BUSCH: Daytona: Paul Menard qualifying notes

Menard Qualifies Fourth for Hershey's 'Take 5' 300 NASCAR Busch Series Season Opener at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Friday, Feb. 18, 2005) -- Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., will start Saturday's season-opening Hershey's 'Take 5' 300 from the outside of the second row after NASCAR Busch Series qualifying this afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

Menard navigated the 2.5-mile Superspeedway tri-oval in his #11 Menards/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., with a fast qualifying lap of 181.807 mph (49.503 seconds), good for fourth on the 43-car starting grid tomorrow.

Joe Nemechek earned his fifth career Daytona Busch pole with a fast lap of 182.452 mph (49.328). Kyle Busch qualified second at 182.216 mph (49.392), while Paul Wolfe was third with a fast lap of 181.840 mph (49.494).

Race time Saturday is 1 p.m. EST with a live broadcast set for the FOX television network.

PAUL MENARD

"I'll have to say hats off to all of the DEI guys for a really good effort so far this weekend. We had a solid test here last month and we haven't missed a beat, since. With the qualifying rules, we definitely stayed on course with respect to preparing the Menards/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet for the race tomorrow. We had to deal with a pretty stiff wind on the backstraight, but the car pulled really well. I think we were geared just right for the conditions. We definitely have a stout car in the draft for race day. I'm very comfortable out there, and it's a good thing to be starting up front here. So far, so good."

-dei/mr-