It sounds like a silly question does it not. However, in the current state of economic affairs, Paul Menard is a hot commodity for NASCAR owners.
The most recent rumor concerning Paul Menard is that he could end up at Richard Childress Racing, along with his sponsor Menard’s, which is his father’s home improvement chain.
Of course, he denied the rumor.
Many will claim that Menard’s sponsor the key to his survival in Sprint Cup.
The home improvement chain will follow Paul Menard wherever he decides to go.
Menard entered NASCAR six years ago with Andy Petree on a limited basis, and moved on to DEI in 2005.
He showed some promise at DEI in the Busch, now Nationwide Series.
He became a top prospect.
At the time, the fact that his sponsor was his father’s company was rarely mentioned because Menard frequently ran near the front.
He won a Nationwide Series event at the Milwaukee Mile in June of 2006 in a field that included Cup drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and Denny Hamlin.
Because he was competitive, there was no need to mention that Menard only had a ride because of his name.
He competed in a limited Cup schedule in 2006, and scored a top ten at
Atlanta.
The Menards entered the Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2007.
Two years and one top five finish later, Menard’s fruitless tenure with DEI came to an end.
Menard’s career was far from finished, as DEI attempted to re-sign Menard.
A few other teams showed interest in Menard and his sponsor, but he eventually decided to join Yates Racing.
In 2008, Yates Racing displayed signs of potential with David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil often overperforming in underfunded cars.
Additionally, the affiliation with Roush Fenway Racing was a strong selling point.
Menard has yet to land a top ten finish in 2009, and Yates Racing faces a ton of uncertainty.
With the sponsorship issues most teams are facing, you have to believe that the Menard’s sponsorship played a role in Richard Petty Motorsport’s decision to merge with Yates Racing.
It is reported that Menard is not thrilled with the merger, and could be searching for a new team for him and his sponsor.
Very few teams, if any, would pass up an opportunity to sign a driver who can bring in a major sponsor.
The free agent pool is not as promising as it has been in years past, but based on experience, as well as accomplishments, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, and even Casey Mears would seem to be more sound choices to fill a vacant seat.
Labonte, McMurray, and Mears cannot bring in a guaranteed sponsor, and companies are not exactly swarming into the sport with their checkbooks in hand.
I have nothing against Paul Menard.
I want to see him succeed so he can erase the notion that he is only in the sport because of his father’s company.
I do not think he lacks talent, as many others would assume.
I can recall two or three races this year in which he had a possible top ten slipped away due to an accident or some kind of misfortune.
Before you deem Menard unworthy of even sweeping the floors of a race shop, consider that he entered DEI’s Cup program when the company was in utter chaos.
Sure, he currently drives a Roush-prepared car in the Yates Racing stables, but that entire program is off the pace, even the trio of Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth. Let us try to give Menard the benefit of the doubt.
Unfortunately, he takes some heat because he has the luxury of a guaranteed sponsor with very few credentials.
Meanwhile, successful and popular veterans are rushed out of the sport, or to a lower-tier ride, because they cannot attract a sponsor.
Comments
I agree with you, mostly. Even though it looks on the surface as though Paul Menard has underperformed, all we need do is look at his teams and stablemates at the time. Yes, he has driven for once-mighty teams such as DEI and Yates Racing; but like you said, DEI was on the downhill slide when he was there, and he was the third car! Junior and Martin Truex did OK to a point, but this was when Paul was moving up to cup, so he couldn't be expected to do great things right off the bat. Then look at Yates: Yes, they did some pretty good stuff while underfunded last year, but what happened? They get better funding (Menards, Ask.com) and they promptly falter. Remember, Bobby Labonte pretty much did no better than Paul in similarly-prepared equipment, then goes to the 71 and mops the track with Erik Darnell. I believe the equipment is the culprit here. But I also must comment on your note about Casey Mears: Nothing against Casey personally, but I believe he relies on HIS name more than Paul.
Paul Menard will win the Sprint Cup next year.
While I don't think that Paul has the potential to be a star. I do think he has the talent to be a good journeyman driver. If I were making the decision, & had the chance to move to Childress. I'd take it, but only if I were convinced that my equipment & people were top notch, & my sponsor $$ were being spent on my team. Not spread around to keep the organization afloat as currently.
I agree paul menard has talent he was 6th in points two years in a row in busch series. in good cars he can run top 15th.
Menard needs a change of scenery. I wonder if all it takes for him is to land in an Elite ride like Roush, Gibbs or Hendrick and he will become a better driver? We have seen that the car doesn't make the driver (McMurray and to an extent Junior), but he's been in the sport the same amount of time as others (Allmendinger) and yet has no results. Maybe he needs to refine himself more to drive the car.
Menard gets a lot of grief because of his family sponsorship, but he's really not a bad driver. I'm not saying he's great, but he's not as bad as his results would seem to show over the past couple of years.
I think if he gets into the right car with the right team, and the right crew chief, he could run towards the front consistently.
I would like RGM and Menards team up and see what they can build!
I remember one of the first Cup races Menard ever entered, before he started competing full-time. I don't remember the exact race, but it was at Atlanta several years ago. He ran strong all day long (DEI #15 car) and I believe he finished 7th. That has stuck in my mind because I was so impressed with how well he ran with such little experience. I don't know what has gone wrong since then--poor equipment, mostly--but I believe he can run in the top-15 or top-20 consistently if his cars are better.
He has had some good runs this year,but not the finishes for various reasons,some not of his making.He is not the best and he is not the worst driver in cup.
paul has a good sponsor, but not a lot of talent driving good equipment, dont know what is worse, jounior with the name, team, and big buck sponsors- but not much talent.
P. Menard is possibly the greatest driver ever.It is only a matter of time before he wins 35 or 36 races in one season or more likely wins one race in 35 or 36 seasons. If everyone would simply get out of his way he could very well be competitive. But seriously I grew up with Paul and I can confirm that the real problem with poor Paul is that he has been handed everything that he has ever had, he is a spoiled punk who has never had to fight or work for anything and racing is more or less a hobby for him. So to say that he is anything more than a hobbiest and a half-assed racer would be a real stretch. Go get em Paulie daddy will foot the bill no problem.
The previous comment is highly under-informed. It's pretty well-known that John Menard made it clear that if Paul didn't get results, he wasn't going to sponsor him. He would have gone into management of Menards. It also ignores the fact that he was one of, if not the, best Nationwide-only driver in his time there. If he was just a hobbyist, why would he bother trying so hard there? Additionally, if he didn't care about getting better, why wouldn't he just go back to Nationwide where he knows he can run up front? He could just follow the Frank Kimmel model and outrun inferior competition if that was the case.
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