Who is Paul Menard ?
Paul Menard is an American professional stock car racing driver who currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Detailed Paul Menard Biography
He drives the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 12 Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of Midwestern home improvement entrepreneur John Menard Jr., founder of the Menards chain.
Paul Menard Early Career
His racing career began at the age of eight when he won the Briggs Junior Karting Class Championship in his native Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Paul later won the Briggs Medium Class Champion before working his way up to higher level racing. Later began ice racing at the age of 15 and won 10 International Ice Racing Association events in his career. Paul continues to compete in IIRA events in and around Wisconsin.
The summers he raced legends cars on short tracks in Wisconsin. Paul borrowed Bryan Reffner’s Late Model for a week winning his heat race and placing around fourth in the feature. Paul decided to build his own late model and raced the car three to four times per week. An interview with Motorsports Minute, Menard said he chose stock cars over Indy Cars because there was no feeder series for Indy Car in his native Wisconsin.
The year 2000, he began racing a limited schedule in the NASCAR Re/Max Challenge Series, finishing 13th in points. In his rookie season in 2001, he earned a pole and victory at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, finishing ninth in points. That 2002 season saw Menard compete in ReMax Challenge (two poles, seventh in points), SCCA Trans-Am (one front-row start, four top-10 finishes), Grand Am Cup (victories at Fontana and Phoenix) and the NASCAR Southwest Tour.
Paul capped his season in the latter series with a last-lap pass of veteran Ken Schrader for the Phoenix victory. Menard in 2003 joined Andy Petree Racing to compete in NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series events while still competing in ARCA. In his first ARCA start at Salem Speedway, he qualified second and finished fourth.
That year, he started on the pole at Winchester, Indiana and then scored his first ARCA victory at Talladega Superspeedway. Paul also had top finishes of ninth in the Busch race at Indianapolis Raceway Park and eighth in the Truck race at the Kansas Speedway.
He moved to Richard Childress Racing in 2011, driving the No. 27. Menard won his first Sprint Cup race in his 167th start in July 31, 2011, in the Brickyard 400 at the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Menard won by making his last pit stop with 36 laps to go. Paul led late, but with 9 laps to go, he was passed by Jamie McMurray. With four to go, he regained the lead and held off Jeff Gordon, the winner of the inaugural Brickyard 400 in the final laps, having enough fuel to do so.
Paul is the first member of the Menard family to win at Indianapolis, in any event, held at the track. Paul also joins Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, David Ragan, and Marcos Ambrose as first-time winners in the 2011 season.
At Richmond in September 2011, Menard and RCR became the center of controversy when Menard spun in the waning laps. Was believed that his accident was intentional, intended to assist his teammate Kevin Harvick who later won the race against Jeff Gordon who would have won if the caution did not come out.
Menard in 2012 did not perform well. Paul crashed during the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega and went winless for 2012. He slightly improved when he was briefly in Chase for the Sprint Cup contention in 2013. A blown engine early in the Coke Zero 400 caused him to be knocked out of the Chase with a few races left before the Chase began. In the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400, Menard’s tire exploded upon stopping in his pit box; Menard stated, “About a lap later, they told me I was on fire. I lost my brakes and the damned wheel blew right off.”
He won the Nationwide race at Michigan for his first NNS win since 2006 in June 2014. Menard won after Joey Logano blew a tire with 4 laps to go. Sprint Unlimited at Daytona in the 2015, Menard won the pole for the race by drawing. Paul led the first 7 laps until he was involved in a big wreck, finishing 21st. That race was later won by Matt Kenseth. Menard later finished in the top 5 in Auto Club and in Talladega and got 5 top 10s and 22 top 15s.
Paul made the Chase for the first time in his career mostly because he had only one DNF (a blown engine in Texas), grabbing the final spot by 17 points over Aric Almirola. Paul was eliminated in the first round, but with Matt Kenseth’s two-race suspension, Menard passed him and finished in a career-best of 14th in the standings. In August 2015, Menard took the checkers at Road America, holding off Blake Koch and Ryan Blaney for his third Xfinity Series win.
Aside from the 2011 Brickyard 400, the win was Menard’s biggest of his career, as Menard had grown up a few miles from the track. Sprint Unlimited in the 2016, Menard finished in a career best 3rd place, after surviving several big ones. Start of 2017, Menard survived wrecks in the Daytona 500 and brought home a 5th place finish after a few cars ran out of gas.
The next week at Atlanta, he finished 25th. Menard scored his 2nd top 10 of the year in the GEICO 500 at Talladega, finishing 9th. In the Coke Zero 400, Menard ran up front late and came home 3rd, barely behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Clint Bowyer. Menard survived most of the carnage in the Brickyard 400 but crashed in a late big one.
Menard was announced on July 26, 2017 as the replacement for Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford starting in 2018. Almost 10 years to the day on June 30, 2018, Menard got his second ever Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole Award at Chicagoland Speedway for the Overton’s 400.
July 12, 2019, Menard announced he had a contract for the 2020 season, indicating that he plans to stay with Wood Brothers.
What is Paul Menard Age?
He was born on August 21, 1980. He is aged 38 years as of 2018.
Who’re Paul Menard Family Members?
Who’re Paul Menard Children?
Who’s Paul Menard Wife?
Paul married Jennifer in 2012. The two currently reside in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area with his wife Jennifer. The couple had their first child, a daughter, on March 18, 2014. The family later welcomed another child. Paul is a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and the son of Menards founder John Menard Jr. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, majoring in business.
What is Paul Menard Net Worth 2020?
Paul has a net worth of $30 million.
Paul Menard Social Media Accounts
Facebook @
Instagram: @
Twitter: @
Thank you for your articles. They are very helpful to me. Can you help me with something?