Car Notes

Nextel Cup Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis # 36/ Back up Car #37
Last Raced: Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 2007) Qualified 19th – Finished 31st
Fun Fact: Paul Menard will look to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. for advice on how to find success at Texas Motor Speedway.  With one win and seven top-10 finishes in nine Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Dale Jr. should have plenty to offer his rookie teammate.  

Busch Series Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #30 / Back up Car #12
Last Raced: Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 2007) Qualified 26th – Finished 18th
Fun Fact: According to crew chief Mike Grechi, the Texas race represents a return to the past for the organization.   Grechi said that after the first few Busch races this year, the team regrouped and decided to go back to setting up the cars like they had in years past.  The DEI Busch team went to Bristol with that mentality and Dale Jr. finished fifth.  The team will continue to draw on that mentality for this weekend’s Busch entry.
 
Overview
Menards Racing plans a major rebound effort at Texas Motor Speedway.  After facing challenges in the COT car in the past two event weekends, driver Paul Menard has reason to believe he can regain momentum in the Lonestar State. First and foremost, Menard’s intermediate track qualifying record been strong in 2007.  Menard qualified 22nd, 19th and 23rd for the California, Vegas and Atlanta races.  In addition to that statistic, Menard is backed by veteran crew chief Tony Eury Sr. who has become notorious for his original design.  According to Car Chief, B Hoover, a “Tony Sr. Original” comes complete with special front end geometry, body design, shocks and spindles; all of which Menard will have in this weekend’s Texas Cup car.
 
Intermediate Track Success
Menard has six previous starts at intermediate style racetracks, with a career best finish of 7th place at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2006.  His follow up performance in last year’s Coca Cola 600 resulted in a 14th place finish.  Since similarities exist between Texas and Charlotte, Menard hopes his past success from one track translates into a top-15 run at the other.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year notes
A Raybestos Rookie has finished in the top-10 at Texas in seven of the past eight races.  Menard hopes this statistic translates into his performance at Texas.  Menard stands forth in overall Raybestos rookie ratings.  He has 33 points, 35 points behind David Ragan who leads the battle with 68 points.  Juan Pablo Montoya is currently third with 67 points.

Texas Twosome for Menard
Menard returns to Cup/Busch double duty this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.  Menard will pilot the No. 15 Menards Chevrolet for the fifth time in 2007.  Menard finished 18th in his most recent NBS start (Atlanta Motor Speedway – March) but his three prior starts resulted in DNF’s.  Menard is looking for a top-10 finish in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 and a turn around to his NASCAR Busch Series season.  
 
Working Towards Top-35
The No. 15 team sits 43rd in Nextel Cup Owner’s Standings, only 126 points outside of the top-35.  The standings reset weekly, meaning a guaranteed spot in the field is still possible for the Menards Racing team but would likely take at least two solid weeks to come into play. 
                       
Texas Quotes
 
Paul Menard Quote on the Samsung 500:
"I’m a big fan of the racing at Texas.  It’s fast like Charlotte.  The two tracks are actually a lot alike, but the tire is obviously totally different so you can’t really compare the two when it comes down to race set up.  We just really need a good run here to have any hope of getting back up into the top-35.  Our intermediate cars have been really good in qualifying trim this year so I don’t think there’s as much worry about making the race as there is about getting a good finish. Without a doubt, we need a top-15 or a top-20 Sunday, so that’s what we’ll shoot for.”
 
Nextel Cup Car Chief Engineer Dave Charpentier on the Samsung 500:
“We’re taking our Atlanta car to Texas and keeping pretty much the same qualifying package.  Paul was really happy with how the car qualified there so we’ll just make a few changes according to the Texas tire.   As an organization, we’ve had a lot of success at Texas, so as far as the race set up goes, we’ll be working with the 1 and the 8 team to map out our program for Sunday’s race.  When you have to qualify on time, like we do, you have to go to the track with that goal at the top of your mind.  Then as soon as you’re locked it, it’s full speed ahead on race set up and that’s when the other teams’ information is most important.”
 
Paul Menard Quote on the O’Reilly 300:
“I was at the Busch shop this week and from what I can tell, I think we’re going to be really good at Texas. The thought process that went into the Texas car is the same thinking that we had during all our strong intermediate track runs in 05 and 06. Mike (Grechi) and the guys have really been working hard this year and we’ve just had some bad luck.  It’s time we got ourselves a top-five to show for the hard work and I think that’s what we’ll have at Texas.”

Busch Series Crew Chief Mike Grechi on the O’Reilly 300:
“We’re pretty encouraged at our chances at Texas. It’s probably our best mile and a half track were going to.  Based on some of the past success we’ve had with Busch and Cup cars I think we’ll be really good.”