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BUSCH: Talladega: Paul Menard qualifying notes

Menard Earns Second Career NASCAR Busch Series Pole With 184-mph Qualifying Lap at Talladega Superspeedway TALLADEGA, Ala. (Thursday, April 28, 2005) -- Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., qualified on the pole for Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series ...

Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM

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Menard Earns Second Career NASCAR Busch Series Pole With 184-mph Qualifying Lap at Talladega Superspeedway

TALLADEGA, Ala. (Thursday, April 28, 2005) -- Paul Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., qualified on the pole for Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Menard and his #11 Menards/Turtle Wax Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., circled the 2.66-mile high-banked tri-oval with a fast lap of 184.023 mph (52.037 seconds) to capture his second career NASCAR Busch Series pole. He scored his first in the #11 Menards DEI car at Kansas Speedway last fall. Menard also qualified on the pole here in the October, 2003, ARCA series race, was subsequently sent to the back of the starting grid due to a post-qualifying technical infraction, but nonetheless came from the back of the pack to victory in that race.

Race time Saturday is 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT) with a live broadcast set for the FOX television network.

PAUL MENARD

"The Menards/Turtle Wax Chevrolet is just an awesome race car. I just have to say hats off to (crew chief) Dan Stillman and all the boys at the shop for giving me a great race car. They made it look easy out there. This is the same car we raced down at Daytona (and led with for 37 of the first 51 laps), but with a better motor and some improvements to the bodywork. It's got great power and a great body. That's a testament to the DEI heritage at these restrictor-plate events. We were fast right off the truck this morning. We had a nice, long drafting run in the middle of the session that makes us feel really good about Saturday. The key will be hooking up with some friends (drafting partners), something we just couldn't seem to do with any regularity at Daytona. That'll make all the difference in the world. I think we'll try and work at the start with Martin (Truex) and maybe Shane (Hmiel), and see if anybody else jumps on board. The key is to stay at the front all day long, keep our nose clean, and be there at the end. Today was just tremendous. We'll get to enjoy it for a day (off Friday) and come back focused and ready to go on Saturday."

-dei/mr-

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