Menards Racing
Watkins Glen Advance
MENARDS RACING NOTES – WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
No. 15 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet Monte Carlo – Busch Series
NOTES OF INTEREST ON THE WATKINS GLEN BUSCH CAR
Nextel Cup Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #31/ Back up Car #32
Last Used: Both cars (primary and back up) are brand new.
Interesting Busch Fact: Paul Menard tested both cars at Virginia International Raceway last week and of the two, he chose #31 as his preferred primary car.
OVERALL NOTES OF INTEREST
Watkins Glen Memories
Menard made his first NASCAR Nextel Cup start here in 2003, while racing for Andy Petree Racing. While Menard qualified 43rd for the event, he finished a solid 29th place and has been a fan of the 2.450-mile road course in upstate New York.
Menard Ready for Road Course Success
Menard has plenty to brag about when it comes to road racing. During his rookie ARCA ReMax Challenge Series in 2001, he earned a pole and victory at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In 2003, he made his Nextel Cup debut on a road course. In 2005, he started and finished in the top-10 in the Busch race at Watkins Glen. In 2006, he scored his first NASCAR road course top-five finish with a fifth place run at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
QUOTES ON WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
Paul Menard on the Zippo 200: Anytime you can get in a car and work on turning and shifting and braking and timing is a bonus. I think we’ll probably qualifying up around the top-10 and spend most of the day there. Pit strategy is going to be key to finishing up front in the Busch race.
Busch Series Crew Chief Mike Greci on the Zippo 200: We sold all our old cars to James Finch (Phoenix Racing) so we were starting from scratch in the road course car department. We built two cars and Paul was really happy with both of them. Based on Paul’s past road course experience and his ability to get around Watkins Glen, I think it’s safe to say, we’ll be in contention for the win come Saturday.
