by Fr. Dale Grubba - March 16, 2009
During the off season Wisconsin’s Paul Menard made the switch from DEI to Robert Yates Racing. It is a big switch personally and professionally. He left a lot of friends at DEI and now is in the process of making new friends. His first introduction to the Roush Fenway and Robert Yates teams was at a test in Rockingham.

“It is amazing how all the teams work together so well,” Menard says. “When I look over the fence at the Roush Fenway guys they are all sharing information.”

The switch to the COT has been a relatively easy one for Menard. “I’ve always enjoyed it,” states Menard. “The car doesn’t stick as good. In a straight line you seem to go faster. In the corners you have to slow down more. It’s just a different animal. It’s fun to drive because it doesn’t stick as well. You’re fighting it pretty much every lap. The biggest struggle is trying to figure out how the front geometry works. Getting the suspension tuned properly. Feeding back information to the crew that permits them to do that is the hardest part of it. Just driving the car is fun.”

How does driving the COT compare to ice racing, something that Menard did in his early days? “Atlanta in the spring is pretty close to ice racing in January. It’s pretty slippery. The old car seemed to get tighter as the run went on. This car gets looser as the run goes on, which kind of brings some of that ice racing experience back.”

For Menard one of the biggest misconceptions about Cup racing is that drivers ride around for 400 laps and then race the last 100 laps. “This is totally not true,” Menard claims. “Every lap is a qualifying lap. Cup drivers are driving 100% every lap.” When Menard was in the Busch Series he says half of the field could do that. In the Cup Series all 43 drivers can drive every lap flat out and get away with it. The level of competition is so much stronger.

The race at Talladega in which Menard qualified in the top ten, led a lot of laps, and ran strong all day was the high point of the 2008 season. He came home with what he likes to call a third place finish.

Was he satisfied with the 2008 season? “We started off on the right foot,” he says. “Then we lost it somewhere around the beginning of the summer and could never get it back. I had big hopes when the season started.”

What would Menard consider a successful 2009 season? He answers, “If going into Richmond, the last race before the Chase, we are in contention to make the Chase. That would be successful. I think we were 26th in points last year. This year we are looking for big improvements.”