I don’t care how you describe Menard’s career. He will be forever known as a Brickyard 400 winner

I remeber being super excited for Menard! Not only did he play the fuel milage perfect, he had one of the GOAT's chasing him down. Good race! Great day for Menard!

Menard was a bit notorious for running mid-pack. As mentioned, his three biggest qualities were the sponsorship money he brought, the fact he was well known to keep his cars in one piece, and that he would regularly get top fives and tens that often went unnoticed. His win here was nothing short of a massive upset, but just another reason that makes me feel like 2011 was one of the greatest NASCAR seasons of all time.

This was a nice feel good win. As a Gordon fan I wasnt even complaining. Paul just went out and did his best every week for years and finally got his.

Paul Menard was a pay driver... but he was the one who could bring the car home in one piece, and not cause too much controversy while doing so. If all pay drivers were like him, they wouldn't be so frowned on. And he gave his dad a win at a track he had cars sponsored for years and a win his dad deserved too have.

Teams liked to have Menard because he never tore up equipment plus he had his family sponsor him

I always liked Paul. Always quietly performing, was certainly a much better driver than most people gave him credit for. He was just never given top class equipment nor was he one of the best. But if I was a team owner, I’d have picked him over 99% of drivers.

I was watching this race while on vacation with my folks in Canada. Paul wasn't a very good driver for the first year or so of his career, but he was one who learned from mistakes and got better over time. He had his family's money behind him for sure, which is likely why he stayed long enough to get better, but he went from pay driver to a solid points runner all the same. That win was a fun one, as I watched his dad's cars run at Indy when I was young.

I Remember That Race! It Was My 2nd Full Time Season Of Watching NASCAR. Menard Was One Of 5 First Time Winners Of 2011, The Other 4 Were Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, David Ragan, & Marcos Ambrose.

Looking back at comments from the time people thought this was a fluke win and Menar didn't desere it. He....absolutely, point blank, did. He won the race on merit an strategy, an held off a goat to do so

Paul is still a great driver. I just watched him win his 3rd SCCA Trans Am race of this season in a dominating manner, and is the current points leader.

I remember this race. I was happy for Paul. I always thought he was a likable guy. I remember another race in the Busch Series where he beat Harvick, an impressive win imo because Harvick was dominant that year.

Menhard quite often went unnoticed, but it was one of the qualities that made him a great mid-pack driver. You'd never notice him having a bad day, because he always stayed out of the way and didn't wreck his car when he was having a bad day. It was almost just as common to not notice when he'd finish top 10 or top 5, because Paul himself was almost never involved in on track drama en route to one of his good runs

I always liked Paul. I remember one time while he was driving for DEI he made a random appearance at Robby Gordon's merch trailer at the Coke 600 when Robby was running his own #7 team and was sponsored by Menards. I used to work at a gas station in Cornelius, NC where a lot of driver's live, station was actually right by Michael Waltrip Racing, and Paul came in one time and bought a Full Throttle energy drink back when those were a thing lol. Say what you will about him; was he a pay driver? Absolutely, but that cash kept people employed and teams operating. And he was the best kind of pay driver you can ask for. Consistent, competent and didn't tear up equipment.

I wanted Jeff Gordon to win the Brickyard 400 that day, but I liked Paul Menard he drove a great race, and saved alot of gas too.

Your videos are awesome man

"30 Year Old Paul Menard, his Family with Such a Long Racing History in Indianapolis, They'll Kiss the Bricks Together Now !! Paul Menard, wins the Brickyard 400 !!" - Allen Bestwick

MAN that crowd is pretty massive! the empty grandstands kinda make it seem like its not lol

"never tore up equipment" *smacks wall during celebration donuts*

Paul Menard is the greatest mediocre driver in NASCAR history.

I was a huge fan of Paul Menard from the beginning. I wonder what he’s doing with himself these days

did he even celebrate on the radio??? I've heard he had a reputation for being stoic but jeez, you just won the race!

A lot of thoughts on this video...I remembered watching Paul race Legends at Raceway Park, and Elko in MN when he was just starting out.. Plus geez, back in this era of NASCAR, look at the field of drivers ..Amazing.

I got to sit in this race car, it made some rounds at Menards in Omaha NE, I sat in it and they moved the car slightly, so I can say I sat in the car while it moved lol. I still have the diecast I bought from that day

Could you do a look back at his National/xfinity wins?

watching this makes me want to have NSACAR go back to the quad oval and not the road course.

Nice!

Fun fact paul is the only driver to get his first career win in the brickyard 400

I was cheering for Menard and Gordon.. Happy Menard won but sad Jeff lost

You should do a video either the 2008 brickyard 400, the 2021 indy rc race, or the 2022 coke 600

The CoT skew always looked so funny to me. Looks like they are drifting out of the corners.

The man that never smiled can finally smile by winning a crown 👑 Jewel 💎. Do you want the oval back next season?

Which fuel mileage win at Indy is better: Paul Menard or Alex Rossi?

My mom’s cousin is Paul Menard

My request for Ricky Rudd vs Kevin Harvick brawl at Richmond Night Race of Nascar Cup Series playoffs 2003 season.

I was at that race

Dang, with everyone doing videos about the Brickyard 400, and its possible return next year, that tells me you guys REALLY want it back But let's just hope it's not a 2008 or 2020 Brickyard 400 situation

@Demise90 First, I'm so glad I found your channel. I adore your content. But I have to ask... why such low resolution videos? Dying for some higher resolution videos. At least 1080p, ya know? Is there some reason why you can't go any higher than 720p? Thanks again for the awesome videos, keep on putting out great stuff, regardless of pixel counts.

Not sure if you can but if you are able to would you be willing to cover Ambrose in V8SC in 2003-2004, he was an absolute beast and it set the stage for his NASCAR career very very well, but not a lot of people outside Australia knew how good he was. He took the AU Falcon, which was the far worse of the two cars, to performances it didn't deserve and when the BA Falcon came in he was at the right team but didn't utterly dominate every race of every round. Plus the 03-04 V8SC there is something magic about the beautiful paint schemes, the racing and the broadcasts, that intro and theme tune are timeless, plus it kept the late, great, Barry Sheene in with a clip of him as wellr

Please do a vid on the Bubba Wallace/Kyle Larson Ordeal in the 2022 South Point 400 at Las Vegas as well as the exact same fiasco between Chase Elliott (Kyle Larson's Teammate) and Denny Hamlin (Bubba Wallace's Car Owner) 7 months later in the 2023 Coca-Cola 600

This was fixed IMO. Whatever.