ARCA pole turns into race wreck for Menard.

Paul Menard had the car to beat at Winchester Speedway last Saturday, but as so often is the case in motor racing, the fastest car rarely wins.

Menard and his Turtle Wax Chevrolet earned their first pole position of the season for Andy Petree Racing, and then sped out to an early lead before misfortune ended any hope of a win in the ARCA ReMax 200. Menard finished 26th.

After jetting out to a quick lead from his pole starting spot, Menard was the victim of a back marker spinning ahead of him on lap 30. Menard tried to dive low in turn two to avoid the spinning Jim Walker, but a matter of inches came between the Turtle Wax Chevrolet making it by unscathed. The right side of his car hit the rear of Walker's car, forcing Menard to the pits for what turned out to be major repair.

"I guess that's just the way it goes," said Menard. "I was just cruising out there trying to stay out of trouble and negotiate traffic. Our car was so good I have no doubt we were the car to beat. I'm not sure what happened to Walker, he was by himself ahead and Kimmel and I were ready to lap him. All of a sudden he just lost it, smacked the wall and was right in the middle of turn two sliding down the track.

"There wasn't enough time to make any decision other than whatever instinct tells you. I dove low and I thought I was going to make it by. Obviously we didn't and there went our race. I don't know what else to say. It's your biggest fear in a race like that, getting caught in a traffic-related wreck. What I hate the most is that we really had a shot at winning. The guys on the team gave me the best car out there. It was all looking so good."

Menard, who will be sitting in a classroom come Tuesday morning at the University of Wisconsin, was hoping to round out his summer with a big win before returning to school for the fall semester. Instead he won his first pole of the year at Winchester, outpacing the field by two-tenths of a second. It was a small consolation to the disappointment of not winning, but a solid achievement nonetheless.

"The pole is actually pretty great for us. It's something everyone on the team can share as far as I'm concerned. The motor guys, the chassis team and everyone at Andy Petree Racing. Would've liked to cap it off with a big win, but at least we took some hardware away from the event!" laughed Menard.

Despite Menard's school schedule beginning this week, he will be back in action for Petree Racing this week at Richmond in the NASCAR Busch Series event. It will be Menard's sixth Busch start of the year. In five previous races, Menard has a best finish of ninth at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

"It's going to be a short week at school with the Richmond race coming up," Menard said. "We've run well in the Busch cars this year and I think we'll be very competitive at Richmond. I had a chance to test there for a couple days, so that will help. I know Richmond is always a big Busch race on the schedule - it should be fun."