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NASCAR BGN Advance Auto Parts 250 Race Report -- #88, Kevin Lepage

16 July 1997

 #88 Kevin Lepage, HYPE Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division
 Advance Auto Parts 250 Race Report
 Myrtle Beach Speedway
 

        LEPAGE CHARGES AHEAD TO FINISH 11TH AT MYRTLE BEACH


 
MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Kevin Lepage moved ahead 19 positions from his 30th place 
starting position to finish 11th in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Advance 
Auto Parts 250 at Myrtle Beach Speedway Saturday night. "Obviously we are not 
going to start the #88 HYPE/Ryder Driver Recruiting Chevrolet Monte Carlo as 
high as we would like," said Lepage after qualifying Friday evening. "We 
chased a handling problem all afternoon. Sometimes it's just not your day."

Lepage started the #88 HYPE/Ryder Driver Recruiting Chevrolet Monte Carlo 
30th on the grid when he posted a fast lap time of 20.026 seconds (96.714 
mph) around the 0.538 mile oval. Elliott Sadler won the Busch Pole Award with 
a fast lap time of 19.525 seconds (99.196 mph). Sadler went on to win his 
second race of the year from the pole position.

Lepage managed to advance as high as ninth just after the midpoint of 
the 250 lap event. After pitting on Lap 197 during the fifth of six caution 
periods, Lepage returned to the field in 14th position. By Lap 225 the #88 
HYPE/Ryder Driver Recruiting Chevrolet Monte Carlo was running in 11th place. 
 Although Lepage was often running faster lap times than Buckshot Jones, 
Jones held on to finish tenth.

The final caution flag came out on Lap 247, allowing Sadler to hold off 
runner-up Mike McLaughlin and take the checkered flag under yellow.

"This was a great finish for us considering where we started," said 
Lepage after the race. "We lost a position in the points' race, but we are 
still in the top-ten." Lepage is now 8th in points, just 31 points behind 
Elliott Sadler.

By Ridling Motorsports Public Relations