Paul Menard has had a NASCAR career dogged by derision outside the garage over his being a paycheck for team owners courtesy of a wealthy father buying him rides.
What a way to silence the criticism.
Playing a fuel mileage gamble to the hilt and then holding off a furious final laps rally by Jeff Gordon, Menard won the 2011 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was Menard's first Sprint Cup win in 167 starts, one obtained through a bit of luck and a lot of calculated risk on both Menard's part and veteran crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe's as the race wound down.
Menard started fifteenth in the race, for much of it showing little other than hanging at or near his starting position. That said, Menard was running a clean race, staying well out of trouble and keeping himself within shouting distance of those running up front. He joined their ranks for good when the gamble of pitting thirty-five laps prior to the finish, thus stretching a fuel run to the maximum, paid off as the other competitors started coming in for their final pit stop, eventually leaving Menard running up front. With twenty laps to go Menard ran third. With ten left, he was first.
At which point things became interesting.
Gordon, who along with Kasey Kahne until he suffered damage when caught up in a wreck on lap 121 had dominanted the day, was slicing through the field. Since he had pitted several laps after Menard, Gordon had no concerns about needing to save fuel. However, Menard had played the fuel conservation gambit to perfection, having enough left to maintain sufficient speed to thwart Gordon's attempt to catch him in the final two laps after Gordon had taken second.
After the race, Menard was lavished with praise and congratulatory wishes from his competitors, including Gordon, third place finisher Regan Smith and Tony Stewart. Stewart had the most telling comment of all; as Bob Pockrass of Scene Daily noted on Twitter, he said, "I don't care about John Menard but I'm really happy for Paul Menard."
John Menard is Paul Menard's father. Why the animosity toward him?
John Menard Jr., owner of the Menards chain of home improvement stores, is a man well loathed for his personal and business practices regardless of how successful he has been in the latter. As documented a few years ago by Mary Van de Kamp Nohl for Milwaukee Magazine, Menard Jr. is routinely abusive, paranoid and penny-pinching toward employees, a flagrant violator of environmental laws and a failure as a family man. One of his most egregious moments came when he fired a manager for custom-building a home to accommodate his handicapped daughter as doing so violated one of Menard's many rules.
Menard Jr.'s malevolent business nature was displayed to Andy Petree, currently a color commentator on ESPN's NASCAR broadcasts. As reported by Nohl in 2007:
One casualty of Menard’s tough negotiating was driver Andy Petree. Petree had won a pair of NASCAR championships as Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief, but struggled to find sponsors when he formed his own team. John Menard negotiated a three-year sponsorship contract that was not only a good deal for the company, but allowed his son Paul to advance his career by driving a Petree car. “John strong-armed me to a point where I probably should have said no,” Petree says now, explaining he was soon “at the financial breaking point.”
More crushing for Petree, in midseason, John took his millions and his son and joined forces with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the racing team run by Earnhardt’s widow. “It’s rare in the racing world for someone to break a contract the way he did, but when you’re John Menard, I guess you can do that,” says Petree, who spent the next 18 months laying off employees and liquidating assets.
Despite the above, Paul Menard is well-liked and regarded in the garage. His Brickyard 400 win cements his place in being considered a driver who belongs in Sprint Cup. With the backing of Richard Childress Racing, Menard warrants keeping an eye on as the season rolls toward the Chase.
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