BUSCH: Atlanta: Paul Menard qualifying notes

Menard on the Seventh Row for Saturday's Aaron's 312

HAMPTON, Ga. (Friday, Oct. 29, 2004) -- NASCAR Busch Series rookie Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., will start Saturday's Aaron's 312 from the outside of the seventh row after qualifying today at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Menard and his #11 Menards/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., circled the 1.5-mile quad-oval here with a fast lap of 185.909 mph (29.821 seconds), 14th-fastest of 50 car-and-driver combinations attempting to qualify for Saturday's 43-car starting grid.

Mike Bliss earned the pole with a fast qualifying lap of 188.867 mph (29.821 seconds). Series points leader Martin Truex, Jr., will start second after a fast lap of 185.909 mph (29.389 seconds).

Race time Saturday is 1 p.m. EDT with the TNT cable network carrying the race broadcast live.

PAUL MENARD

"I think we're pretty happy with what we've got.  We picked up
three-tenths since practice this morning.  Any time you pick up that much
time, you've got to be happy with that.  The track was pretty consistent
between the practice and qualifying sessions.  It was actually a little
more grippy during the qualifying session.  I'm pretty confident we'll
have a good race car for tomorrow.  We tested here a couple of weeks ago
and found some things that will help us tomorrow.  I like this track a
lot.  I think my Menards/Pittsburgh Paints car does, too."

-pm/dei-