Richard Childress Racing

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July 30, 2012

Paul Menard and the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Team Finish 14th at the Brickyard

"It was great to be back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but we had one focus and that was to win again."

RCR/HHP RCR/HHP

Start - 8

Finish - 14

Laps Led - 0

Points Position - 16

Returning to the site of his career-first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, Paul Menard made his best start of eighth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Sunday's Brickyard 400 and drove the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet to a 14th-place finish. Shortly after the green flag dropped on the 160-lap affair, the 2011 Brickyard 400 Champion reported that he was battling a tight-handling condition on the No. 27 Chevrolet as he fell in the running order. He remained a fixture in the top 15 for the first half of the race, breaking back into the top 10 by lap 68. During routine green-flag and caution period pit stops, the Slugger Labbe-led crew made air pressure and chassis adjustments, which improved the car's handling. Following the final caution period of the afternoon on lap 134, Menard restarted from the ninth position, but as the field took the green flag, the No. 27 Chevrolet made contact with the car in front of it, resulting in minor front-end damage that caused an extremely tight-handling condition for the closing laps. The Eau Claire, Wis., native ultimately took the checkered flag at the Brickyard in the 14th position.
 
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“There were certainly a lot of great memories from last year's win on everyone's mind this weekend and it was great to be back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but we had one focus and that was to win again. The NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet was solid all weekend, but started off really tight in today's race. The No. 27 team was great in the pits all day and the handling was better until that last restart. We made contact with the car in front of us and were just really tight until the end. We had a top-10 finish until then."
 

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