Childress to Field Fourth Cup Team in 2011: Menard Tapped to Drive

At the conclusion of the 2009 season Richard Childress did what any team owner hates to do. He shut down his fourth Sprint Cup Series team due to lack of sponsorship and cut driver Casey Mears loose. With Jack Daniels Whiskey pulling out of NASCAR and few sponsorship opportunities on the horizon there was little else he could do.

Today Richard Childress Racing announced that the fourth team will be back for 2011 and that Eau Claire, Wisconsin native Paul Menard would be the driver. Along with his driving abilities Menard comes with a built in sponsorship from Menards, a large home improvement retail chain that operates throughout the Midwest.

In his forth season as a driver Menard has shown much improvement according to Childress who on Wednesday said,"Paul has developed into a very good race car driver, and we see his move to RCR next year as an opportunity for him to continue that progress. At the same time, we feel Paul will contribute to the continued progress and success of RCR. Paul will fit in perfectly with our team of drivers at RCR, and they are all looking forward to working with him. We're also very proud to be aligned with Menards, one of the great family business success stories in American history."

Menard will join Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick at RCR in 2011 and while we don’t yet know what number Menard will be driving we do know that it’s a multi-year deal.

To learn more about the move check out Richard Childress Racing.

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The Biggest Movers and Shakers of the Kobalt Tools 500

Okay this is a new article series I am writing bout those names not mentioned that much during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. Each race their is someone good or bad who's name is mentioned and we often think to ourselves,"hey now, that's a new name."

I could go on for hours on all the events at the Kobalt Tools 500 in "Hotlanta," but that's already been done. Let's talk about the unbelievably great race for Richard Petty Motorsports.

This is exactly what Richard Petty needs to prove he made good decisions with his choice of drivers. The No.9 Budweiser Ford of Kasey Kahne, the No.98 Menard's Ford of Paul Menard and the No.43 Best Buy Ford of AJ Allmendinger. RPM drivers finished 4th, 5th and 6th, which is phenomenal.

Let's look back at Paul Menard's stats a bit. First off Menard finished 5th at this past race. He has only had two career top five finishes and three career top ten finishes. Less than par stats. Menard finished a very positive 13th at the 2010 Daytona 500. He finished 18th in Fontana and 17th in Las Vegas. Menard is consistent with his finishes and a top five is a definite confidence booster for this team. Now lets see a win Mr. Menard.

Let's look at AJ Allmendinger. He finished 6th at this past race. A very positive race finish for the NO.43. He also has only had one career top five finish but has had nine career top tens. He unfortunately finished 32nd at the 2010 Daytona 500, followed by 25th at Fontana. He also finished 25th in Las Vegas. Allmendinger however has shown he can be a forced to be reckoned with.

I will give a shout out to Mr. Kasey Kahne, but he isn't really a mover and shaker cause well his name is more known. But great job to him for a fantastic racing season so far.

Oh and before I forget a definite shout out once again to Scott Speed for a fantastic top ten finish. Leading races and finishing top ten will get that No.82 Red Bull toyota out there in the open!

So there you have it, the movers, shakers, and those names we don't often hear of that often at the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta.

Stay tuned for the Bristol movers and shakers.

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