Car Notes - Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Nextel Cup Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #038/ Back up Car #037
Last Raced: While #038 hasn’t been run yet this year, last year’s showing were particularly strong. Not only was this the car that Menard drove to a seventh place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March of ‘06, but it is also the car Menard brought home in 20th place at Michigan Int’l Speedway in August. DEI put a new body on it this month and hopes to have similar success with #038 at Pocono.
Fun ‘Cup’ Fact: The most memorable run Crew Chief Dave Charpentier has had at Pocono was in ’02 when both DEI cars got together on the first lapof the race. Steve Park flipped his car six times and landed on his roof. Dale Jr. was also involved in the wreck and was there to assist Park in getting out of the car.
ARCA Primary Car: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chassis #030.
Overview
There have been 58 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Pocono Raceway since the first race there in 1974. While Paul Menard has yet to turn a lap around the Pocono Raceway, the Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate is looking forward to his double duty weekend at the 2.5-mile Long Pond, Pa., track. Not only will Menard focus his attention on making a solid NASCAR Nextel Cup Series debut at the track, but the Dale Earnhardt Inc. backed team will race in Saturday’s ARCA event.
ARCA Program Could Enhance Cup Run at Pocono
Driver Paul Menard was heavily involved in the planning of the set up of the ARCA car. Crew Chief Mike Grechi and Menard came up with two solid setups to try in Friday’s practice. Grechi brings the experience from his past achievements at Pocono. No stranger to ARCA Series success himself, Menard went to Victory Lane in the 2003 ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway.
In addition to Dale Jr.'s momentous Cup victory, DEI has been strong on the NASCAR Busch Series side, as well. Dale Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. each own a pair of Dover Busch Series victories. Menard will look to his teammates for advice on how to battle the Monster Mile in his Nextel Cup rookie year.
Rookie Power
Menard stands third in overall Raybestos Rookie ratings. He has 84 points; 57 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya who leads the battle with 141 points. Menard has won top rookie honors two times this season and looks for win number three this weekend at Pocono.
Working Towards Top-35
The No. 15 team sits 39th in Nextel Cup Owner’s Standings, 235 points outside of the top-35. While the team had made up significant ground on the guaranteed pack, the last two race weekends have caused the team’s hopes of a guaranteed spot in the field to stretch further out.
Pocono Quotes:
Paul Menard on the Cup Race:
"This will be the last track that I haven't been to on the Cup schedule. Any time you go to a track for the first time there's always an excitement and nervousness at the same time. I'm looking forward to the challenges the unique layout will bring."
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Dave Charpentier on the the Cup Race:
"Our goal is to still be there on Sunday. Paul’s running the ARCA race to get track time and that extra couple hours of track time with ARCA practice will definitely help him adapt, but I can definitely see Paul doing as well at Pocono as say Denny Hamlin did, mostly because this is Paul’s type of track. But we just want a good solid qualifying run and we need to follow it up with a solid top-20 run so we can begin to make up some points on the top-35."
Paul Menard on the ARCA Race:
"It’s great to get back to the ARCA Series. There are some really talented drivers and teams that compete in the series on a regular basis so we’ll have our work cut out for us. But our goal is still to go for the win and more importantly to learn things that may help our Cup car for the weekend."
Menard’s ARCA Crew Chief Mike Grechi on the the ARCA Race:
"The main purpose of the ARCA race is to get Paul track time at Pocono, but we're definitely going into it with the intention of running up front and going for the win."
