At the recently held awards banquet, NASCAR officially awarded the championship title to Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer held off the ever-present and hard-charging Carl Edwards to claim his first Nationwide championship in a close points race that literally came down to the final race.

Bowyer turned in a consistent performance for the year, starting in 27 races and finishing up the season with 1 win, 9 top 5 finishes and22 finishes in the top 10.

Congrats to Clint on a job well done!

Looking Forward….

You can expect some major changes to our site coming in early 2009.

First up will be a major site re-design for a totally new look.

Along with the new look will come a new focus for the site. While we have immensely enjoyed chronicling the Nationwide series and the ongoing story of Morgan Shepherd and the Racing With Jesus team, we won’t be featuring NASCAR on the site in the future.

We’ll be returning to the core focus of the website – we are, first and foremost, Lion and Lamb BOOKS. For the new year, we’ll begin offering selected reviews and recommendation for the books that we offer through our site.

We’ll continue to offer Christian clothing through the site, however, our main focus will be on building our site as a credible reference and review site for Christian books.

Our immediate plans are to continue offering purchase of the books through Amazon as they continue to consistently be the leader in offering discounted pricing along with good service.

All the articles for the past year will remain in our site archives for easy reference should you want to revisit any of the posts.

One thing that is as yet undecided is whether we might launch a new site for following Morgan Shepherd this year. This is a distinct possibility and we would appreciate any feedback from our readers.

We certainly appreciate our readers and look forward to your continued visits through the coming year. One feature of the new site will be the ability for you to interact with us with a bit more convenience.

Watch for our new site – it’s currently under development and should launch within the next few weeks.

Seeing Double?

In the practice leading up to the Memphis race, some surely thought they were seeing double.

For this race, a second entry was made by Faith Motorsports in the form of car #75, to be driven by Tim Weaver. Unfortunately, the car experienced a broken valve in the first practice session and was unable to attempt qualifying for the race.

It would have been great to watch as two entries sped around the track with the Racing With Jesus logo emblazoned on their hoods.

Double Trouble

Waiting for the start

Qualifying the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger, Morgan Shepherd was able to lock in a solid 27th place spot for the race. With a qualifying run that missed being in the top 5 by about half a second, fans of the #89 had high hopes for an exciting run.

And then, disaster struck. As the field lined up for the start of the race, the #89 experienced an incredible problem.

The connecting rod from the brake pedal to the master cylinder broke. An incredible mishap. Undaunted, the team worked feverishly to repair the problem. In these final few races of the season, every point that can be gained is invaluable for the start of next year’s campaign.

The #89 was finally able to rejoin the race, however at this point they were some 68 laps down from the leaders. Even with this late effort there were still some bright spots for the day.

A number of cars had fallen casualty to the track, and with each passing lap Morgan was gaining precious spots in the field, eventually working his way up to 37th place.

After a relatively short run of about 50 laps, the team had so far managed to turn disaster into a better-than-expected day.

As a measure of the competitiveness of the #89, Morgan was posting some of the fastest lap times of the field during his time on the track.

And then – the other shoe dropped.

The same problems that had befallen the #75 struck the #89. A broken valve, causing a cylinder to fail, debris in the engine and a great puff of blue smoke signalled the end of a really trying day for the Racing With Jesus team.

Heading Into the West

From Faith Motorsports PR:

Feeling it hasn’t been able to give its sponsors what they paid for the past couple of weeks, Faith Motorsports plans to carry decals for the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure and Lagina Plumbing on it’s car this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as a “thank you” to the two supporters.

“Dale Jarrett and Jim Lagina have been a big part of our growth this year and we could not have gotten as far as we have without their help,” Morgan Shepherd said Saturday evening in Memphis. “We have a lot of respect for both of them and we really appreciate what they have done for us.”

Faith Motorsports plans to run the KHI chassis Dodge at Texas on Saturday and will leave the decals the team planned at Charlotte on the car in an effort to give the sponsors a little more exposure for their dollar.

“They helped us when we needed it and we want them to know we appreciate it,” Shepherd said.

The Faith team will leave for Texas on Tuesday and will take the KHI car to run at Texas and the Memphis car to run at Phoenix. The team will travel from Texas on to Phoenix the following week and will be without a true backup car both weekends due to plans to run different cars at each track.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

True to its name, the track once again managed to collect a number of competitors through a variety of crashes and mechanical failures.

With 43 entries set for the race, Morgan Shepherd and the Racing With Jesus team were assured of a starting spot in the race, allowing them to focus on setting the car up for the race.

Once again, this race saw Kyle Busch take the pole and go on to win yet another victory for the highly-sponsored Gibbs Racing team as Morgan Shepherd turned in a solid qualifying effort in the top 30.

At first glance, it would appear that the difference between qualifying for the pole position and a top 30 spot represents a significant difference. But that would be wrong.

In reality, the difference is actually measured in fractions of a second. Yet the difference in those fractions is brought about by a difference in sponsor funding to the tune of millions of dollars.

Taken altogether, we see a team with virtually zero funding and no full-time sponsor that consistently is not only able to compete, but to run competitively against those teams with corporate sponsorships and deep pockets.

