By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Paul Menard entered Michigan International Speedway with a 30-point deficit to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the final spot in the current playoff grid.
He emerged within just four points of the field of 16.
Menard benefitted from a mid-race strategy call from his Wood Brothers Racing (WBR) team and held on to his track position until rain approached to secure a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
The result was the Wisconsinite’s first top five with WBR, coming 11 month after his most recent top five with Richard Childress Racing at Daytona International Speedway in July 2017.
While he ended the day with a season-best result, Menard’s day was far from an easy one. The 38-year-old took the green flag in 15th after a disappointing qualifying run on Friday. While his Ford companions at Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske dominated early on – claiming the top seven positions through the opening laps of Stage 1 – Menard struggled, dropping outside of the top 20 in the opening 10 laps.
A Lap 25 competition caution due to early afternoon rain allowed Menard to bring the No. 21 Ford to his WBR crew for adjustments, but the veteran was caught speeding on pit road during the pit sequence and forced to restart at the tail end of the field.
Menard battled his way through the field to finish Stage 1 in 16th after the penalty, but when the field rolled back off for Stage 2 he suffered damaged after a run-in with Daniel Suarez. The damage forced Menard to pit while pit road was close, resulting in yet another trip to the tail end of the field.
The issues compounded to trap Menard outside of contention on pace alone, but it gave his WBR team incentive to roll the dice and try their hand at pit strategy.
When Kyle Larson spun to bring out a caution on Lap 85, they did just that.
The rest of the lead-lap cars came to pit road after the crash, but Menard stayed out and inherited the lead. He quickly lost the top spot to Kevin Harvick on the ensuing restart, but in cleaner air Menard was able to improve his lap times and maintain his track position.
No other cautions flew until the end of Stage 2 on after Lap 120, which posed a challenge for Menard on fuel mileage. But the 2011 Brickyard 400 winner was able to nurse his machine through the stage and finish fifth.
Menard emerged in eighth after pit stops following the end of Stage 2. The race restarted on Lap 126, and though the field completed just four more green-flag laps before the final caution came out for a spinning Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 129, Menard managed to rise up to fifth.
Rain brought the field to a halt on Lap 133, and NASCAR quickly called the race shortly thereafter, securing Menard’s solid day.
“We had a good car today and all weekend,” Menard said. “We didn’t qualify as good as we would have hoped and went from the back and got put to the back twice. Once I sped and another time we got door slammed.
“I am really proud of my guys. We made a gutsy call to stay out on no tires with a bunch of laps on it. Gutsy call. We had the car to hold on though, so it worked out.”
Menard sits in a tie with Stenhouse for 16th in the standings leaving Michigan, four points behind Alex Bowman on the current playoff bubble with 11 races remaining in the regular season.