Cary Menard

Cary Menard, NHRA’s then vice president of technical administration and legal affairs and a longtime drag racing enthusiast, was inducted into the NHRA South Central Division Hall of Fame in 2003 during the division’s annual awards banquet.
Menard has been involved with drag racing since age 11. The New Orleans native’s first job, to sweep the starting line and clean up oil that dripped on the racing surface, paid him five dollars a day. Since then, he has been involved with NHRA on a variety of levels, including terms in the timing-slip booth, in the staging lanes, and in the announcers’ booth.
“It is truly an honor and a privilege to be inducted into the Division 4 Hall of Fame,” said Menard. “There are many great individuals who have been enshrined in the South Central Division’s Hall of Fame, and I am very humbled to have my name, laurels, and career immortalized alongside those individuals. I am proud that I have been able to dedicate the majority of my life to the overall growth and support of the fastest motorsport on the planet: NHRA Championship Drag Racing.”
Menard joined NHRA’s pit control crew at the 1970 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, then worked as a member of NHRA’s esteemed Safety Safari from 1971 to 1976. He joined the NHRA national event announcing staff at the 1976 Cajun Nationals, held at his home track in Baton Rouge, La. For the next 18 years, Menard toured the country with Bernie Partridge, Dave McClelland, and Steve Evans, a quartet of NHRA’s most recognized voices at national events.
Menard couldn’t resist the temptation of quarter-mile competition, so he obtained an NHRA license in 1980 and competed at the local level in the Super Pro E.T. rear– engine dragster category for the next several years. In 1986, Menard slipped behind the wheel of a Top Alcohol Dragster, running a fuel-injected, nitro-burning car at select divisional and national events until 1991.
Also in 1980, Menard earned a law degree from Louisiana State University, which enabled him to make his career move to NHRA headquarters in 1991. As vice president of business and legal affairs, Menard created NHRA’s first legal department. His responsibilities with the organization included overseeing litigation and all legal matters for NHRA, directing operations at NHRA’s five company-owned and -operated racetracks, supervising insurance and risk-management programs, and establishing NHRA’s first substance-abuse testing program. In addition to handling NHRA’s legal activities, Menard oversaw NHRA’s technical department and rules making for all of NHRA’s racing series.