From the David Newton and ESPN: Crew chief Slugger Labbe was screaming wildly over the team radio late Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and congratulations were buzzing in from everywhere when in a soft, almost monotone voice came the words, "Dad, this one's for you."
If you've followed Paul Menard's career, you might smile.
Or shed a tear.
Menard has spent a lifetime being criticized for having a billionaire father advance his career by sponsoring the cars he drives. It never was worse than in 2007 when two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart said, "You can have your father buy a ride and write [Dale Earnhardt Inc.] a big check, but you can't buy talent."
Well, this so-called no-talent driver is the 2011 Brickyard 400 winner.
John Menard didn't write a check to get his son into Victory Lane for the first time on this hot, muggy day. Paul earned it by conserving fuel when Labbe said to and then gunning it when Labbe said "race for your life" with two laps remaining and four-time Brickyard 400 champion Jeff Gordon closing fast.
He did it by ignoring all the criticism he's taken during his 30 years and believing he could do what nobody else did.
"It's like redemption," a sweat-soaked and emotionally drained John said from Victory Lane.
Ah, Victory Lane at Indianapolis. It's a place the Menard family has longed to be since John started bringing Indy cars here more than 30 years ago only to see engine failures and other heartbreaks deprive him of a win.
Probably the last person anyone expected to get the family here was Paul.
But there stood John on the hallowed checkered ground, so proud he could barely talk. There stood Paul, almost stunned in disbelief.
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/6820872/nascar-paul-menard-makes-family-proud-brickyard-win
Menard is one of the good guy/under dog drivers in NASCAR, in the same mold as Trvor Bayne and Regan Smith. He is quiet, goes out there and races hard each week, doesn't cause accidents nor get into fights with other drivers.
Another Wisconsin driver does good.
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