NASCAR Nationwide Series - Kansas Lottery 300
October 5th, 2013 - Kansas Speedway
After making his fourth and final NASCAR Nationwide Series start of the season, Paul Menard rallied in the closing laps of the Kansas Lottery 300 to finish second after having one of the fastest cars on the track all afternoon. Qualifying the Rheem/Menards Chevrolet fourth earlier in the day, Menard maintained a position in or around the top five until pitting under green on lap 88 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. Just two laps after coming down pit road, the yellow flag was displayed and the Richard Childress Racing driver was caught one lap down to the leader. Taking the "wave around" under caution, Menard restarted back on the lead lap in 18th on lap 94. Though he was struggling with a tight-handling condition, Menard was clicking off lap times faster than the leader and quickly worked his way to 13th when the caution flag flew on lap 118 for debris. After pitting for four tires and fuel, the Eau Claire, Wis., driver was assessed with a speeding penalty for exiting pit road too fast. Starting at the tail end of the longest line in 21st, Menard was back inside the top 15 at lap 140. Continuing to run the fastest lap times of the 40-car field, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular was scored in fifth when the caution flag was displayed for the 11th and final time on lap 189. Menard made a daring three-wide pass on the ensuing restart to put himself in the third position with four laps remaining in the 200-lap event and on the final lap gained another spot to finish second at Kansas Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
We had an awesome Rheem/Menards Chevrolet Camaro at Kansas Speedway. The car was fast all day. We fell behind early, but were able to make up ground and come out with a great finish. I had a lot of fun today with the No. 33 team, but I just wish I could have gotten a win for Ernie (Cope, crew chief) and the guys in my last NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season. - Paul Menard
Race Notes
- Started - 4th, Finished, - 2nd, Laps led - 1, Points - 8th
- According to NASCAR's Post Race Loop Data Statistics, Menard ranked first in the Closers category, gaining six positions in the final 20 laps of the 200-lap event, had the fourth-best Driver Rating (108.0), and ranked fourth in Green-Flag Passes (64).
