NASCAR veteran driver Paul Menard will return to NASCAR for the first time since 2019 to drive a fifth entry for Thorsport Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the team announced May 17.
Menard will pilot the No. 66 Mattei Toyota Tundra at the inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas on May 22.
Menard ran in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2003 to 2019, winning the 2011 Brickyard 400 and making a playoff appearance in 2015. The Eau Claire, Wis., native also has three Xfinity Series wins to his credit in 220 starts.
Menard retired from full-time competition following the 2019 season.
We'd like to welcome @MatteiGroup and Paul Menard for this weekend's @NASCAR_Trucks race at @NASCARatCOTA !
Click ? https://t.co/0qCd53PZra pic.twitter.com/t2Y3GgoF2B
— ThorSport Racing (@ThorSportRacing) May 17, 2021
The 40-year-old driver will be making his first Truck start since 2007 and his seventh career start. He recorded one top 10 in 2003 at Kansas Speedway.
“I appreciate Duke and Rhonda giving me this opportunity to get back into a truck, while working with Bud Haefele again” Menard said in a statement. “COTA is a new track for the series and one that I have never been to before, so we’ll all be on relatively equal footing. I’ll have 50 minutes to learn the track and knock the rust off and am certainly looking forward to the challenge of trying to add my name to the list of winners in all three national series.”
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.