At the Monster Mile, fans of the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger were treated to watching as Morgan Shepherd and team were turning in solid top 15 speeds in the latter stages of the race, taking home another top 25 finish, crossing the finish line in 22nd place.

Impressive. And amazing.

In other news this week:

From Faith Motorsports PR, we have the following announcements:

Morgan Shepherd and his Faith Motorsports team left Delaware Saturday night knowing what needs work before the team can become a weekly Top 20 contender.

“We had a good solid run and we were competitive most of the day,” Shepherd said after finishing 22nd at the Monster Mile. “We know what our weaknesses are and it takes money to fix them so we are pretty happy with what we are able to do.”

Shepherd said the team’s next step toward running better would involve a professional pit crew and more shop and track personnel.

“Our people do a great job, but we don’t have a dedicated pit crew like most teams do,” he said. “Our guys and girls work all week on the car or in the office, and then work all weekend at the track on the car and finally pit the car, so they are exhausted before the race ever starts.”

Shepherd said he is hopeful for another competitive run this weekend at Kansas before the teams come home for a backyard duel at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway the following weekend.

“We made some points gains and we know what we need to do to get better each week. We feel pretty happy about where we are. We are just a sponsor away from being a consistent finisher every week.”

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KANSAS CITY, KS – Lagina Plumbing announced Tuesday that it will sponsor the Faith Motorsports #89 Dodge Charger and driver Morgan Shepherd in the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday.

The Kansas race is a continuation of the company’s support for the team which began earlier this year at Milwaukee, said Lagina President James Lagina.

“We are thrilled to be on board Morgan’s race car for the Kansas race as it is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the whole Faith Motorsports organization for their hard work and dedication in the face of long odds,” Lagina said. “In supporting Morgan in the Nationwide Series this year, our employees and customers have really taken notice when the #89 is on the track. It is our commitment to be there for the team when they can use a boost, as it has been a wonderful blessing to have been associated with the whole organization this year.”

The company’s logo will appear on the rear quarter panels of Shepherd’s #89 Dodge throughout this weekend’s events at Kansas.

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DOVER, DE – Morgan Shepherd and his Faith Motorsports team spent Friday evening at one of America’s largest Air Force bases during a NASCAR social event at Dover AFB.

Shepherd toured a large U.S. military cargo plane and met with many soldiers and their families during the event. He was one of several NASCAR drivers who participated in the event.

Shepherd, as well as his wife and daughter, were given a tour of the base and were able to climb aboard a large cargo jet during their visit with military personnel.

“I have a huge amount of respect for those people in the military who work so hard and give so much to keep our country safe,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd met many members of the armed forces during his visit and signed autographs for the soliders and their families.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

Rain had begun to sprinkle on the track and qualifying was postponed to see if the weather would clear. During the lull, those tuned in were treated to a short version of “The Morgan Shepherd Show” as the TV cameras focussed on Morgan rollerskating down pit road.

Morgan Skates Down Pit Road

Given the rare opportunity for a short on-camera interview, Morgan was able to proclaim his faith in Jesus Christ without any sort of censorship or criticism from the network.

As it turned out, qualifying was eventually cancelled due to the weather and Morgan and the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger were locked into the race as a result of the current points standings.

Starting in 34th position, Morgan was able to move up during the early stages of the race.

Staying on the lead lap, the #89 was able to hold its own and gradually began passing other cars as the race progressed.

As the leaders began their round of pitstops midway through the race, the #89 was able to pull into 3rd position.

Once again, a lack of funding prevented the team from being able to complete the race and Morgan was forced to pull out after 133 laps of the scheduled 250 lap event, bringing home a 36th place finish for the day.

Morgan and Crew

In other News:

From Faith Motorsports PR:

Shepherd helps test first COT prototype
RICHMOND, VA – Morgan Shepherd spent September 8 with a handful of other Nationwide Series drivers test driving the first prototypes of the series’ new Car of Tomorrow chassis.

Shepherd, driving a Davis Motorsports Chevrolet along with Davis driver Danny Efland, said he was pleased with the way the newly-designed 110-inch chassis car performed.

Each of the four manufacturers in the Nationwide Series tested two cars each at the track on September 8 and 9. Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota participated in the first of two scheduled test sessions.

Team owner Johnny Davis said he too was happy with the car’s first trip to the race track.

“So far we’ve been pleased,” Davis said. “With more testing, we can be pretty close (to the multi-car teams). I think a smaller, single-car team under these circumstances can be a better top-10 car than what we have today with our current cars.”

The car, which is similar to the current Sprint Cup Series COT car, is scheduled to debut in the Nationwide Series at the beginning of the 2010 race season.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

This week’s race at California saw Kyle Busch win yet another Nationwide event in dominating fashion. Starting from the pole position, Busch dominated the race in laps led and easily took the checkered flag.

A failure to qualify for the Bristol race last week had placed the Racing With Jesus team in severe financial straits.

With no prize money going into this week’s race in California, any attempt at the race would be limited by the lack of funds.

Even with these obstacles to overcome, the team nonetheless put forth a strong, albeit limited, showing.

