Dover, DE – Paul Menard and the Menards Racing team rebounded from a 38th place qualifying effort to turn in a solid 21st place performance in the Dodge Dealers 400.

“We slowed down a few tenths from practice.” Menard said of his qualifying lap of 24.071 seconds.  “We were pretty good in practice, a little bit tight back to the throttle.  We made a change, a shock change, to try and help that and I think it made it worse, actually.  It was quite a bit tighter there than it had been.”  

Menard, however, was hopeful for what the team could accomplish during Saturday’s two practice sessions.  

“The car’s pretty good in race setup.  That’s what we concentrated on mostly during practice.”

After working hard through two practice sessions and one rain delay, the driver of the No. 15 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet turned his attention to the 400-lap event ahead.  

Prior to the event, Menard’s crew chief Dave Charpentier made the team’s goal clear.  

“If we just run a solid race today, we can pick up two spots in the owner’s points.”  Charpentier said.  
 
Menard began the race and quickly advanced into the top-30.  He spent the first 100 laps of the race a racecar that was both loose and tight depending on where he was on the race track .  
 
Despite the crew’s efforts to improve the handling of the racecar, Menard was two laps down in 33rd place by lap 187.  But the team forged ahead and continued to adjust on the No. 15 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet.  
 
The leaders continued to fly through the field; once again lapping the No. 15 car on lap 235.  It was the last 50 laps of the race, however, that would be the light at the end of the tunnel that was a long day for Paul Menard.  With several cautions for huge wrecks, Menard continued to gain spots by the attrition of the field.  Menard ended the day four laps down in 21st position, but the solid finish was just what the doctor ordered to springboard the team into next week’s race at Kansas Speedway.
 
“We’d rather get positions on track by racing for them, but we’ll take a top-25 and get ready for Kansas.” Menard said following the caution-filled Dover event.  “We know we can go to a track like that and contend for a top-10 and this helps get everybody pumped up for a good run there.”  
 
With the 21st place finish, the No. 15 team maintained it's 29th place spot in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Owner's Standings.