(workingonmyredneck file photo)

Once a year, late into the summer, NASCAR rolls into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 Sprint Cup race.

To the racer and race fan, Indy is the “holy grail”, the most hallowed of race tracks, the maker of legends, and a legend of its own.  To . . . → Read More: Paul Menard Takes The Brickyard 400 Victory]]>

(workingonmyredneck file photo)

Once a year, late into the summer, NASCAR rolls into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 Sprint Cup race.

To the racer and race fan, Indy is the “holy grail”, the most hallowed of race tracks, the maker of legends, and a legend of its own.  To describe the meaning of Indy is almost indescribable.  Indy is like the high school beauty that you were afraid to ask out for a date, very intimidating.  It is like a 21st century cougar, enticing you to do something that you know will haunt you forever.  All the while, Indy demands respect from all who have ever attempted to conquer the track.

For 35 years the Menard family has tried to conquer this facility.  For most of those years it was John Menard, Paul’s father and billionaire owner of the mid-western home improvement store, Menard’s, who owned Indy cars and failed to win the Indianapolis 500.  However, on Sunday Paul Menard tamed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and won his first Sprint Cup race of his career.

As a team owner and sponsor, building supply magnate John Menard spent two decades, not to mention many millions, trying to win the Indy 500. Menard invested in engines such as the Buick V-6 turbo and the Old Aurora, and drivers like a young Tony Stewart, who finished sixth at the Brickyard on Sunday when his fuel mileage gambit fell short.

Menard’s Indy car teams won three poles at Indy and a season’s championship with Stewart, but never the big prize at the big racing plant at 16th and Georgetown Rd. “We didn’t have any success with those engines,” he said, “but by God we were fast.”

One of those pole days turned tragic when Menard’s driver Scott Brayton suffered a fatal accident at Indy during practice after recording one of the fastest pole-winning times in the Brickyard’s history. Menard’s team was so dominant in qualifying, Stewart moved over to the pole in another Menard entry powered by a Buick V-6 turbo. But as was too often the case, Stewart’s Buick blew up.

But this year the Menard family fortunes changed.  As has become the trend over the last few years, the Brickyard 400 has become a race that relies very heavily on fuel mileage.  This year was no exception for the winner.

Driving with sponsorship from his father’s company, Menard’s, in the Richard Childress Racing Chevy, Paul Menard first outfoxed Jeff Gordon and then out-raced him.

“I’ve always been a low-key guy,” said the 30-year-old Menard, who kept his cool by saving fuel for the majority of this final stint, knowing that guys loaded with full tanks of gas and riding on fresh Goodyear tires were hunting him down as the laps clicked off.

It wasn’t that long ago, shortly before he began driving stock cars on the short tracks of Wisconsin, that Menard watched Gordon win the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 aboard the DuPont Chevy. At that time Gordon was a wunderkind that many people doubted was worth the bonus team owner Rick Hendrick had paid him to snatch him from the clutches of Ford.

This year, Menard watched Gordon in his rear-view mirror as the laps wound down with the race on the line. “He was catching us two or three seconds a lap,” said Menard, who got the word from crew chief Slugger Labbe that he had enough fuel to run flat out to the finish with just three laps remaining. Menard concentrated so hard that he didn’t notice the race was over. “Was that the checkered?” he radioed his crew chief in a situation when most drivers are screaming about winning.

After Sunday’s race, it appears that Paul Menard has arrived at the Sprint Cup level.

See this for the unofficial results of the Brickyard 400.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

There have been many questions about the future of Richard Petty Motorsports during the 2010 season.  However, there were no questions about who ended up winning the pole for the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speeedway Friday.  Kasey Kahne turned a lap of 174.644 on the Kansas . . . → Read More: It’s An All RPM Starting Front Row At Kansas]]>

(photo courtesy Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

There have been many questions about the future of Richard Petty Motorsports during the 2010 season.  However, there were no questions about who ended up winning the pole for the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speeedway Friday.  Kasey Kahne turned a lap of 174.644 on the Kansas Speedway mile and a half race track, securing the pole position.

Probably one of the biggest surprises of the day was having Kahne’s RPM team mate, Paul Menard, turn in the second fastest lap of the day resulting in an all Richard Petty Motorsports starting front row!

The RPM #9 Budweiser Ford is on the pole for the third time this season, however, Kahne is still looking for his first victory of the year.  In spite of their great qualifying performances, both Kahne and Menard will be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports for other race teams at the end of the 2010 race year.

