Sprint Cup Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #061
Last Used:  March 2008 at Martinsville Speedway (qualified 35th; finished 16th)

Overall Notes of Interest
The Dale Earnhardt Inc. backed Menards Racing team has certainly enjoyed a great deal of success in 2008. Given the team’s solid performances over the past month, including last week’s season best 14th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Paul Menard heads to Richmond International Raceway looking to score his first top-10 finish in Cup competition at the 3/4-mile Virginia short track.

“Having a good run or a few good runs in a row boosts everyone's confidence,” Menard said. “With short track racing, things can get pretty heated and exciting. I'd like to have neither, yet improve upon our top 15-from Talladega and crack the top-10 in Richmond.”

Given Menard’s fondness for Richmond International Raceway, it seems like the perfect site for the team’s first top-10 finish since March of 2006. In two previous Sprint Cup starts at Richmond, Menard finished 16th and 26th, respectively. In addition, the driver of the No. 15 Menards Chevrolet claimed Rookie of the Race honors in last spring’s Cup race.

In his last five Nationwide Series starts at the track, Menard has led a total of 160 laps, with an average finish of 13th place. Menard’s career best finish at Richmond came in the Nationwide Series event in the fall of 2005, when he finished in the runner-up spot.

Menard’s first chance to navigate the track comes Friday morning at 11:00am ET when the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars take to the track for the weekend's lone practice session.

Standings Status
Paul Menard is currently 21st in Driver’s Points, while the No. 15 team moved up one spot to 22nd place spot in Owner’s Standings following last weeks race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Richmond Quotes:
 
Paul Menard on the race:
“If you look back to Phoenix, which carries a lot of the similarities of Richmond, we get a good feeling for what we can accomplish this weekend adjustments on the car. We had a strong run early and late at Phoenix, the middle part of the race we had to regroup a bit. I've learned a few lessons from that race that we can apply towards Richmond as have Doug (Randolph) and the rest of the Menards Team. “

Paul Menard on getting around Richmond:
“The corners are really tight, yet you carry a lot of speed through them. I've always focused on getting the car to roll through the center to keep momentum up as opposed to a kind of point and shoot method. It has a lot of characteristics of a big track like a Michigan when it comes to momentum. Turn 2 is always tricky; you have to wait longer to get back to the throttle than you think where turn 4 is just the opposite.”