Menard on track for best season yet

Maybe Paul Menard was on to something when he decided to join the ranks of Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and perhaps Kevin Harvick and compete as a full-time driver in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series this year. Granted, the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season is only five races old, but Menard is off to his best Cup start yet, currently occupying the ninth position in the championship points standings.

After five races, Menard already has a top-five to his credit, a fifth-place finish in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He's yet to finish outside the top-20 in 2010, posting finishes of 13th, 18th, 17th, fifth, and 18th (in that order) so far.

"We've had top-20 cars in all four races this year, and we've been able to capitalize on it," Menard said prior to last weekend's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. "I think sometimes that's the difference between being 30th in points and ninth."

Menard kept that top-20 string going at Bristol with an 18th-place finish to remain in the top-10 in points.

Read the rest of this article at Cup Series News & Notes.

Photo of Paul Menard courtesy of NASCAR Media.