Richard Childress Racing

Recent News

August 7, 2012

Paul Menard Event Preview: Zippo 200 at The Glen

"On a road course, I think that the cars are close enough. I think that you can pick up a little more on how to drive the race track on a road course to help you on Sunday."

RCR/HHP RCR/HHP

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Paul Menard
No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet

Event/Date:  
Zippo 200 at The Glen
August 11, 2012

Venue:
Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International


RACE NOTES and QUOTES:

This Week’s Rheem/Menards Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International ... Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 97 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. This No. 33 Chevrolet was built new for 2012 competition and was previously driven by RCR teammate Max Papis at Road America in June where he started from the fifth position and finished fourth.

By the numbers at “The Glen” … In six Nationwide Series starts at Watkins Glen International, Menard has one top-five and three top-10 finishes, completing 99.6 percent of his laps (494 of 496) and leading for three circuits. He holds a 13th-place average starting position and an average finishing position of 13.7. He claimed his best finish of fourth in the 2007 Nationwide Series race with his best start coming in his 2005 NNS debut at the 2.45-mile road course.

A Little Loopy the Last Time Around ... Menard posted some impressive NASCAR Loop Data Statistics with his sixth-place performance at “The Glen” in August 2011. The Eau Claire, Wis., native tied for first in Laps in the Top 15 (85, 100 percent), ranked fourth in Fastest on Restarts (117.353 mph), fifth  in the categories Speed in Traffic (117.559 mph), Green-Flag Speed (118.689 mph) and Average Running Position (6.341), seventh in the categories Driver Rating (107), Drivers Fastest Early in a Run (118.733 mph) and Drivers Fastest Late in a Run (118.492 mph) and tied for eighth in Closers (1 position).

2012 in the Nationwide Series for Menard ... This weekend marks Menard’s fourth of seven scheduled starts in the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for RCR in the 2012 Nationwide Series season. He holds one top-five and three top-10 finishes this season, earning one pole award (Texas Motor Speedway, April) and leading for 137 laps. Menard has an average starting position of 5.7 and a sixth-place average finishing position. He will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet next at Chicagoland Speedway in September, followed by Dover International Speedway (September) and Kansas Speedway in October.

Race Rewind: Watkins Glen … Menard started the 2011 Zippo 200 at The Glen from the seventh position and remained in the top 10 throughout the 85-laprace to bring home a sixth-place finish.

In the Rearview Mirror: Iowa Speedway ... After running in the top 10 for the majority of the Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway, Brendan Gaughan nursed a shredding right-front tire on the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet in the closing laps of the American Ethanol 200 to finish in the 14th-position.

About Rheem … Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta and U.S. operations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina. In its 86th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Rheem, Raypak, Ruud and Richmond have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water heating supplier to Richard Childress Racing, and is a primary sponsor of RCR’s No. 29 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

PAUL MENARD QUOTES:
How do you go about picking out the races you run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series?
“We always choose our (Menards) markets first. Even though it is not in a Menards market, I like to race Watkins Glen (International) because it is a road course. Since we don’t get to run many throughout the year, I like to switch it up a bit.”

Are the Nationwide Series cars close enough to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars that you can learn things on Saturday to use during Sunday’s race?
“On a road course, I think that the cars are close enough. On a typical oval, no, I don’t think that they are. I think that you can pick up a little more on how to drive the race track on a road course to help you on Sunday.”
 

Back to top