Congrats to Paul Menard on his victory

[Deleted]

Okay, I know it is a Nascar victory and NOT open wheel (and it wasn't even powered by a V-6 motor either). But it was admittedly pretty dang cool to see a bright yellow Menards painted car enter victory lane at this year's Brickyard 400. It seemed almost like vindication that Paul won his first race at Indy. I believe John Menard did enjoy the fruits of at least one Indycar victory as didn't Eddie Cheever's car in which he won the 500 have Menards sponsorship on it?

Also, didn't Gary Bettenhausen try to qualify a Menards marked Chevy Lumina at the first Brickyard 400? As I recall, it didn't make the field, but it was just as obnoxiously bright as the Indy rides were at the time.

[2lapsdown]

I'm a Gordon fan and I thought Jeff had number 5. But judging by the reaction among his fellow drivers and the Indy community in general, Paul's win was pretty popular.

John

[Chris]

Good to see the Menard name in the winners column after some 20 years of trying at Indy, even if was NASCAR... Chris

[Art Laski]

Jul 31, 2011 23:40:43 GMT -5 @jmchladek said:

I believe John Menard did enjoy the fruits of at least one Indycar victory as didn't Eddie Cheever's car in which he won the 500 have Menards sponsorship on it?

No, Cheever won with the Rachel's Potato Chips livery, so this was Menard's first trip to Victory Lane there.

[indycals]

Actually Cheever did have Menards on his car as an associate sponsor.

[Art Laski]

I stand corrected by the man who would definitely know!!!!

[clm1545]

Aug 1, 2011 15:00:01 GMT -5 indycals said:

Actually Cheever did have Menards on his car as an associate sponsor.

Menards sold the potato chips for quite a while, and on the boxes the vendor was listed as Cheever Dist, so I guess Eddie did make some money from John Menard. I watched some of the Brickyard,and I could not believe how small the crowd was.
Take Care
Craig

[professor]

Yes, some grandstands were completely empty!

[Deleted]

Indy is not a NASCAR venue no matter how folks want to say otherwise. Limited sight lines kill this race. IF this race was added to the chase in the fall it MIGHT bring back the numbers it had at inception. Most the NASCAR fans who I know avoid this race...and I am only 48 miles north of the track.

[2lapsdown]

I go every year as I've been a Gordon fan since I watched him race at IRP when he was 17. Those stands were closed off and fans were given seats in other stands in order to fill them up. If they hadn't done that the stands all over the Speedway would have looked pretty sparsely filled. Seems funny they'll do that but won't lower ticket prices across the board. I have great seats so I don't think it's the sight lines that are to blame. The track layout isn't conducive to good stock car racing, add to that the tire fiasco a few years ago, ticket, gas and concession prices, and the heat and you get a poor crowd.