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June 26, 2012

Paul Menard Event Preview: Quaker State 400

"Kentucky Speedway has some bumps and some character. It's a lot of fun to race there."

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Event Preview Fact Sheet

Paul Menard
No. 27 Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet

Event/Date:  
Quaker State 400
June 30, 2012

Venue:
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, Ky.


RACE NOTES and QUOTES:

This Week's Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet at Kentucky Speedway ... Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 328 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet was last utilized in competition at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May where Menard started ninth and finished 15th. This chassis was also used at Phoenix International Raceway in March.
 
By the Numbers in the Bluegrass State ... In last year's inaugural Sprint Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile race track, Menard started 10th and finished 24th, completing 266 of the 267 laps. Menard also has four starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the Sparta, Ky.-based oval, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes and starting in the top 10 three times.
 
Getting Loopy in 2012 ... With 16 points-paying events of the 2012 season complete, Menard sits 14th in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, 45 points out of the final Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup spot. In his sophomore year with RCR, Menard has an average starting position of 18.6, an average finishing position of 16.3, maintains an average running position of 18.4, and has completed 99.6 percent of his laps (4,740 of 4,760).
 
#QS400 or Bust for Mike Poineau ... Mike Poineau of Saginaw, Mich. will attend his first NASCAR race this weekend courtesy of Quaker State and Menards, who collaborated on a consumer sweepstakes offer earlier this year for an all expenses paid trip for two to the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. The stay-at-home father will take his first airplane ride as he flies to Kentucky to attend the Sprint Cup Series event and meet Menard. Poineau has said that he enters every contest/promotion that Menards offers and is a loyal shopper at the Midwest-based home improvement retail chain.
 
Race Rewind ... The inaugural Sprint Cup Series weekend at Kentucky Speedway in July 2011 was shaping up to be a solid one for the No. 27 Sylvania/Menards team, but an untimely caution during green-flag pit stops and front-end damage during a late restart resulted in a tight-handling car and relegated Menard to a 24th-place finish.
 
In the Rearview Mirror: Sonoma ... Menard and the No. 27 Moen/Menards team battled track position throughout the Save Mart 350, but it was a late-race spin that left them with a 20th-place finish at Sonoma.
 
About Sylvania ... See the world in a new light® ... OSRAM SYLVANIA is a leader in lighting solutions and specialty products that feature innovative design and energy saving technology. The company sells products for homes, businesses and vehicles primarily under the SYLVANIA brand name, and also under the OSRAM brand. Headquartered in Danvers, Mass., OSRAM SYLVANIA is the North American operation of OSRAM GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG. For more information, visit www.sylvania.com.
 
PAUL MENARD QUOTES:
Last year was the inaugural Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. How good was the racing there?
"It was pretty good. The bottom groove was the preferred line, but [the track] opened up quite a bit. The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series have been running there for a long time so the track was well-seasoned. It's got some bumps and some character. It's a lot of fun to race there."
 
Does Kentucky Speedway remind you of any other tracks at which the Sprint Cup Series competes?
"It's a little like Kansas (Speedway), just little bigger and a wider. Kentucky (Speedway) is unique though, because it's not a new track. It's an old track, just new to the Sprint Cup Series. We've all run thousands of miles there testing and in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series, so it's fun to actually get to race there now.
 
How did your race go last year in the No. 27 Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet?
"We started 10th, but got some nose damage on a restart. Once we had a gaping hole in the nose, the car's handling tightened up and we fought that the rest of the night. We had a really good test there and a really good race up until that point, but with the damage it just wouldn't turn and we finished 24th."
 

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