SPARTA, Ky. – Despite a mildly quiet season behind the wheel of the No. 21 Menards Ford Mustang for Wood Bros. Racing, the thought of Paul Menard being replaced or retiring is nothing short of the start of silly season 2019.
Menard said on Friday at Kentucky Speedway, he has a contract in place to return to the legendary Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team in 2020.
“I have a good job, for sure,” Menard said with a chuckle and smile. “I love the Wood Brothers. I love my race team. They are good people. I have a contract for next year. I guess it is getting to be that time of year when people start talking about things.
“I have a contract and I love my team. We just have to perform better, that is all.”
In the first 18 races of 2019, Menard has maneuvered just two top-10 finishes this season with back-to-back top-10 runs of sixth and 10th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Richmond (Va.) Raceway respectively.
Last weekend at Daytona, Menard bolted to the race lead momentarily with a shove from Denny Hamlin – but found himself with a 16th place finish when the race was called early due to lightning.
As the season winds up for the second half of the year, Menard said his No. 21 has showcased the speed to be competitive – but the team needs to improve on putting entire races together.
“It is certainly not where we want to be,” added Menard. “I feel like we have definitely shown some speed in the races, it is just a matter of putting together the entire race, something we have struggled to do. It starts on Friday or qualifying day.
“The package that we are dealt this year it is really hard to pass and track position is as important as it has ever been and when you qualify 15th it is hard to make up passes and get stage points and do the things you need to do to make the playoffs.”
Much like a majority of the garage has spoken this year, passing has been difficult – but Menard admits that the closer he has been able to start near the front – the easier the race can become thanks to track position.
“The times we have qualified in the top-10 we have been able to get stage points and finish in the top-10 a few times,” Menard spoke. “Track position is key. That is something we have been working on for sure but it isn’t playing out to our satisfaction, but we keep working on it.”
Looking for his third top-10 of 2019, Menard is flying the Quaker State logos Saturday night in Sparta, which also is the sponsor of the race.
“It would be huge,” offered Menard when asked his thoughts of winning the race. “Quaker State and I go way back. They sponsored my families Indy cars back in the ‘90s and they were on my first Legends car way back in the day, a green Quaker State car. They have been big supporters of me through the years. They are great people
“I have been to Houston a few times visiting their headquarters down there and they have some really cool stuff that they do. It is a huge company obviously. I was fortunate years ago to go back into the laboratory and see how they actually make the oil. I saw how they blend the oil. It was a lot of really cool stuff that they do. It is an honor to have them here. They love
Kentucky Speedway and do a good job promoting the race.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
