Paul Menard has raced in several series – including the ARCA RE/MAX Series and the SCCA Trans Am Series – until his NASCAR debut when joining Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet on July 24, 2004 at New Hampshire International Speedway in the Siemens 200 Nationwide Series race.
From there, the highlights started amounting as his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win came in 2006 at The Milwaukee Mile. He scored his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series pole at Kansas Speedway.
Menard made his first Cup Series start on a superspeedway in 2006. He previously made two series starts on the road course at Watkins Glen International in 2003 and 2005, finishing 29th and 27th, respectively.
After racing part time in 2003 and 2004, Menard began running full time in the Nationwide Series starting in 2005. In two years, Menard scored one victory, 13 top fives and 31 top-10s.
Those results were impressive enough that he was announced to be the full time driver of the No. 15 Menard's Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series for DEI starting in 2007. He lined up alongside Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2007 marked Menard's first full-time effort in the Cup Series, but he failed to qualify for six of the races. He failed to score a top-10 finish and came in 34th position in point standings.
The following year, Menard raced in all 36 of the Sprint Cup Series races. He finished 26th in the point standings, while earning his first career pole at Daytona International Speedway and his first career top-five finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
Yates Racing officially announced Paul Menard as the driver of the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion in 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.
Menard drove for Yates racing in 2009 and then joined Richard Petty Motorsports after the teams announced their merger. He finished out the season 31st in points.
