Hidden By Controversy, Paul Menard Off To Unlikely Great Start

In case you’ve been living underground for the past week and have had no contact with the outside world, there was a little incident in Atlanta on Sunday involving a couple of guys who just don’t seem to like each other.

From NASCAR analysts to sports talk personalities who just want their opinion heard, everyone with a keyboard, microphone, and/or camera in their face has taken part in the ensuing media storm, discussing topics like safety, revenge, and the possible punishment Carl Edwards would face for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski.

The punishment ended up being probation for Edwards, which in effect, is nothing more than a slap on the wrist or a flick of the ear.

But that’s as far as I’ll get into that. Lost in the fiasco created by the Edwards/Keselowski feud were some compelling storylines.

Kurt Busch won his first race with his younger brother’s former crew chief, Steve Addington.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. became the third driver in as many weeks to fail to lead a lap despite winning the Pole.

Hendrick Motorsports underperformed mightily.

Scott Speed got his first top ten of the year.

Arguably the biggest story of the weekend, minus Keselowski ending up on his roof, was the performance of Richard Petty Motorsports as an organization.

All four cars owned by the man known affectionately as “The King” spent most of the day no worse than in the top 15.

Three cars finished in the top six, and if Elliott Sadler wouldn’t have been involved in an accident at the late end of the race, it could have likely been four cars in the top ten.

This brings me to the story so many seem to be missing. With an up and comer like AJ Allmendinger and former Chase participants Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler driving at RPM, my next sentence would have sounded ludicrous prior to Daytona.

Paul Menard is carrying the banner of that organization.

Isn’t that the driver who went all of 2009 without a top ten?

Yup.

Didn’t he have fewer points than every other driver who started every race?

That’s the guy.

Tied for 8th in points, Paul Menard, despite entering the season with only two career top tens, is looking like – dare I say it – a contender.

With Menard, the “it’s early” argument doesn’t apply. The improvement he has made in his second year driving the No.98 car, which was merged with RPM from Yates over the offseason, is already astounding.

Just look at the numbers. In four races this season, he has finished no worse than 18th. Would you like to know how many times he finished 18th or better in 36 races last season?

Four.

Whoa. Coming into this season, Menard had one career top five. With his 5th place finish Sunday, he doubled that to two.

Now sure, that top five can be somewhat credited to pit strategy. After Edwards and Keselowski tangled, the lead lap cars headed to pit road to get tires and a little extra fuel for NASCAR’s version of overtime. Menard’s crew chief, Slugger Labbe, opted to take two tires and get the 98 team, running 7th at the time, out front. That ended up being a good call.

“Slugger made a hell of a call to take two tires and get in front of a lot of the action,” Menard said post race. “I saw a lot of action in my mirror.”

The action Menard was speaking of was a multi-car accident on the first lap of “Overdrive,” triggered when Jamie McMurray got loose and drifted up the track into Clint Bowyer. The resulting melee collected several drivers who were running in the top fifteen, exactly where Menard would have been had he taken four tires.

“We knew taking two, we weren’t going to contend for the win,” Menard continued. “We figured four tires would beat us, and it did.”

Still, the fact he spent almost the entire day running in the top ten has to be encouraging. It has to be even more satisfying that, for what seems like the first time ever, the 98 team was able to capitalize on the good run with a great finish.

“I’m proud to be a part of Richard Petty Motorsports. [We finished in] three of the top six positions and it’s going to get better.”

The only thing better than what RPM did at Atlanta is getting wins. Those are high expectations, but confidence has always gone a long way to meeting those expectations in this sport. Right now, Paul Menard sounds like a confident man.

And why shouldn’t he be? For the first time in his career, he’ll take the green flag of a race from within the Chase bubble. He’s looking at things from the inside now, where drivers like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart have made a living.

There is no guaranteeing he will stay there. RPM only put one driver in the Chase last year (Kahne), and so far, Kahne, Allmendinger, and Sadler are only 17th, 23rd, and 25th in the standings, respectively.

However, it looks like Menard’s team may be coming together. They’ve been solid so far, and, if Atlanta doesn’t turn out to be a fluke, the 98 is only getting stronger.

Right now, Paul Menard is a Chase contender. That sounds strange to say, but stranger things have happened than Menard making the Chase.

Just look at who won the Super Bowl this year….