It was the only blemish on an otherwise solid day for Menard, 33, crew chief Slugger Labbe and the No. 27 team.
 
Although he qualified 21st two days earlier, Menard was just outside the top-10 by lap 80 of the 267-lap event. Following a round of green-flag stops, he had cracked the top 10 and was running ninth.
 
He was able to remain inside the top 10 for the remainder of the race, eventually working his way into the lead when he passed defending series champion Jimmie Johnson on lap 199.
 
"I felt like we had definitely a top-three car and at times the best car," Menard, the 2011 winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said. "It was cool going up and passing Jimmie for the lead and passing him for a few laps, but I’m just proud of my guys. We’re clicking really well. … Our pit crew’s pit stops were awesome."
 
Labbe said the team "had an inclination which way the track was going to go" and made the necessary adjustments prior to the race.
 
"It was a really, really fast car," Labbe said. "We got four tires there when some people got two (on an earlier stop), and were able to pass a lot of cars. We made two small adjustments all day long. The balance of the car was really good.
 
"I’m just really proud of Paul. That’s three top-10s in a row here for him. With everything going on back at home with his wife having a baby, he was able to stay plugged in and focused and be there at the end."
 
Menard and his wife, Jennifer, are expecting their first child.
 
"The due date is Tuesday," he said.  "… Matt Crafton is my backup (driver) and he really wants to get in the car, so I told Jennifer if it’s important, call Matt because he’s sure as hell going to tell me. I didn’t get the call, though, so I guess everything is good."
 
Menard moved up to 18th in the point standings with his first top-10 finish of the season. He finished 32nd in the season-opening Daytona 500 and 23rd a week later at Phoenix.
 
RCR teammates Ryan Newman and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Dillon finished seventh and 16th, respectively.
 
The organization’s engineering staff "has beat this horse to death," Labbe said of the intermediate-track program. Sunday’s race was the first on a 1.5-mile track with NASCAR’s new rule package.
 
"The seven-post and testing they have done … there’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of effort," he said.
 
"And I’ve got to be honest with you, we’ve taken some grief for taking on some technical alliances at RCR, but there are some things that the 13 (of Casey Mears) did that helped us and things the 47 (of AJ Allmendinger) did this week that helped us to have a fast race car.
 
"People can say what they want, but there’s strength in numbers."
 
RCR has technical alliances with Germain Racing, which fields cars for Mears, JTG Daugherty, which fields entries for Allmendinger, and Furniture Row Racing, which fields entries for Martin Truex Jr.
 
"We’ve got a good baseline for intermediate stuff, we’ve just got to work on our short track stuff more," Menard said. "But overall, I’m proud of everybody. Richard (Childress, team owner) has put a big investment in the off‑season hiring some new people, and I feel like our engineering and support staff is awesome."

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Because teams aren’t allowed to cool their engines through mechanical means while qualifying is taking place, they return to the track after making a qualifying attempt at a reduced speed to force air through the front of the car.

"We’re going to sit for a while, field all the questions and see what happens," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition and racing development, said Saturday morning. "It’s a very small snapshot of qualifying so far."

Pemberton said officials had spoken with drivers that voiced concerns about the process. "We’re listening," he said. "We told them it’s too early to tell (if tweaks are necessary).

"Other than the cars running around on the bottom and you had one or two complain that it was a close call … again, we’re listening to them, but we want to take a better snapshot of it."

Under the new "knockout" qualifying format, all teams have 25 minutes to make one or more qualifying attempts. On tracks greater than 1.25 miles, the fastest 24 advance to a 10-minute second round, and the fastest 12 from that round advance to a third and final round of five minutes.

On tracks less than 1.25 miles, only two segments are used to determine the starting lineup — all cars in the first round (which lasts 30 minutes), with the fastest 12 advancing to the final 10-minute session.

There is a five-minute break between each round and teams are only allowed to make minor changes to the cars in between rounds.

"Next weekend (at Bristol) is going to be crazy," said Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who will start on the pole at Las Vegas. "At least this weekend we’ve got the apron, so we can run the apron all the way around here to cool them off. But next weekend we really don’t. You’ve got a half-mile track and you’re going to have all these cars out there at the same time."

Teams begin qualifying with the front of their cars taped up to create additional downforce. After making their initial run, they return to pit road to remove the tape in an effort to help cool the engine.

The closest incident Friday came when Logano nearly got into the slowing entry of Marcos Ambrose during the first qualifying segment. But, as Pemberton noted, Ambrose slowed quickly in front of Logano due to a water leak.

"It had nothing to do with a car (riding around on the bottom)," he said.

Pemberton said the delay in allowing Kasey Kahne‘s Hendrick Motorsports team to change a flat tire during qualifying was a result of the qualifying rules in place under the new format.

Kahne’s team was not allowed to change the flat, which occurred as he was cooling his car’s engine, until the completion of the round because he had already posted an official time during the segment.

"You can only change a flat tire during the break," Pemberton said. "It depends on whether you get laps on the board or not."

If a team has a flat before posting an official time, officials will allow the team to replace the tire at that time. Once a time had been recorded, teams can only make the change during the next break in between rounds.

"Everybody’s working through this stuff," Pemberton said. "There’s a lot that’s new, new to our officials, new to the race teams. Anytime there is a question, officials are told to call the tower (for confirmation)." 

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