home a 12th-place result after starting from the fifth position. Menard also drove this racer at DIS in February, where he turned the fourth-fastest lap during qualifying for the Duel 150′s. He started on the front row for the first of the two qualifier races and finished ninth. He then started 19^th in the 53^rd running of the famed Daytona 500 and finished ninth, his career-best finish at Daytona.

Starting up front at Daytona … Menard earned his one career NSCS pole position at Daytona International Speedway. In 2008, he claimed the pole award for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona (July). The following year, he started the Budweiser Shootout from the pole position when he drew the top spot during Budweiser’s annual Shootout Draw Party.

Daytona Tidbits …

• In eight previous starts at a track that is notorious for the field-reducing ‘Big One,’ Menard has completed an impressive 98.9% of his laps (1,401 of 1,416).
• He has an average starting position of 23.6 and an average finishing position of 19.9, with his best finish of ninth coming in this year’s Daytona 500, where he led for 11 laps.
• Menard has led for a total of 30 circuits around the 2.5-mile tri-oval over the course of his five-year NSCS career.

A Loopy Year in Review … After 16 races, the Eau Claire, Wisc., native maintains an average running position of 16.29, has made the third-highest number of green-flag passes (1,923), has spent 48.5 percent of his contested laps racing in the top 15 and is ranked third in quality passes. He has also completed 94.2 percent of his laps (4,578 of 4,858).

2011 Season Statistics:

Starts: 16

Top-five finishes: 3

Top-10 finishes: 4

Best start: 2nd (Pocono Raceway, June)

Average start: 12.2

Best finish: 4th (Michigan International Speedway, June)

Average finish: 17.5

Laps led: 55

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Race Rewind … Paul Menard made his career-best start of third at Infineon Raceway in last weekend’s Save Mart 350. With damaged fenders on the No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet, he battled a tight-handling condition throughout the 110-lap event. His 17^th-place finish marks his career-best finish at the Sonoma, Calif.-based road course; however, he fell to 17^th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

PAUL MENARD QUOTES:

You had a great run in this year’s Daytona 500. How do you feel about going back to Daytona (International Speedway), and will the things you learned in February carry over to the July race?

“I think you are going to see a repeat of the (Daytona) 500 as far as the two-car drafts are concerned. It’s going to be hotter, but the track has so much grip that it won’t really matter. There will still be two-car breakaways and we’ll manage that the best we can. I am definitely looking forward to returning with power that the ECR (Earnhardt-Childress Racing) engines give us.”

Do you like the two-car breakaway?

“I like it a lot better than the pack drafting. There’s a lot more control in the driver’s hands. Restrictor-plate racing still isn’t my favorite type of racing. It is a total crapshoot once you’re out there.”

Describe what it’s like to push someone at 200 mph. Is there a feeling of lack of control?

“Yeah, you really can’t see anything. You can see more once you get to the corners because you can kind of look up through the top of the windshield over the car in front of you. When you’re going down the straightaway, you really have no idea where he’s going. You have to take a snap shot of what’s happening in front of you when you go through the corner because you can see then. You have to work off that picture in your mind when you’re going down the front and back stretch.”

By Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500, does that give people confidence that if you hit on something and keep persevering, anyone can win the race?

“Honestly, it’s restrictor-plate racing and anything can happen. You always have some wrecks where good cars get taken out early. That opens the door for some guys that may not be able to compete every week for wins. Trevor had a really strong car in February and the end of the race played in his favor. I am very confident that we’ll have a strong car this weekend when we go back to Daytona. It’s anyone’s ball game there.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Reelase