FanHouse KevinLepage

Kevin Lepage must have finally seen the replay.

"I caused 'The Big One,' " Lepage said. "I realize I need to apologize to NASCAR, the car owners, my fellow competitors and most importantly the fans. I made a huge driver error by blending onto the race track in the wrong area.

[...] "Speaking yesterday before reviewing the tapes of the accident made me look like a heel and there is not a single person to blame for this huge mistake except myself."

Lepage's apology came after his -- uh -- involvement in Saturday afternoon's 16-car Nationwide pileup shown on the right. Yours truly may or may not have jumped on his case slightly after the incident. (And, oh, 97 or so of you did as well)

While its quite obvious that Lepage made likely one of the worst driving mistakes of all-time, I do feel kind of bad for the amount of heat he's taking. He surely isn't sleeping well at night.

Yahoo!'s Bob Margolis thinks the guy will never drive for another team in NASCAR again after the incident.

I can't say I disagree. What sponsor would want a guy that made arguably the dumbest move in NASCAR history behind the wheel of their car? Not mine, that's for sure.

Though your move will live in Youtube glory for a long, long time, your apology is accepted, Kevin.

Preface: The hardest part of this post was coming up with headline. Everything from "Kevin Lepage's $4 Million Mistake" to "Kevin Lepage Proves Worthlessness" to "Kevin Lepage Nominates Himself for Darwin Award" were all considered. Got an idea? Leave a comment.

As the headline stated, Kevin Lepage made a mistake that most normal human beings don't make when they travel down the highway everyday in Saturday's Nationwide Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Also unlike most human beings, Lepage's crash took out no less than 16 race cars from the lead pack. Most amazingly, though, Lepage failed to take any responsibility for the wreck.

The melee began when Lepage had to pit for a loose wheel. Upon coming off pit lane, Lepage's spotter told him that the field was coming out of the tri-oval and that he should stay low. Low for Lepage must have meant right in front of the entire pack as it barreled into the corner at full speed with Lepage still well off pace.

Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
For the second week in a row, Red Bull driver Brian Vickers claimed the top starting spot among those teams outside the Top 35. Vickers' team currently sits in 39th position in owner points. While he sits only less than 200 points back from the 35th spot, he has not yet been able to close the gap because those drivers in between keep making races, too.

Following the Leader
Fellow Toyota driver Dave Blaney scores the second sweet spot for the second consecutive week. He'll start in 17th.

The Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 Motorcraft Genuine Auto Parts Ford will start 21st. Bill Elliott qualified on time for the third time in four entries and still has five championship provisionals left. Having Elliott in the car hasn't produced the results they were looking for yet. The team has gone from 39th to 40th since Elliott stepped in at Lowe's.

Scott Riggs, who has only had one DNQ despite having to race in every weekend, will start 22nd.

Paul Menard, David Reutimann and A.J. Allmendinger will bring up the rear starting in 38th, 40th and 43rd respectively.

Losers of the Week (DNQs)
Mike Bliss (11), Ward Burton (8), Dale Jarrett (4), Kevin Lepage (12), Jeremy Mayfield (10), Kenny Wallace (7)

Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
Brian Vickers was the top qualifier of all drivers outside the top 35 in owner points.

As predicted, the red bull had no trouble qualifying on the Pocono tri-oval. He'll start in the 9th position, a season best.

For now, Vickers is pleased with his team's progress and the direction in which it is headed:

"We seem to be really good in the races and I'm really proud of Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). They've been working real hard and it has shown in the last couple races with how well the Toyotas have been running. I'm real proud of our entire Red Bull team that's building these race cars -- our intermediate program has really been improving week after week. We've been doing a good job in the race and Doug (Richert) has been calling great races. I'm just excited to race Sunday and hopefully we can be just as good when we get to Michigan."

Following the Leader
Dave Blaney returns after sitting Dover out. He starts 14th. Ward Burton 20th. Paul Menard starts his first race with a new crew chief in the 21st spot.

