Atlanta Notes

Overview
Paul Menard will attempt double duty for the fourth time in 2007, piloting the No. 15 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet in both the NASCAR Nextel Cup Kobalt Tools 500 and the NASCAR Busch Series Nicorette 300.

Crew Chief Power
Menard is backed by two stellar crew chiefs – Tony Eury Sr. (NNCS) and Mike Greci (NBS), who have a combined 60 years of experience in NASCAR competition.  Eury Sr. heads up Menard’s No. 15 Nextel Cup team, but also calls the NASCAR Busch Series races.  Greci prepares the No. 15 NASCAR Busch Series entry for Menard, and acts as the team’s decision maker on race day. 

Points Battle Wages On
The No. 15 NASCAR Nextel Cup team sits 37th in owner’s points, 21 points out of the crucial top-35 cut off.

Nextel Cup Team Leaders Have Impressive History at Atlanta
Eury Sr. and Cup Car Chief “B” Hoover were both on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Atlanta Motor Speedway winning team in spring of 2004. 

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. While Menard finished 32nd at Las Vegas, he was the only Raybestos Rookie candidate to make the land a spot in the field on time.  The Vegas finish brings Menard within ten points of Juan Pablo Montoya, who sits second in the rookie battle.

DEI Busch Victory at Atlanta?  Not Yet!
While Menard’s teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has one win, seven top fives, nine top 10s and one pole win in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series at AMS, he has yet to record a NASCAR Busch Series win at Atlanta.  Further, Menard’s other DEI teammate, Martin Truex Jr., may have 13 wins in the NASCAR Busch Series but a win at Atlanta has eluded him, as well.  Therefore the door is open for Paul Menard to record DEI’s first Busch Series win at the 1.54-mile quad-oval track.

Atlanta Quotes

Paul Menard Quote on the Kobalt Tools 500:
"I love Atlanta. It is one of my very favorite tracks we go. I like that there are multiple, wide grooves and our finish there last year proves that this team can contend for a top ten. It’s definitely the time of year that weather could be a factor so I just hope we have a late draw for qualifying and a nice, cool day for racing.”

Nextel Cup Car Chief “B” Hoover on the Kobalt Tools 500:
“Paul needs to take advantage of the energy going into this weekend.  We’re all holding our heads a little higher knowing that we ran in the top ten with both Busch and Cup cars here last year.  But it’s still a whole different ball of wax trying to make these races this year.  We want a late draw and know that if we can get that we should be in good shape.  But once we make the race, we’ll be good, definitely good.”

Paul Menard Quote on the Nicorette 300:
“We were looking for balance with our Busch car last year.  “It’s important to keep the car balanced from start to finish and that’s how you run up front and stay there until the end.”

Busch Crew Chief Mike Greci on the Nicorette 300:

“We’re taking what I consider to be one of the best cars in the Busch stable.  I looked at Dan Stillman’s notes on the Busch car from last spring at Atlanta, and the car actually wasn’t top ten material off the truck.  But then in practice and the early part of the race, they tried a whole bunch of everything at it and really seemed to hit on something.  We should be a lot better from the start this time around.”