LONG POND, Pa.?Paul Menard backed up his victory in last week?s Brickyard 400 with a strong 10th-place run in Sunday?s Good Sam RV 500 at Pocono Raceway, but that wasn?t enough to keep him in a Chase-eligible position.
The quirks of NASCAR?s new wild-card system, which rewards the two drivers in positions 11-20 with the most victories, elevated race winner Brad Keselowski (18th in the standings with two victories) over Menard (14th place with one victory) for a provisional Chase spot.
It didn?t help Menard?s cause that Denny Hamlin (11th with one victory) had trouble late in the race and finished 15th, failing to crack the top 10 in the standings.
Though circumstances conspired against Menard, he was pleased with his result.
?It was a good follow-up to last week?s win,? he said. ?We fought hard for this top-10 finish. The No. 27 pit crew gained us some spots on that stop coming off the red flag (after a rain delay) that really helped out a bunch.
?The race for the final Chase spots is shaping up to be really competitive, and we're fighting hard to put ourselves in position to take one of those spots.?
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