Morgan Shepherd needs your help.

[Markfan]

financially support drivers who were also-rans at their career peak

He was one of the primary contenders for the 1990 championship and won a race after he turned 50 . . . .

 

[K.Chuck]

Why? If he wants to keep racing, who are any of us to say he shouldn't? Besides, Morgan races as a ministry. It's about more than just results, though results are always nice to have.

Thats fine in a smaller series but on the national stage of NASCAR it should be the best of the best. We have enough small teams stumbling to stay a float do we really need Morgan trying to hang on to certain failure any longer? He needs to step up his development of new talent rather than climb behind the wheel if he wants success at this point.

 

[4WideRacing]

It would have been great to see Morgan put Trevor Bayne in his car this week along with any other weeks that RFR doesn't have him for. It would most likely require him to switch to Ford but I would think that he could have worked out some deal to buy the #60. That would have been great for all the parties involved.

 

[RP Motorsports]

Morgan has turned down multiple sponsorship offers over the past handful of years because they wanted to be on the hood but he refused to take off his religious thing so I don't feel bad for him at all.

A few years back on the message board that his site had I suggested that if he is "Racing to spread the word" why not stop running NASCAR and start touring around the country running a Latemodel & doing inspirational speeches at a local church the day or two after the race. Somebody from the team replied that he had suggested that same thing to Morgan before but Morgan told him he doesn't really care about spreading the word he just cares about having that NASCAR logo attached to his name and he uses the "Spread the word of God" aspect to try and get pity from people.

And as crazy as that sounds I truly believe it.

I have to be honest. When I read that, the first thing I thought of was "take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt".

I just have an EXTREMELY tough time believing that one of Morgan's team members (now mind you, he has about 5 actual team members and they are all close friends of his) jumped on a forum to tell everyone that Morgan is just a big fraud. I'm not saying that I dont believe that SOMEBODY mightve made that claim. But someone from Morgan's team? Not buying it. Not even considering it.

If he was just a big fake, then guys who know him very well, like Tony Stewart, wouldnt have picked up his tire bill for almost a whole season. Or Harvick giving him a brand new race car for nothing.

Also, just some "food for thought" - If Morgan did in fact turn down sponsorship because he didnt want to give up the hood (I'd be interested to hear more about this) then that should be pretty good evidence he's commited to his message. If the whole thing was just a big ruse, then he'd surely give up the hood for a few races for the paycheck.

Aside from all of that, even though he's obviously past his prime, I have no problem with him continuing to race. Thats what he's done his whole life and thats what he likes to do. Theres no rule that says you can only continue to race if you are going to be competitive. I say go for it and drive it like you stole it.

Not to mention, finishing 22nd on ONE set of stickers is pretty impressive no matter how you slice it.

 

[Relly]

But Morgan has given up the hood of his car before:

I think if he really wanted some good sponsorship I bet Benefiber, Depends and Gold Bond Medicated Powder have been waiting for the right driver to jump into the sport with.

 

[amidst tundra]

Morgan Shepherd has made over $14,000,000 in winnings in his career. I make $15,000 p/y. I pay for drivers winnings through buying into Premier Sports and MotorsTV (who pay for the rights to air NASCAR in the UK) and, when I lived in Canada, to attend races. If a 70 year old hobby driver can't keep his team together anymore it's a shame, but the way things are in the world today it seems unreasonable for a multi-millionaire to ask people to fund his career.

If you're a fan of his, go for it. For me, there's more important things for my paycheck to go on than a long-time also ran.

I don't get this "message" either. He's racing around with Jesus on the hood, I see plenty of people with religious bumper stickers, I wouldn't constitute that as a message. Surely his charity fund would be a better thing to put on his hood as that actually helps people.

 

[Fisha695]

I have to be honest. When I read that, the first thing I thought of was "take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt".

I just have an EXTREMELY tough time believing that one of Morgan's team members (now mind you, he has about 5 actual team members and they are all close friends of his) jumped on a forum to tell everyone that Morgan is just a big fraud. I'm not saying that I dont believe that SOMEBODY mightve made that claim. But someone from Morgan's team? Not buying it. Not even considering it.