“To me it (the good showings Friday) shows that myself and Paul and our teams are still really interested in running strong and not backing down at all just because we have other things we are going to do in the future,” Kahne said. “At the same time it shows that RPM is giving us great race cars. Roush Yates is giving us great engines. We have the package, we just need to put it all together.

“We have struggled. We had that deal in Atlanta that maybe made us miss the Chase and we haven’t run well since. It feels got to get on the pole today and hopefully it gives us some momentum for Sunday’s race. Hopefully we can carry that.”

So Sunday will be a very interesting race, the Chase climate will show a definite change.  By the end of the race Sunday, there will definitely a growing division between “the contenders” and “the pretenders”!  The Sun will be shining brightly on those contenders still firmly in “The Chase”, however for the bottom four race teams, this weekend’s performance will be very critical for them!

Here is the race line up for the Price Chopper 400 at the Kansas Speedway.

There are twelve drivers, eight races, and one championship, who will be the last man standing?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

It appears that Richard Childress Racing is about to announce a new sponsor for the #29 Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick.  All signs point to an announcement that Budweiser will be moving over to the #29 team for 2011.  That announcement could come as early as the weekend . . . → Read More: Sponsor Changes Coming]]>

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

It appears that Richard Childress Racing is about to announce a new sponsor for the #29 Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick.  All signs point to an announcement that Budweiser will be moving over to the #29 team for 2011.  That announcement could come as early as the weekend races at Watkins Glen, NY, on the weekend of August, 8th.

If that announcement comes to fruition, the ramifications for Richard Petty Motorsports could be severe.  A.J. Almendinger has been talking to several teams, including Penske Racing about 2011.  If he were to take his sponsor, Best Buys, and depart RPM, that would leave Stanley Tools as the only sponsor still under contract to RPM for 2011!

Another RPM driver, Paul Menard, has beating the bushes as well.  There is speculation that Menard could well leave, take his Daddy’s sponsorship money (Menard’s), and become the fourth team at Richard Childress Racing!

It  would appear that Menard’s move hinges upon what Almendinger does  for the 2011 season.  If “The Dinger” stays with RPM, Menard would most likely remain at RPM, as well.

However, if both of these drivers leave Richard Petty Motorsports, that could have devastating  ramifications in the garage area. RPM could possibly go under if both of these drivers and sponsors jump overboard and move on to other race teams!  That would effectively remove Richard Petty’s presence from the NASCAR garage area, and that would be totally sad to see!

What is your thoughts on the possible switches to come?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON  MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Things overlooked in Atlanta Sunday in light of “The Wreck”:

1. Kurt Busch wins the Kobalt Tools 500 for Penske Racing.

2. Matt Kenseth finished second for Roush-Fenway Racing.

3. Kasey Kahne led the most laps, but finished fourth for Richard  Petty Motorsports.

4. Paul Menard, also . . . → Read More: Atlanta Refections]]>

(photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Things overlooked in Atlanta Sunday in light of “The Wreck”:

1. Kurt Busch wins the Kobalt Tools 500 for Penske Racing.

2. Matt Kenseth finished second for Roush-Fenway Racing.

3. Kasey Kahne led the most laps, but finished fourth for Richard  Petty Motorsports.

4. Paul Menard, also an RPM driver finished fifth!

5. A. J. Almendinger,(THE DINGER), finished sixth, again an RPM driver!

6. Scott Speed finished 10th for Red Bull Racing

7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. started on the pole and finished 15th!

Most interesting quote from the race:

8. Steve Addington, the crew chief no longer good enough for Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing, took the older Busch, Kurt, back to Victory Lane at the same track where he got his first victory in 2008 with Kyle Busch.  “It is a good feeling to know that your driver wants you to go to work for him,” Addington said in a statement that showed a lot of class but made a strong point.

9. The Atlanta Motor Speedway folks were probably extremely pleased that the amount of empty seats was not a big topic of conversation with the media!

10.  Brad Keselowski is probably glad to have an off week to recuperate from the Edwards “Cheap Shot”!  He also will need to reload and prepare for some of the other drivers who, no doubt, are lining up for their shot at him!

NOTE TO ROGER PENSKE:

Have plenty of haulers at the tracks with back cars onboard for the #12 for the remainder of the the 2010 season, you may need them!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!