NASCAR Cup

Daytona 500: Yates Racing preview

Paul Menard No. 98 Menards / Quaker State Ford Travis Kvapil No. 28 Golden Corral Ford Yates Racing Fast Facts: Paul Menard * In three starts at the famed Daytona International Speedway, Menard has completed ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:37 PM

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Paul Menard                No.   98 Menards / Quaker State Ford
Travis Kvapil                No.   28 Golden Corral Ford

Yates Racing Fast Facts:

Paul Menard

* In three starts at the famed Daytona International Speedway, Menard has completed every lap (522 of 522 laps)

* In his last start at DIS in July 2007, Menard earned his first career pole award.

* Following a 12th-place finish in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, Menard will make his first Yates Racing points race start on Sunday in the Daytona 500.

* Also on board the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion will be Quaker State with an iconic green hood.

Travis Kvapil

* After posting the eighth fastest time during qualifying on Sunday afternoon, Kvapil and the No. 28 Golden Corral team locked themselves into Sunday's Daytona 500.

* Kvapil has six starts in the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway with an 11th position best start and a best finish of 19th.

* In five starts in the Camping World Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway, Kvapil has started in the top-10 each time on the track.

* If Kvapil finishes in the top-10 in Sunday's Daytona 500 -- children under the age of 12 eat for free at participating Golden Corrals.

* Kvapil and Yates Racing won the pole at Talladega in 2008; a superspeedway much like Daytona.

Paul Menard
Team: No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Larry Carter
Chassis: Primary - RK-543
Backup - RK-545

Menard on racing at Daytona International Speedway in the Shootout:

"I think we learned a lot from the Shootout that we'll be able to apply in both the Duels and the 500 later this week. I think Saturday night's race was a great chance for myself and the guys to get some extra practice on pit road and a chance to knock the dust of the winter off.

"Although we couldn't really tell much from the single car runs last weekend, we do know that we have a lot of power in the Roush/Yates engines. On Wednesday we'll be able to see how the car handles in the draft and we'll go from there.

"It should be a good weekend for us. If we can get the handling just a little better and avoid the wrecks out there, it should be a good race."

Crew Chief Larry Carter on racing at Daytona International Speedway in the Shootout:

"I thought the guys did a good job last weekend on pit road. We had a couple slower stops, but that's one of the advantages of being in the Shootout. I thought we had a pretty fast car during qualifying on Sunday, and based on how this car handles on Wednesday, I'd say that we have pretty good shot at this weekend's 500. Paul is a great drafter and as long as we can get the handling underneath him, it should be a good race for the No. 98 Menards team."

Travis Kvapil
Team: No. 28 Golden Corral Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Ben Leslie
Chassis: Primary -- 524

Kvapil on racing at Daytona International Speedway:

"Locking ourselves into the race on Sunday was a huge deal for the No. 28 team. I knew that Doug (Yates) and Ben (Leslie) would bring a fast car this weekend, and I know they were both really excited when we made the race on Sunday. We have Golden Corral on our car this weekend, which is great for all the kids out there, because if we finish in the top 10, all kids eat for free on Monday.

"Since we weren't in the Shootout, I don't know exactly how this car is going to handle when we put it in the draft. We'll work on a little drafting and the handling of the car on Wednesday and then try to have a safe race on Thursday. The goal on Thursday is to see what you have in terms of handling in the draft and then to make sure you don't get in any wrecks or mess up your car in anyway."

Crew chief Ben Leslie on racing at Daytona International Speedway:

"I think locking ourselves into the race on Sunday was huge for all the guys on this No. 28 team. They've done a great job over the last couple of weeks putting together this program and making sure that our car was fast on Sunday. Now that we're in the race, we can go out there the rest of the week and work on handling and seeing what we can't find to make our car just a little faster in the draft."

-credit: yr

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