Paul Menard and the Master Techs/Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center Ford Mustang are set to start Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway from the 9th position.
Menard originally earned the 10th starting spot but advanced one position following post-qualifying tech. In Friday’s afternoon session, Ford Mustangs accounted for an impressive six of the top nine starting positions.
It was his sixth top-10 qualifying effort of the season.
Menard picked up speed from opening practice, where he turned a best lap of 188.344 mph on his seventh and final lap of that session. That speed landed him 10th on the speed chart.
Menard said he was pleased for his team to be able to increase his speed from practice when he went out to qualify.
“We picked up a little bit from practice which is kind of hard to do at a speedway race which this kind of falls into this category because all of your fluids and everything are so cold,” he said. “In practice everything gets hot. To pick up I am proud of my guys for dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, and it is a pretty good starting spot for Sunday.”
Friday’s practice session was mostly devoted to fine-tuning the Master Techs/Quick Lane Mustang for qualifying, and there will be two practices on Saturday, which will give the team more opportunities to perfect their race set-up.
The Consumers Energy 400 is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday with TV coverage on NBCSN.
WBR PR
