MENARDS RACING NOTES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Car Notes
Nextel Cup Primary Car:
Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #101 / Back up Car: #16

Last Raced:
This is a brand new Car of Tomorrow, built at the No. 15 shop over the off season.

Fun Fact:
Paul Menard’s Crew Chief (Tony Eury Sr.) and Car Chief (“B” Hoover) were both on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Bristol Motor Speedway winning team (August 2004).

Overview
While Menard has 12 NASCAR Nextel Cup starts to his credit, the Food City 500 will be his first start at Bristol Motor Speedway. In fact, it is Menard’s first short track attempt in a Cup car. Despite the impending milestone, Menard heads to Bristol Motor Speedway feeling ready to qualify for and succeed in the fifth NASCAR Nextel Cup event of the season. Not only is Menard backed by Dale Earnhardt Inc. power, but he has some solid results from COT testing to bolster his confidence level.

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three
During the NASCAR sanctioned Bristol test, 50 teams worked on COT cars. The No. 15 team worked through some issues throughout Day One, but by the time the rain came on Day Two of the session, Menard’s lap times were consistently in the top ten. According to Car Chief “B” Hoover, the team hit on a spring package that worked very well for Menard. While the team did not make a qualifying run during the Bristol test, Menard is confident in the team’s potential to qualify well on Friday.

Most recently, Menard tested the Car of Tomorrow at South Boston Speedway (Wednesday, March 21st). While the focus of the test was to prepare for next weekend’s event at Martinsville, a secondary goal was to improve DEI’s overall COT program.

Eye on the Prize
While holding the Bristol winners trophy would be a welcome way to end his weekend in Bristol, Menard has his sights on another prize; a guaranteed spot in the field at Martinsville. The No. 15 team sits 36th in owner’s points, only nine points out of the crucial top-35 cut off, which resets after Sunday’s race.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Notes
Menard stands third in overall Raybestos rookie ratings. Despite missing the Daytona 500, Menard made a comeback at California with a 20th-place finish. Menard’s follow up performances (32nd – Las Vegas and 31st – Atlanta) brings Menard up to 31 points, 15 points behind second place rookie, David Ragan. Juan Pablo Montoya leads the battle with 47 points.

Car of Tomorrow
The Car of Tomorrow is NASCAR’s safer race car that also focuses on improving competition and providing teams with an opportunity to manage their costs more efficiently. The COT will be raced in 16 events in 2007. All tracks a mile or less in length, along with the two road courses and the October race at Talladega Superspeedway, will run the Car of Tomorrow this year.

Doing a Rain Dance
If the usual weather woes strike this Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway and qualifying were to be cancelled, Menard would automatically make the field for Sunday’s race.

Busch Break for Menard
Menard will take a brief hiatus from the NASCAR Busch Series. Menard’s next Busch start will be at Texas in April.

Bristol Quotes
Paul Menard Quote on the Food City 500:
“We’ve come a long way with the COT. We went to Lakeland in January at and first I wasn’t such a huge fan. It’s just a totally different feel. But by the second day of the Bristol test, we hit on some things with springs and the car was actually pretty good. We were really good in race runs and I think we’ll definitely be good enough to get in the race. The thing is that at Bristol, a tenth is the difference between 10th and 35th. We didn’t do any qualifying runs during the test so that’s what we’ll be focused on during Friday’s practice.

Paul Menard General Quote on the COT:
“Probably the biggest thing I like about the COT is it’s a bigger car, you can get in and out of it easy. If the car starts on fire you can undo your belts and hop out a lot faster than you could in our current car.”

Nextel Cup Car Chief “B” Hoover on the Food City 500:
“Tony Eury Sr. is the best leader in the garage and if anyone’s going to figure out how to succeed with the COT, it’s going to be him. If anything, the COT evens the playing ground as far as the driver goes and Paul did a great job during the test, so we’re definitely going in with high hopes this weekend.”