Menard Finishes 18th at Dover International Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – AAA 400
September 29, 2013 – Dover International Speedway

Paul Menard started the 400-mile event at Dover International Speedway from the 21st position and struggled with handling issues throughout the day to finish 18th on Sunday afternoon. A long green-flag run in the early laps of the race, coupled with a loose-handling condition, caused Menard to fall a lap down to the leader at lap 130. The No. 27 pit crew made a variety of chassis adjustments during the ensuing pit stops in hopes of providing some relief to the Eau Claire Wis., native. After a lap-231 pit stop for four tires, fuel and multiple chassis adjustments, Menard was running in 18th and relayed to the No. 27 crew that the car was the best that it had been all day and the loose-handling condition was tightening up. Continued long green-flag runs and persistent handling issues contributed to Menard falling two laps down to the leader toward the latter portion of the race. The Richard Childress Racing driver and team never gave up and Menard was running lap times comparative to the leader, but the caution flags never fell in his favor. Unable to gain any laps back, Menard ultimately finished the 400-lap event in the 18th position and sits in 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into Kansas Speedway.

It was a tough day for the No. 27 CertainTeed/Menards crew. We struggled with handling all weekend at Dover (International Speedway), and never seemed to hit on the right setup until the end of the race. The crew worked hard making adjustments all day to try and get the car to handle better. Track position is everything at Dover. Once you fall a lap down to the leader it’s hard to gain any ground, especially with the long green-flag runs we had today. – Paul Menard

Race Notes

• Started – 21st, Finished, – 18th,  Laps led – 0, Points – 17th
• Menard completed 37 Green-Flag Passes during the 400-lap event.
• RCR teammates Burton, Harvick and Menard posted nine of the Fastest Laps Run with four, three and two laps, respectively.