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BUSCH: Memphis: Paul Menard qualifying notes

Menard Qualifies Seventh for Saturday's Sam's Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series Race at Memphis Motorsports Park MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Friday, Oct. 22, 2004) -- NASCAR Busch Series rookie Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., will start Saturday's Sam's Town ...

Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM

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Menard Qualifies Seventh for Saturday's Sam's Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series Race at Memphis Motorsports Park

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Friday, Oct. 22, 2004) -- NASCAR Busch Series rookie Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., will start Saturday's Sam's Town 250 from the inside of the fourth row after qualifying today on the three-quarter-mile Memphis Motorsports Park tri-oval.

Menard and his #11 Menards/Quaker State Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., circled the short track with a fast qualifying lap of 119.121 mph (22.666 seconds), good for seventh among 54 car-and-driver combinations attempting to make Saturday's 43-car starting grid. Menard was the fastest rookie qualifier in the field with his second-best qualifying effort of the season. Just two weekends ago, at the Kansas Speedway 1.5-mile tri-oval, Menard earned his first career NASCAR Busch Series pole. Last April, he qualified eighth on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway tri-oval.

Series points leader Martin Truex earned the pole today with a fast lap of 120.198 mph (22.463 seconds). NASCAR Nextel Cup Series veteran Bill Elliott will start alongside Truex on the front row after a fast qualifying lap of 119.601 mph (22.575 seconds).

Race time Saturday is 2:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EDT) with live television coverage provided by the TNT cable network.

PAUL MENARD

"We're pretty happy with how our day went. The Menards/Quaker State car was great right off the truck in practice this afternoon. We tested here a few weeks ago but decided to bring a different car, and it turned out to be a wise decision. I think we've earned ourselves a good starting spot for a short-track race tomorrow. That will be important. What a difference a week makes. It was a heartbreaker for all of us to have to go home after qualifying last weekend at Charlotte. But that's the fickle nature of this business, especially a week after we won our first pole together. But we're always looking at the big picture. We have every confidence in each other. The DEI guys gave me a great car for this weekend, and we'll just see if we can have ourselves a good race tomorrow. It's a roller coaster ride, but everything we're doing now is just preparation for next year."

-tm-dei-

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