It wasn't just some random dude on some random message board it was the then admin of his official forums on his official website.

 

[S. Yogurt]

I don't get this "message" either. He's racing around with Jesus on the hood, I see plenty of people with religious bumper stickers, I wouldn't constitute that as a message. Surely his charity fund would be a better thing to put on his hood as that actually helps people.

His message doesn't exactly get much airtime running 30th. If he can get a driver that will run top 20 consistently maybe that would change. No matter how important that message is to him, the fact is it DOESN'T pay the bills and in NASCAR if you don't pay the bills you don't race.

 

[The Captain]

Morgan Shepherd has made over $14,000,000 in winnings in his career.

Just because he has made 14 million doesn't mean he has 14 million. You do realize this very simple fact, right? That 14 million has gone towards personal and racing expenses over the years. He probably lives nicely, but he isn't using 50 dollar bills as kindling in his fire place. The guy has probably spent quite a bit out of pocket to keep the 89 afloat.

 

[amidst tundra]

Just because he has made 14 million doesn't mean he has 14 million. You do realize this very simple fact, right? That 14 million has gone towards personal and racing expenses over the years. He probably lives nicely, but he isn't using 50 dollar bills as kindling in his fire place. The guy has probably spent quite a bit out of pocket to keep the 89 afloat.

Hence why I used the phrase "has made... in his career."Please don't patronize me (part highlighted in bold). I'm a 27 year old with a keen interest in the business of sport. What he has now doesn't discount the fact that when people are struggling for work they can frivolously support the racing ventures of a 70 year old who has had $14 million at his disposal for the length of his career (to clear up any confusion).

If it's a question of living comfortably or racing and he wants to race, then he should "slum" it like the rest of us and go racing, if NASCAR and his lack of sponsors are no longer paying his racing bills then it's time to sell up his equipment, maybe go race at late model level. That might sound cold, but that's how things work for normal people on normal salaries.

What do I get, a guy that even in my best paying job would take 500 years to earn what he has done in his career, for sponsoring his running? A share of the winnings he'll accumulate in 30th place? A chance to volunteer in his garage or with his crew in some way (both things I'd say would be worthwhile). Nope, I take a seat away from a young driver to fund a guy in uncompetitive equipment so I can feel a tiny part owner of his team.

If I'm going to donate to something, I'd donate to his charity, it would be money better spent if you want to support Shepherd.

Also, at Vegas, Shepherd finished ahead of 4 other cars that hadn't suffered some sort of damage or had been off track for a substantial amount of time. They were: Robert Richardson, Eric McClure, Daryl Harr and Jason Bowles

 

[B.McKeever]

...sigh - nevermind. Disregard.

 

[RP Motorsports]

It wasn't just some random dude on some random message board it was the then admin of his official forums on his official website.

Yea I got you. Its just that for me personally, it doesnt really hold even a drop of water. The admin could be anybody. It could very well be some random person that volunteered to do it or something else along those lines. Who even knows how closely involved Morgan is with his site. Alot of the time, drivers and smaller teams hand it off to someone else to build/manage.

In the bigger picture, Morgan's reputation is nothing short of impeccable and has spanned several decades. Never has there been any rumors, rumblings, or claims to even suggest the possibility that he could be a fake. Not once has anyone (credible) questioned it. As I mentioned before, other people within the sport who know him very well have stepped up to help him in very generous ways.

You put all of that together up against this one claim from one anonymous admin on an internet forum, Morgan's site or not, its just not even worth considering to me.

Everyone is obviously free to decide for themselves what they believe. Im just saying that for me personally, I need something a whole lot better than one anonymous or unconfirmed person on an internet forum, to even consider the possibility.

 

[B.McKeever]

'Ole Morgan missed Texas. I wonder if he'll have funding for the next race. After all - Texas is a pretty long trip. Best of luck to Shepherd Racing Ventures although I don't see them making it another 5 races.