Paul Menard to team up with crew chief Larry Carter, drive No. 98 at Yates Racing
Yates Racing announced Tuesday that Paul Menard will drive car No. 98 for the team in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Veteran crew chief Larry Carter, who spent all of 2008 with Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray, will move to Yates to serve as Menard's crew chief.
Menard, who announced late in the 2008 season that he would join Yates in 2009, has spent his first two full seasons in the Cup series with Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Menard finished 26th in this past season's standings, while earning his first career pole at Daytona International Speedway and his first career top-five finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I’m really looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with Yates Racing and behind the wheel of the No. 98 Ford Fusion,” said Menard, who drove a No. 15 Chevrolet at DEI. “The No. 98 has been to victory lane 25 times, many times with Marvin Panch and Lee Roy Yarbrough. It’s exciting to be starting with [co-owners] Max [Jones] and Doug [Yates] and having Larry Carter on the box making the calls.
"I’ve seen how solid the Roush/Yates engine program has been over the years, and I know we can have a really good season in the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion.”
As previously announced, Menard will be bringing his family's Menards sponsorship with him from DEI to Yates.
“Paul is a focused and determined young man. His efforts combined with the strength and compatibility of our sponsor partners, and with Ford, will take him to new levels,” Jones said.