David Reutimann will be the sole representative for Michael Waltrip Racing, starting in 23rd. Vickers Red Bull teammate A.J. Allmendinger will pull off 28th. Scott Riggs 31st.

Bill Elliott was forced to used a championship provisional this week and will start 43rd.

Losers of the Week (DNQs)
Mike Bliss (10), Dale Jarrett (3), Kevin Lepage (11), Jeremy Mayfield (9), Kenny Wallace (6), Michael Waltrip (12)

Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
Kenny Wallace raced his Furniture Row #78 Chevrolet into the show for the seventh time this season. He will start 6th tonight at Darlington Raceway, matching his best qualifying effort of the season last week in Richmond.

Good thing, too, because Kenny really wants to race in Charlotte and now he gets another chance to remind fans to vote for him:

"The 'Vote for Kenny' campaign has grown its own legs and developed into a huge deal. I am very appreciative to Furniture Row for being such a supportive sponsor by getting behind the 'Vote For Kenny' campaign. I don't think that many other sponsors, if any at all, would give up the hood of their racecar for a weekend to promote voting their driver into the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. Being voted into this race would be a huge deal, not just for me, but for my Furniture Row Racing team too!"

Following The Leader
Ken Schrader also starts in the top 10 in the 8th position. David Reuitmann starts 14th.

Both Red Bull racers are on track this weekend for just the second time this season, the first being Bristol. Brian Vickers starts in the 15th spot and A.J. Allmendinger starts 20th.p>Paul Menard starts 23rd in his eighth race of the season, Dave Blaney starts 27th and Ricky Rudd 40th.

Kevin LePage will start his first race of the season after attempting to qualify for 9 of the previous 10 races.

Losers of The Week (DNQs)
Scott Riggs, who has been outside the top 35 since the beginning of the season, failed to qualify for his first race in 2007 in Darlington.

Michael Waltrip (10), Jeremy Mayfield (8), Mike Bliss (7), Dale Jarrett (2), Ward Burton (6)

Scott Riggs will start 3rd Saturday in Richmond, his best start of the season and the best of those drivers sitting outside the top 35 who had to race their way in.

Riggs' qualifying effort for the Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 marks the fifth consecutive race the 36th points position holder has qualified for on time. With only seven points to gain on Casey Mears, he's likely to move into the top 35 this week.

Dave Blaney, who added his name to the 2007 DNQ list last weekend in Talladega, will start 10th Saturday.

A.J. Allmendinger, the top qualifying rookie, starts 13th in his third race of the season, his first at Richmond International Raceway.

David Reutimann, the only Michael Waltrip Racing driver in the show this weekend, starts 14th for the second consecutive week--his highest for the season.

Ward Burton makes his 5th start and Kenny Wallace his 6th in 25th and 26th positions respectively.

NCTS driver Johnny Benson qualified 31st in his first Cup effort since 2005.

Losers of the Week (DNQs)
Brian Vickers (6), Ken Schrader (3), Michael Waltrip (9), Jeremy Mayfield (7), Dale Jarrett (1), Kevin LePage (9) and Mike Bliss (6).

Jeff Gordon will be out front on Sunday when the cars of tomorrow take the green flag.

All four manufacturers have at least one car starting inside the Top 10.

Toyota drivers A.J. Allmendinger (Red Bull Racing) and Jeremy Mayfield (Bill Davis Racing) both made the field for the first time in five attempts. Brian Vickers also made the field for his third race of the season.

Michael Waltrip Racing's #55 (Waltrip) and #00 (David Reutimann) both failed to qualify. Dale Jarrett qualified the #44 on time and still maintains two championship provisionals.

Top 35 bubble driver Paul Menard (DEI) failed to qualify, as did Kevin LePage (0-5). Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter both failed to qualify for the first time in 2007.

Food City 500 Starting Lineup