Car Notes - MOEN/Menards Chevrolet Impala

Nextel Cup Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #101/ Back up Car #102
Last Raced: Bristol Motor Speedway (March 2007)    
Fun ‘Cup’ Fact: Crew Chief Tony Eury Sr. and the Menards Racing team made changes to the front end on car #101 following the COT race at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. The new front end geometry met the approval of Eury Sr. and was therefore chosen as the Darlington primary car.
 
Overview
Menards Racing plans to continue its budding momentum at Darlington Raceway. After Menard’s 16th place finish last weekend in Richmond, Menard heads to a track he counts as one of his favorites. Menard will pull double duty at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, hoping for top finishes in front of his mom, Paula, during this Mother’s Day weekend of racing excitement. 

Menard’s crew chief’s, Mike Grechi (Busch) and Tony Eury Sr. (Cup) worked together to assure the same brake package and same steering package were used in both the Busch and Cup cars to ensure Menard’s maximum comfort.   While a driver tends to use less brake at Darlington, the crew chiefs were focused on making the feel of the two cars similar to provide the driver with the best opportunity to find double the success this weekend.

Busch Program Could Enhance Cup Run at Darlington
Driver Paul Menard was heavily involved in the planning of the set up of the Busch car.  Crew Chief Mike Grechi and Menard came up with two solid setups to try in Thursday’s practice. Grechi brings the experience from his past achievements at Darlington, which include fourth place finishes in the last two races he’s run at Darlington Raceway.

COT Rookie Power
Menard’s last two COT races have resulted in top Raybestos Rookie honors for the driver of the No. 15 Menards Chevrolet (Phoenix – 25th place; Richmond – 16th place).  Menard stands third in overall Raybestos Rookie ratings.  He has 73 points, 36 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya who leads the battle with 109 points.    

Working Towards Top-35
The No. 15 team sits 38th in Nextel Cup Owner’s Standings, only 99 points outside of the top-35.  Menard’s 16th place finish in last weekend’s race at Richmond helped the No. 15 team close the gap from 114 to within 100 points of a guaranteed spot in the starting field.  

RICHMOND Quotes:
 
Paul Menard on the Dodge Avenger 500:
“It's a great track to drive, but the walls will bite you if you get too comfortable. Everything has to go your way to have a top ten at Darlington. You’re not going to win here by being lucky, the car has to handle for the whole race to stay near the front and as a driver you have to try to hit the wall as few times as possible.”

Nextel Cup Car Chief “B” Hoover on the Dodge Avenger 500:
“Paul likes Darlington a lot.  For a driver to go to a track thinking “I like this track” is at least ten extra positions in qualifying.  The mental games in racing play into your ability to qualify a car well and for Paul to like a track like Darlington is really going to help us in qualifying. Darlington is just a hard race track to race on. The tires wear out real fast and the car is sliding around close to the wall, you can go from a good day to a bad day in a hurry.

Paul Menard on the Diamond Hill Plywood 200:
“I'd have to say this is my favorite track the Busch Series runs on.  It's a blast to drive, you feel like a hero on new tires, but a zero on old tires.  There's such a change in a car's handling that it makes it a real challenge to set up a car for the race.” 

NBS Crew Chief Mike Grechi on the Diamond Hill Plywood 200:
“Of course we want to win at Darlington.  Everyone wants to win at Darlington.  We work on building race winning cars week in and week out at the Busch shop but there is something special about Darlington.  To win there is to have beaten the odds and to survive the lady in black.”