Catchfence

Paul Menard - Photo Credit: John Harrelson / Getty Images

No. 27 Sylvania
Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet Impala

Race Notes and Quotes

This week’s Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet under the lights of Atlanta Motor Speedway … Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 364 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 in competition on track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Menard, after staring 15th, drove it to Victory Lane to claim his first career NSCS win.

Different Colors in the Peach State … The No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet will sport a slightly different look this weekend, carrying a special paint scheme. “Quaker State green” and “Menards yellow” will don Menard’s Chevrolet Impala as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races under the lights at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Menard will battle for $3 million payout in the Sprint Summer Showdown finale … With his win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Menard was crowned the first qualifier for the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D. The Summer Showdown puts $3 million on the line for drivers, their charities and one lucky fan in a six-race competition. The winning drivers between Indianapolis and Bristol became finalists for the Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. If one of the eligible drivers wins the Atlanta race, then the driver, the driver’s charity and one lucky race fan each collect $1 million. For more information, please visit www.sprint.com/speed. The drivers qualified for the Summer Showdown are Menard, Brad Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch and their NSCS entries at AMS will have special “Sprint yellow” roof numbers and spoilers.

Back to the beginning for Menard at Atlanta … After making two starts in the Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen International (2003 and 2005), Menard made his oval track debut in NASCAR’s premier series at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2006. In that appearance he started 22nd and finished an impressive seventh. In his nine total NSCS starts at Hampton, Ga.-based facility, he has finished eight of his contested races, succumbing to an expired engine in last year’s Labor Day weekend event at the 1.54-mile race track. He has completed 97.5 percent of his laps (2,875 of 2,950), leading for two circuits. He has an average starting position of 27.1 and a 22nd-place average finishing position. His best start of 19th came in September 2010 and his best finish of fifth came in March of that same year, when he and crew chief Slugger Labbe first worked there together. This weekend marks Menard’s first visit to AMS under the RCR banner.

A Loopy Year in Review … After 24 races, Menard has an average starting position of 12.4, ranking him seventh of all drivers. He maintains an average running position of 16.5, has made 2,760 green-flag passes (ranked fourth of all drivers), has spent 3,208 laps racing in the top 15 (ranked 17th of all drivers), is ranked third in the Loop Data category of Quality Passes. He has also completed 95.7 percent of his laps (6,459 of 6,751).

2011 Season Statistics:

Starts: 24

Win: 1

Top-five finishes: 4

Top-10 finishes: 7

Best start: 2nd (Pocono Raceway, June)

Best finish: 1st (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, July)

Laps led: 81

Quaker State® Real. Durable. Oil. … Quaker State motor oil has a 70-year history as a leader in consumer automotive products and vehicle care. Quaker State is among the industry’s most innovative motor oil brands and offers a full line of products to meet every type of vehicle engine need. Quaker State is the first motor oil brand to create a synthetic blend of motor oil, one of the first brands to develop High Mileage Engine motor oil, and the only brand to market its motor oil product in a clear bottle. For more information about Quaker State products, please visit www.quakerstate.com.

Race Rewind … Starting from the seventh position in the 500-lap annual affair under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway, Menard and the No. 27 Sylvania/Menards team were relegated to a 30th-place finish following an early pit road penalty and a series of wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time events, very typical at the half-mile bullring.

PAUL MENARD QUOTES:

You’ve had several good runs at Atlanta Motor Speedway. When you first showed up there, was it a track that you just naturally took too?

“Yeah, my first Cup start on an oval (track) was at Atlanta (Motor Speedway), and I think we finished seventh. It’s an easy track to overdrive. The tires fall off a lot, and the pace slows down, so you have to manage your equipment. That just works for me, I guess.”

How does the qualifying speed compare to the speed during the race?

“There is a big difference between the qualifying and race speeds. The attitude of the car changes a lot with the load on the springs. Lap times can be a couple seconds slower during the race, so you have to plan accordingly.”

Does it feel weird that we don’t have two races there this year?

“Yeah, I think we should go there twice. It’s a fun, fast track that generates some exciting racing for the fans.”

Being Labor Day weekend, do you sense more excitement there?

“I think a night race in general brings a lot of excitement, especially at a high speed place like Atlanta. I definitely think it’s going to be really exciting.”

Does Atlanta Motor Speedway compare to any other tracks that we go to?

“I think Charlotte (Motor Speedway) and Texas (Motor Speedway) are the most similar. The grip level and texture of the race track is a lot different than other tracks.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release