Food City 250 - Kevin Lepage Notes

NASCAR’s Most Recent ‘From-Scratch’ Team
Lepage convinced MacDonald Motorsports, Drill Doctor Chevy team capable of solid Bristol finish

THOMASVILLE, N.C. – Kevin Lepage, who knows about winning in NASCAR’s Busch Series, is the first to say MacDonald Motorsports isn’t far at all from being where it needs to be.

“This team is capable of top-15 finishes and, under the right circumstances, maybe even better than that,” Lepage said. “At a track like Bristol where anything can happen, I wouldn’t be surprised with a really good night for this race team.”

Drill Doctor (www.drilldr.com), the national manufacturer and marketer of drill bit sharperners, is sponsoring MacDonald Motorsports’ #72 Drill Doctor Chevrolet in Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway’s Food City 250 NASCAR Busch Series race. Lepage is driving the car for owner Randy MacDonald, the only Canadian running full-time in either of NASCAR’s top two series.

“Bristol is going to be a big weekend for us,” MacDonald said. “Drill Doctor’s sponsorship obviously makes this important for us. Kevin’s driving abilities, plus what he has added to our team in regards to additional information and technical knowledge, gives us even more. We’re really excited with the possibilities.”

MacDonald, a native of Oshawa, Ont., located just outside of Toronto, is building one of the first “from-scratch” NASCAR teams in recent memory. Known for his tenaciousness as a competitor and as a businessman, MacDonald has run two cars at several NASCAR Busch Series events this season, while running a full season with the #72.

“Taking advantage of the good things that happen for us, and overcoming the negative things – those are what we try to do best,” MacDonald said. “Drill Doctor being on the car this week and having Kevin Lepage drive, obviously those are some pretty good things. If we can have a solid, competitive race – the type we’re capable of running – that would be an even better thing.”

Like most race teams, MacDonald’s goal is to be competitive and to maximize performance based on available resources. “Our goals go past that of a lot of teams, though. Sponsorship for our teams is not as expensive as most other teams and we want our sponsors to get the very best we can give them. If somebody invests one dollar in sponsorship with us, we try to give them two dollars in results through exposure or show cars or driver appearances or whatever we need to do to make the sponsorship program successful.”

MacDonald’s sponsorship efforts – and results – have reached near legendary proportions in NASCAR. His abilities to find niche sponsors are tops in the field of sports marketing, and he has found ways to make those sponsorships – even one-race sponsorships – work.

Besides Drill Doctor in this week’s race at Bristol, MacDonald has always been able to give tremendous return value to his sponsors – and to bring some niche companies into the sport. For example, one of the top selling books of the past several years – the Left Behind series – sponsored MacDonald’s truck when the books first started reaching book shelves.

“Giving our sponsors more than they ask for is important to us,” MacDonald said. “It’s obviously a business thing but it’s a moral thing too. We have an obligation to do the best job we can do for our sponsors, and we take that very seriously.

“It’s been quite the journey from the short tracks back home. With the realization of what we have to operate on and who we are racing against in the Busch series, we’ve had some pretty good on-track accomplishments. Our goal is to continue building and to do everything we can to keep getting better. And I believe that we are on the right track” he added.