LePage in Gordon’s shoes at Bristol

Lepage, who competed for Roush Racing for nearly three seasons before losing his ride at the end of last year, was officially introduced as the driver on Thursday. The 38-year-old will compete on a race-by-race deal until the team makes a final decision on its driver for the rest of the season.

Gordon was fired on Wednesday just five races into a five-year deal with the Abingdon, Virginia-based Winston Cup team. Lepage takes over the ride for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"The pressure will be on the race team to perform good here because this is their home track," Lepage said. "It is so close to home for the Morgan-McClure race team. Larry McClure hired me to come in and do the best job we can."

Lepage knows that after five poor finishes by Gordon in the first five races of the season, the team needs to score some good finishes quickly before sinking even further in the Winston Cup standings.

"One of the things I am excited about is the car has been to victory lane with Larry McClure," said Lepage, who has yet to win a NASCAR Winston Cup race. "This team knows what it takes to win, and they will do what is
needed to get back there."

Lepage had been running his own NASCAR Busch Series team this season, but will not compete in Saturday's Cheez-It 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"With that deal, I have a 15-race sponsorship agreement," Lepage explained. "Just in case something were to pop up - and lo and behold here is the Kodak Chevy waiting for a driver.

"Larry is giving me an opportunity by letting me drive Bristol this weekend. We will take whatever finish the race track will give us on Sunday, and we will sit down Monday and discuss further races. Then we'll move on from there."

Morgan-McClure won its first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race with Ernie Irvan at Bristol in 1990. This was also Irvan's first win.

"Larry and all of the guys up here at this race shop are putting all of the time and effort into making these race cars run up front week in and week out," Lepage said. "Sometimes results are based on driver enthusiasm, being a team player, the chemistry between the driver and crew chief and the team members. There's not one particular thing that I think this team needs. I think it is a little bit here and there.

"I am hoping that my years of experience and my desire to win a race in Winston Cup will help provide some of the missing links needed. I am here to prove that I want to stay in Winston Cup and be a front-runner."