Foxcroft Student Just Keeps Zooming Along

Foxcroft Student Just Keeps Zooming Along

By Meredith Kepley

People are often shocked to learn that I’m a race car driver at age 17 and in my junior year at Foxcroft School in Middleburg.

My journey started with a dream and continues moving quickly toward reality with the support of my family, community, and my school.

My parents were familiar with NASCAR, and my dad occasionally watches races on television. I never paid attention because I thought cars going in circles for hours was boring.

Flash forward to the summer of 2017, when family friends invited us to the Xfinity Series of stock car races at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

As soon as I heard the roar of the engines, I was hooked. Drivers for the Monster Energy Cup Series — the best of the best in stock car racing — were practicing at the time. I knew that some day I wanted to get behind the wheel of a race car from the moment I heard, “Drivers, start your engines!” on the public address system.

I had no idea how to start. But watching a local news channel in 2019, we heard about an up-andcoming driver competing in Legend cars with NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. We reached out to his family and met up at the Summer Shootout, one of the biggest events for Legend cars.

Meredith Kepley has a lot of followers among her Foxcroft classmates.

They introduced us to AK Performance, the team I now race with and I finally got behind the wheel of a Legend car in September, 2019. Without any racing experience, I was years behind other kids my age. But in January, 2020, I ran my first race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With little practice, I struggled, but at least I finished. Due to Covid, I only competed in a handful of races that season. Then, in 2021, we purchased my first race car and I competed in 25 races.

We traveled up and down the east coast, from Virginia to Florida. It was a huge learning experience, but difficult not to compare myself to the younger drivers with more racing experience.

During the Thursday Thunder series at Atlanta Motor Speedway, I earned my first two podium appearances and was ecstatic to finish third and began seeing some growth in my racing techniques. Before the year ended, I even tested out a regulation stock car for the first time.

Foxcroft has been extremely supportive in allowing me fulfill my racing passion. They’ve introduced me to alums with ties to NASCAR, and have helped me meet some of racing’s biggest names. Last May, I visited Kyle Busch Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and met several people at NASCAR headquarters. Foxcroft’s Exceptional Proficiency (EP) program also allows me to miss class to pursue my racing dreams, and helps me keep up with my work while away from school. Without EP, I wouldn’t have been able to spend a week racing Winter Nationals.

The school recently invited me to bring my race car to campus, maybe even interest other classmates in racing. Students, faculty and staff have offered fantastic encouragement and given me even more incentive to keep zooming along in fulfilling my racing ambitions.