Paul Menard’s promising start to the Monster Energy Open was short-lived as he experienced a loose condition with his No. 21 Menards/Knauf Insulation Mustang on the first lap, brushed the wall in Turns Three and Four while running in fifth place and never really recovered.
He started seventh and finished seventh in the final 10-lap Stage, and with only the Stage winners advancing to the Monster Energy All-Star Race, Menard and the No. 21 team were done for the night.
“We were just so tight [Friday] in practice I felt like we made the tires mad in practice, so we freed it up a lot for [Saturday] and just over-adjusted,” Menard said. “It just snapped on me in [Turns] Three and Four and then just had to play catch-up with crash damage after that, which is never easy.”
Menard and the Menards/Knauf Insulation team will return to Charlotte Motor Speedway next week for the Cup circuit’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600.
WBR PR
