Kevin Lepage
2007 Ride: No. 37 Front Row Motorsports Dodge
2007 Primary Sponsor: None
2007 Owner: Bob Jenkins
2007 Crew Chief: Scott Eggleston
Stats: 2 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 64th in points
High Point: In the 17th race of the season, the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire, Lepage achieved his best start and finish of a difficult 2007. Lepage timed his way into the race, putting down a lap of 30.125 seconds and a speed of 126.433 mph to place 37th on the starting grid. Although he ended the day six laps behind the leader in 35th, Lepage finished better than some more notable and better-funded competitors to bring in a $69,500 payout.
Low Point: Front Row Motorsports was outside the Top 35 in owner points, and Lepage had to qualify his way into the field every week this season – no easy task. In the end, he led all drivers in DNQs for 2007 as a result, failing to qualify for 25 races.
Summary: Along with the aforementioned Lenox Industrial Tools 300, Lepage competed in just one other event. After starting the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington in 43rd place, Lepage was looking to gain positions not only on the track, but also in the standings, which would give the team a better chance to make races. However, it was not meant to be. Lepage finished 42nd in his 200th career Cup start, completing just 127 laps before breaking the transmission in the No. 37 Dodge.
That was the story of his season; undermanned and underfunded, FRM continued to miss out on almost all events it attempted to qualify for, eventually scaling back from full-time to part-time over the last third of the season after so many DNQs.
2008 Outlook: Front Row announced back in November they will be competing in the Nationwide Series next year with driver Eric McClure, who brings sponsorship from Hefty along with him. The question for Lepage is whether the team will continue to race in the Sprint Cup Series; right now, Hefty is pegged to only run two total Cup races with sponsorship of McClure, with no sponsorship lined up for Lepage as of yet.
2006 Frontstretch Grade: D
2007 Grade: F
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