Lepage's 'win' is 9th place

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The high fives and back slaps that took place in front of Kevin Lepage's white hauler last night seemed highly unlikely for someone who, several hours earlier, was berating himself for being a "stupid driver."

Lepage started yesterday's Daytona 500 in the eighth position, but the Shelburne, Vt., native soon fell back into the pack, and after a caution on Lap 85, he entered pit road for an adjustment, fuel, and tires. First, he had to wait for cars to move out of the way before he merged back onto pit road. Then, as he tried to slide his Dodge back into gear and pull out of his pit box, he stalled the car.

By the time his crew refired the No. 37 Charger, the lead pack had passed Lepage, putting him a lap down and seemingly ending his chances at a respectable finish.

But by the time Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch completed their end-of-race tango and the smoke had cleared from the late-race cautions, Lepage not only had gotten his lap back but recorded a ninth-place finish, sandwiched between Sterling Marlin and Rusty Wallace, two drivers from multicar, multimillion-dollar operations. Lepage's one-car R&J Racing team has nine full-time employees.

"We didn't win the Daytona 500, but this felt like a win," said the 42-year-old Lepage.

Three days earlier, Lepage scored a third-place finish in one of the Gatorade Duel 150 qualifiers, becoming one of eight drivers to qualify for yesterday's 500 by doing so. But two weeks ago, he didn't even know that he'd have a lead sponsor for the race. Last Saturday, the team scored a one-race sponsorship from Patron Tequila, and Lepage does not have a primary sponsor for this Sunday's California race. Team executives, however, are negotiating with candidates, and Patron may sign on for additional races, while Lepage will compete at Talladega later this year regardless of sponsorship.

But after the race, standing before his white hauler -- virtually every other hauler in the Nextel Cup garage boasts the eye-catching colors of a lead sponsor -- Lepage pledged to attempt a replication of yesterday's successful run in California.

"What a way to start the '05 season," Lepage said. "The only way it could help it [was if] somebody would step up to the plate and come up with a sponsorship. We're in the top 10 in points, so let's try and run for the Nextel Cup."

Lepage, who thought he had a top-10 car entering the race, quickly discovered that his Dodge was too tight, pushing toward the wall instead of running freely around the track. During each caution, the team would make adjustments to make the car looser, but then came the pit-road stall.

Crew chief Billy Poindexter, however, didn't panic. He recognized that there weren't many cars a lap down, giving his team a chance to get back. Lepage eventually got his lap back, and by darting around several wrecks, he quickly moved up. After the late caution that involved eight cars, Lepage restarted in 16th place.

"Kevin's the man," Poindexter said. "He's a veteran driver who knows how to take care of equipment. That's what I enjoy about working with him."

Lepage even thought he had a shot at a top-5 finish, but said that the final caution snuffed out his chances of challenging for a win. Still, Lepage picked the middle groove, withstanding hits from Elliott Sadler and banging on Mark Martin's back bumper during the final laps to finish ninth.

"I saw a veteran driver sticking his nose in and doing a heck of a job all day missing wrecks," Poindexter said of Lepage. "You can't ask for much better than that. A lot of stuff happened in front of him, and he gave us something at the end to fight with. In my crew chief career in the Cup series, this is the best one I've ever had."