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Paul Menard returns to NASCAR competition at COTA

Former Cup Series driver Paul Menard will return to NASCAR competition this weekend and compete in the inaugural Truck race at Circuit of the Americas.

 Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Mustang Menards / Tarkett

Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Mustang Menards / Tarkett

Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Menard, who won the 2011 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will drive ThorSport Racing’s No. 66 Toyota in Saturday’s Toyota Tundra 225 at COTA.

It will mark Menard’s first start in a NASCAR series since he retired from fulltime competition following the 2019 season.

“I appreciate Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) giving me this opportunity to get back into a truck, while working with Bud Haefele again,” Menard said. “COTA is a new track for the series and one that I have never been to before, so we'll all be on relatively equal footing.

“I’ll have 50 minutes to learn the track and knock the rust off and am certainly looking forward to the challenge of trying to add my name to the list of winners in all three national series.”

Menard, 40, began competing in NASCAR’s three national series in 2003.

He has previously made six Truck Series starts, 220 Xfinity Series appearances (with three wins), and raced in the Cup Series from 2003 to 2019 (with one win).

Menard’s truck will be sponsored by Ing. Enea Mattei S.p.A, a global manufacturer of compressor solutions in the industrial, mobility, oil & gas and renewable energy sectors.

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