Paul Menard made his first Sprint Cup win a special one with a victory Sunday in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track steeped in tradition for his family.
The first half of the race was dominated by the drivers with the strongest cars, but when debris cautions jumbled up the pit cycles, the race came down to strategy. Crew chief
Slugger Labbe had Menard give up the lead to defending race winnerRosetta Stone Software Jamie McMurray in an effort to save fuel. Certain McMurray didn't have enough gas to make it to the finish,
Labbe then turned his attention to Jeff Gordon, who fell 12 seconds behind after a late fuel stop but was slicing his way through the field.
Labbe had Menard pass McMurray with three laps to go, and Gordon didn't have enough time to catch him as he won for the first time in his 167th career start. Menard's only other
victory came in the Nationwide Series in 2006.
Quiet and reserved by nature, that didn't change as Menard crossed theRosetta Stone Portuguese finish line. As his team screamed over the radio, Menard quietly asked, "That's the checkered, right?"
Atop the pit box, his billionaire father was less reserved.
"I've been waiting to kiss these bricks for such a long time. I'm ready!" John Menard yelled.
John Menard, owner of the family's Midwest-based hardware chain, has a decades-long involvement in racing and was ecstatic and seemingly near tears. He fielded cars for years in
the IndyCar Series and endured his own Rosetta Stone Chinese Indianapolis 500 heartbreak as a car owner.
"I've been coming here since I was a little kid. My dad tried to win this race for 35 years, so this is for my dad," Menard said. "For my family and for myself, Indianapolis is
a very special place."
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