Morgan Shepherd to field 2 cars in 2011

[fatcatracing]

I am a huge Morgan Shepherd fan so I had to post this!

From morganshepherd.com:

CONOVER, NC - Faith Motorsports announced January 10 that Morgan Shepherd and Brett Rowe will fill the driver's seats in a two-car Faith Motorsports effort in NASCAR's Nationwide Series in 2011.

The duo will kick off the 2011 season in the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway in early February with the team attempting to field both entries through at least the first five events of the season.

"We will run as long as we can and hope to have both cars locked in after the fifth race," Shepherd said in making the announcement. "We are building cars and gearing up to have a great season."

Shepherd's ride will feature multiple paint schemes throughout the season and will bear his historic number, 89. The car will be owned by Shepherd Racing Ventures through his 2010 partnership with Richard Childress in the #21 car. Morgan Shepherd will be listed as the car's primary owner. Childress will retain the #21 number, however the points will be applied to the #89 car pending NASCAR's approval. This will result in Shepherd being locked in to the first five races of 2011 as the #89 team in 2011 will be the same team which fielded the #21 in 2010.

Shepherd's car will bear the Racing With Jesus logo on the hood, but the paint schemes will change periodically to coincide with another program the team plans to announce at a later date.

Rowe will pilot a second car for which the car number is yet to be approved by NASCAR. His car will be owned by Victory in Jesus Racing with Cindy Shepherd listed as the primary owner. The points from last year's #89 car will be transferred to Rowe's car pending NASCAR's approval as the listed owner will not change, just the car number.
Rowe's car will field the consistent green paint scheme historically associated with the #89 entry. It will carry the Racing With Jesus logo on the hood as the #89 car has in past seasons.

Both cars will fall under the Faith Motorsports banner.

"I'm real excited about the opportunity to go to Daytona with high hopes of getting the year kicked off right," Rowe said. "We hope to run competitively in the first five races in hopes that we can get the car locked in and continue after the fifth race."

Rowe, who had driven on a limited basis with Faith's sister team, Herd Racing, since 2008, indicated that Herd will not field a Nationwide team in 2011. Many of Herd's crew members, including Rowe's brother, Brian, will transfer to his effort under the Faith Motorsports banner. Herd Racing does not have a Nationwide COT and have no plans to run in the Nationwide Series in 2011, team owner Dana Tomes said.

Both Shepherd and Rowe agree that without Top 30 security the second Faith Motorsports car will not be able to continue full time past Week #5.

"We will do our best to go to the track ready each week and see what happens," Shepherd said.

Sponsorships and additional information about the teams' Daytona efforts will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

[PepsiRacer4]

That's awesome. Been a big fan of Sheppard and how he's the underdog.

 

[Cheeze]

Good for Morgan. It's people like him that give me reason to have hope in this world.

 

[4WideRacing]

That is great! Hopefully they can get some sponsors on board!

 

[Markfan]

I'm a huge fan of Morgan Shepherd, so I have to say that I'm glad his team is doing this well considering sponsorship woes occurring left-and-right in that series.

 

[Jonathan Patten]

It's good to see that Morgan is doing better financially and can field two cars! He's a great guy, but I do wish that he would hire some younger drivers and retire as an owner and maybe occ. run some races, much like Michael Waltrip. Glad to see someone proclaiming Jesus's name openly out there in the auto racing world (Let's not make a religious discussion out of this, this is just my feeling about it)

 

[labontefanboy]

Good to see that Morgan isn't struggling too much and still racing. Good deal for Rowe, too. Hopefully both cars can stay in the top 35.

 

[Cheeze]

My guess is that one will be a S&P and the other will race.

 

[B.McKeever]

Yes, the # 55 will more-than-likely become a start & park team to fund the # 89, which has limited sponsorship. Also read that the # 55 will be at the first five races and if not in the top 30, they will not continue as the funding will simply not be there anymore. I was glad to see Harvick,Stewart, and Childress helping out 'ole Morgan.

I agree that he should find some young gun to put into the car though. Jimmie Johnson was driving the # 92 Excedrin Chevrolet and Hendrick "took a chance" on him; now look! Best driver of the modern era. Same with Gordon; he was in a Bill Davis Ford before Hendrick noticed this young boy and gave him a shot at Winston Cup.

 

[labontefanboy]

Yes, the # 55 will more-than-likely become a start & park team to fund the # 89, which has limited sponsorship. Also read that the # 55 will be at the first five races and if not in the top 30, they will not continue as the funding will simply not be there anymore. I was glad to see Harvick,Stewart, and Childress helping out 'ole Morgan.

I agree that he should find some young gun to put into the car though. Jimmie Johnson was driving the # 92 Excedrin Chevrolet and Hendrick "took a chance" on him; now look! Best driver of the modern era. Same with Gordon; he was in a Bill Davis Ford before Hendrick noticed this young boy and gave him a shot at Winston Cup.

Where did you hear #55?

 

[B.McKeever]

On Jayski.com, under the Nationwide tab...says "Update" and says NASCAR informed Shepherd the second car will be the # 55.

 

[Jonathan Patten]

Great, another start and parker =.=

 

[MattSRD28]

Great, another start and parker =.=

My thought as well. As much as I appreciate Morgan's ministry, it would be that much better if it didn't only run practice, qualifying, the first few laps and then park.

 

[scottw73]

You've got to give him credit for not quitting, even though he was mainly a S&P team last year and will probably be one this year, at least he showed up and made an attempt, Morgan has been a fixture in NASCAR since the 70's and he's still going strong

 

[Cheeze]

I believe the objective here is to park a car so the other can go race.