CONOVER, N.C. (ABP) — At 64 years old, and without a major sponsor, Morgan Shepherd is the oldest active driver on the NASCAR's Nextel circuit. While most of his contemporaries have long since left the track, he recently qualified for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Though Shepherd had to pull out of the Sept. 18 race for mechanical problems, he has experienced many successes as a NASCAR driver, both winning races and finishing among the sport's top 10 drivers several times.
It's not been easy for the North Carolina native to keep going all these years. He is his own driver and mechanic, and he relies on a volunteer pit crew to keep his No. 89 “Victory in Jesus” car on the NASCAR tracks. He knows a major sponsor is unlikely to support him because of his age, but Shepherd, partner Dana Tomes and the Faith Motorsports team keep plugging away.
According to Shepherd, his love for Jesus keeps him going — he sees the race track as his mission field. His goal is to form a well-established team and then put a young driver in the seat so he can continue his ministry as a car owner.
“We have a great opportunity to reach people and be an influence on their lives,” he said.
Shepherd has come a long way since his younger, wilder days in racing. After his wife left him and he had a particularly bad hangover one morning, Shepherd thought, “If all this is so great, how come I feel so bad in the mornings?”
Looking back, he said, God “let me get to the lowest point in my life, and I had to change one or another.”
So in 1975, Shepherd started praying.
“My testimony is that if you just turn things over to Jesus, things will change,” he said. “He made me hate everything that alcohol stands for. Alcohol was a problem in my life because whenever I drank, it always seemed like I ended up in trouble.”
Now Shepherd tells fans that when they accept Jesus as savior, “he'll carry you through” the inevitable problems in life.
That's also the message Shepherd conveys through the Victory in Jesus Racing Ministry and the Morgan Shepherd Charitable Fund, which helps people in the Appalachia region of Virginia.
“Our ministry is personified by the race team and Morgan Shepherd's witness,” Cindy Caldwell, Shepherd's daughter, said. “Some racing fans would never step into a church. We take the ministry to them.”
The outreach is not without its critics. Potential sponsors have eschewed the Shepherd team because Sunday races “might keep people from going to church.” Caldwell, who leads the Victory in Jesus Racing Ministry, disagrees.
“Most races do not begin until noon,” she said. “If [churches] have an early service, [fans] can still attend church and then come to the race. Also, lots of area campgrounds have services. Many times, my dad shares his testimony there.”
The racing team and volunteers pass out tracts to fans and email others, tapping into the worldwide audience for NASCAR, Caldwell added.
“We have seen that people's lives are being changed and that people are being saved,” Shepherd said. “It is a great opportunity to minister to millions and millions of people, and we want to take advantage of it.”
Shepherd is the first to admit it is not easy keeping a car on the NASCAR circuit without a major sponsor. It costs $15,000 to transport the car to each race. Car engines routinely cost $70,000.
Nonetheless, Shepherd's racing team has some small sponsorships, and he relies on donations from Christian fans throughout the country. All help is appreciated, Caldwell said, but the sponsorship is what she said she really wants.
“We need Christian business people to step up to the plate and realize this is a mission field that is untapped,” Caldwell said. “What my dad does is a unique ministry opportunity.”
And even with the difficulties of being an older man in a sport dominated by younger drivers, Shepherd refuses to walk away from the sport he loves.
“Victory on the race track is nothing compared to the victory you have in Jesus,” Shepherd affirmed. “We'll keep preaching that as long as I am able. Nothing is going to change that.”
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