NASCAR Cup

Bristol II: Paul Menard preview

Menard and Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team Looking Forward to Bristol MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 19, 2008) -- Paul Menard joins his Dale Earnhardt Inc. backed team's enthusiasm when looking ahead to this weekend's Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor ...

Published: Aug 21, 2008, 1:50 PM

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Menard and Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team Looking Forward to Bristol

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 19, 2008) -- Paul Menard joins his Dale Earnhardt Inc. backed team's enthusiasm when looking ahead to this weekend's Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

"Our overall short track program at DEI has definitely been improving in 2008, but Bristol is its own animal," Menard said. "We have a test planned for Milwaukee in a week to help us on the flat one mile tracks, like New Hampshire, Phoenix, even Richmond, but I think based on our potential at Bristol in the spring, we have a lot to look forward to this weekend."

The last time Paul Menard took to the high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway, success seemed imminent. After starting the race in 29th position based on NASCAR Sprint Cup owner's points, Menard seemed to shoot out of a canon by advancing up into the top 15 within 50 laps. Menard was easily passing cars and looked to be on his way to a season best performance. He was challenging Ryan Newman for 12th place on lap 190, when he was caught up in a five car incident which resulted in Menard losing several laps for repairs.

"We had a really fast car in the spring at Bristol, drove up to the top 12, when we got caught up in a wreck that put us laps down," Menard said. "I believe we're taking the same car back this time around so we will have a very good baseline when we unload on Friday. From there we'll just adjust to the track conditions."

Menard will, indeed, pilot the same car from the spring race -- Dale Earnhardt Inc. chassis #039. With the comfort of a fast car underneath him, Menard's thoughts turn to the racing surface.

"With the truck series racing on Wednesday, along with the Nationwide cars, there will be a lot more rubber on the track by the time we hit it so it'll probably be a bit tighter than in the spring," Menard said.

-credit: pm

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