 |
| Paul Menard |
When
Paul Menard’s race car rolls off the hauler Thursday at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, Menard may not be the man behind the wheel.
The
Wisconsin native and his wife are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first
child, and will have NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton on
hand as a fill-in driver for the weekend. For Crafton, being on call this
weekend is almost as nerve-racking as the baby watch is for Menard.
“It’s
tough, because you just don’t know when or even if it will happen,” he said.
“But kind of like a backup quarterback, you have to be ready at any time. Paul
and I have been good friends going back to 2001. We’ve raced together and I
actually spotted for him early in his career. For him to have the
confidence in me to get the job done if he has to head back home -- that’s
awesome.”
 |
| Crafton on call |
LVMS
is a track that suits Menard well, with Top-10 finishes in each of the last two
years. And the Richard Childress Racing driver said he looks forward to
racing there this weekend… if he can.
"Las
Vegas is great, it’s fast and it’s challenging to make your car work for the
entire race," said Menard. "We have so many intermediate tracks on
the schedule, but after all the time spent with Daytona and then going to the
shorter track at Phoenix, I always look forward to Las Vegas with the high
speed and banking."
Menard will carry the
Quaker State paint scheme this weekend, in its 2014 debut. For
Menard, it will be the 27th time he has lined up for the start of a NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series event with Quaker State colors.
In order to get in the Chase(should he win a race this year), he just has to attempt to qualify, correct? Not start or finish the race? I realize he gets no points if he doesn't start the race in the car, and he may slip out of the top 30.
ReplyDelete