CREW CHIEF: Justin Alexander
TEAM: Richard Childress Racing
POINTS: 14th
WINS: 0
Top 5s: Two
TOP 10s: Five
LAPS LED: 10
POLES: 0
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Despite having an overall worse season than he had in 2014, Menard qualified for his first Chase for the Sprint Cup … Helped put two RCR cars in Chase … Only top-five finishes came at Auto Club Speedway and Talladega I … Improved his average finish to 17.1 from 17.9 … Only NASCAR win came in the Xfinity Series race at Road America, his home track.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Eliminated after the first round of the Chase after never finished better than 15th in three races … Has not won a race in the four years since winning the Brickyard 400 … Recorded one DNF (engine, Texas I) … Fewest top-five finishes since 2012 (1) … Fewest top-10 finishes since 2009 (0).
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2016: Menard will return with RCR and will look to earn his second career win and RCR’s first since 2013.