NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500
October 27, 2013 – Martinsville Speedway
Starting from the 23rd position, Paul Menard and the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards team faced handling issues throughout the 263-mile event, earning a 23rd-place finish when the checkered flag flew at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. In the early laps of the race, Menard fought a tight-handling condition causing him to fall a lap down to the leader on two separate occasions during the first 150 laps of the 500-lap affair. Two subsequent caution periods allowed Menard to be credited with the "Lucky Dog" pass, returning the No. 27 machine to the lead lap both times. The crew never gave up making an array of adjustments to the Turtle Wax/Menards Chevrolet during the ensuing pit stops in hopes of remedying the tight condition. The series of chassis and air pressure adjustments provided some relief to the Eau Claire, Wis., native and he was scored as high as 10th at lap 312. As the race progressed, the handling issues returned and a tight-handling car coupled with a late-race, green-flag run caused the Richard Childress Racing driver to fall a lap down to the leader with 25 laps to go. Running in 23rd, Menard fought until the very end and gained one position in the remaining laps to finish 22nd at Martinsville. He now sits 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into Texas Motor Speedway.
It was a tough day for the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards crew. We struggled with handling issues for the majority of the day. We got better there in the middle of the race, but the tight condition came back at the end. I have to give my team credit though, they never gave up and made a variety of adjustments all day to try and get the car to handle better. We fought hard getting our lap back twice, but it just didn't work out in our favor at the end. - Paul Menard
Race Notes
- Started - 23rd, Finished, - 22nd, Laps led - 0, Points - 17th
- Menard made 79 Green-Flag Passes over the course of the 236-mile event.
