Darlington, SC – Paul Menard endured a long weekend of racing at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Not only did Menard’s trials include 700 miles of racing action, but the competition was made all the more intense by the need to qualify on time for the 11th Nextel Cup event of the 2007 race season.
“The 22 and the 10 were both ahead of us in practice and we beat them in qualifying.” Menard said following his lap of 30.209 seconds. “The big factor is if it’s going to cool off and if the track is going to pick up speed. Everything we’ve seen it’s supposed to be hotter around 5 o’clock yet. So hopefully the sun stays out and the track doesn’t get any faster.”
Menard competed with a field of 14 competitors for eight spots in the field and was fast enough to earn a position in the field for the Dodge Avenger 500.
Before Menard rolled off for the 367 lap Cup race, he would have to complete 147 laps in his No. 15 Nibco Chevrolet in Friday night’s NASCAR Busch Series event. If Thursday’s practice sessions were any indication of what was ahead for Menard, the task of racing the Busch car would be an enjoyable one. Menard led the first of two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon.
“The Cup and Busch cars are totally different, setups are totally different but laps around this place can only help you.” Menard said. “I think our Busch car is awesome and we have Happy Hour in the Cup car to try to make it awesome.”
Menard started 14th in Friday’s Diamond Hill Plywood 200 but quickly advanced into the top ten in just ten laps.
While Menard continued his foray toward the front, the crew made plans regarding the strategy of pit stops. While the handling of Menard’s car went away during the second half of the event, the driver did his best to hang onto it before colliding with the No. 99 of David Reutimann, who checked up on the back stretch. As a result of the contact, Menard suffered damage to the front end of his Chevrolet and the crew went to work on the car. Despite their efforts, Menard rounded out the Busch race in 22nd place.
The Cup race was scheduled to run Saturday night, but was rained out and run Sunday, May 13th, the 2nd race in a row that was delayed a day by rain. Before an estimated crowd of 70,000, Menard took the Green Flag in 23rd place.
Menard was quick to cite the success of his two previous Car of Tomorrow events, in which he was rewarded with Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors.
“The last two COT races have been really helpful in the direction of our program,” Menard said. “But Darlington is its own beast and we’ll have to see what we’ve got since we changed a lot from Happy Hour.”
Menard reported to the team early on that the car was “crazy tight” in turns one and two. This condition would persist through most of the race, but the team continued to battle the handling for Menard during the first three pit stops. By lap 77 Menard had already went one lap down to the leaders. On lap 154, Menard went another lap down.
While the handling remained an issue, the bigger problem struck on lap 181 when Menard made a scheduled pit stop. The crew members noticed a problem with the exhaust pipe. As it turned out, Menard’s brushes with the Lady in Black’s walls had left Menard’s exhaust pipe with significant damage which NASCAR indicated to the team would 
need to be repaired before returning to the track. While the team worked to secure the pipe, the efforts weren’t up to NASCAR’s liking and the team was asked to return to pit road under Green Flag conditions. As a result, Menard went an additional five laps down.
While the long day wasn’t what Menard had hoped for, Menard was positive about the team work in the pits.
“I know today was just about survival,” Menard said of his 31st place finish. “But awesome pit stops today, guys. They were all really great.”
Menards Racing returns home to Charlotte, North Carolina for two weeks of racing at the home track. Menard’s team sits 38th in owner’s standings, now just 96 points out of the top-35 in points.