Qualifying in the top 30, Morgan Shepherd and the Racing With Jesus team managed to deliver a fan-pleasing showing during the early stages of the race.

Over the course of the early laps of the race, the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger steadily moved up in the field.

With 48 laps in the books, Morgan stayed on the course as the leaders came into the pits for their first round of pit stops for the night.

By staying on the course, the #89 was able to climb as high as 6th position before being forced into the pits for the night. Handling was becoming tricky as the team’s only set of tires for the night were worn out.

In Other News – -

Christianity Today has posted an excellent article about faith-based racing teams. Morgan Shepherd and the Racing With Jesus team are given some well-deserved coverage in this entertaining article.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

According to Faith Motorsports, an early mistake in calculating the tire pressures for Morgan Shepherd’s qualifying run resulted in poor handling for the all-important qualifying.

As qualifying ended, Morgan had qualified – but just barely. He would start the race in 43rd place.

Poor handling in the early stages of the race resulted in Morgan having to run at the back of the field.

As the day progressed, the #89 experienced a cut tire that brought about an additional unsheduled pit stop.

Throughout the race, the team determinedly kept adjusting the handling of the #89 in the hopes of improving its performance.

As a result of their determination not to give up, the #89 was turning in top 20 speeds towards the end of the race.

Thanks to tire sponsorship by Lagina Plumbing, the team had enough tires to see them through to the finish, with the #89 finishing in 26th place at the end of the race.

From Faith Motorsports PR:

By demonstrating determination, Shepherd and the Faith Motorsports crew was able to salvage a 26th place finish on a day that should have been much brighter.

“By the time the race was over we were running Top 20 times every lap,” Shepherd said. “We just had so many problems early on that we were in a big hole most of the day.”

Regardless of the obstacles, the team was able to complete another race thanks to a dose of determination and some financial help from race sponsor Lagina Plumbing!

In other news -

Aug 17 NASCAR Nationwide Series:Southlake, TEXAS-August 18, 2008– 1in3Trinity, a faith-inspired company of lifestyle products including clothing, accessories and their newly launched energy drink, is proud to announce today that it has signed an associate sponsorship agreement with Faith Motorsports. As part of the sponsorship agreement, the company’s 1in3Trinity energy drink will become the official energy drink of NASCAR driver Morgan Shepherd and his Faith Motorsports crew, and the company will promote 1in3Trinity’s products through the team’s website and other promotional programs.“1in3Trinity is a unique and innovative lifestyle brand,” says company co-founder and president Paula Masters. “In our hearts, our hope and vision for our company is to offer people relevant lifestyle products that impact their lives in a positive way. Since there is such a large Christian subculture in NASCAR, we felt there was a way to minister to this culture first hand and let them know that you can love and live for Christ and still be cool,” Masters said. “Morgan has demonstrated his commitment to his faith, as well as been able to excel at his sport which makes him a great choice for 1in3Trinity.” From The Hotlap.com

Team’s ministry featured in Christian Courier

MILWAUKEE, WI – The mission of Faith Motorsports and driver Morgan Shepherd is the featured story on the front page of this month’s Christian Courier newspaper, the team announced August 18.

The nationally-distributed newspaper, the oldest Christian newspaper in existence, can also be found online athttp://www.chris tiancouriernewspaper.com.

The story of Shepherd and his team’s ministry efforts begins on the front page of the newspaper and continues on Page 11 of the publication.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

Morgan Shepherd at Watkins Glen

Going into the race, Morgan’s strategy was to run near the rear of the pack. No stranger to this demanding road course, Shepherd has raced this course numerous times and has even been a pole-sitter during his Cup career.

“Everytime we had a re-start I would intentionally drop to the back of the line,” Shepherd said. “I knew more cars would leave that place torn up than would finish and that was about how it worked out.”

And torn up they were.

As the race entered into its closing stages, the #89 was running in 28th place. With 7 laps left in the race, disaster on the track brought the race to a halt.

In a move that would qualify as “Bad Judgment of the Day,” Michael McDowell crashed into the car driven by David Gilliland, resulting in a 9 car pile-up that halted the race for some 43 minutes.

Former series champion Bobby LaBonte was sent to an area hospital as a result of injuries from the ensuing carnage. He was later released from the hospital and given the OK to return to racing.

As the final laps of the race unfolded, Shepherd’s strategy began to pay dividends.

Mechanical problems and lack of fuel forced many of NASCAR’s top names to the sidelines as the #89 picked up spot after spot.

When the checkered flag finally flew, Marcos Ambrose crossed the finish line in his first-ever NASCAR victory.

Morgan Shepherd drove the #89 to a 24th place finish ahead of  Carl Edwards, Boris Said, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Keeping his car intact, the team has plans to race this car in the upcoming Bristol race.

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

This past week, the Racing With Jesus team announced the purchase of a road course car from Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and the acquisition of a Richard Childress Racing (RCR) engine to power the latest addition to the team’s lineup.

With unbelievably tight scheduling, the team was forced to miss the first practice session for the Montreal race as they were still installing the engine in hopes of having a competitive entry for the race.

During the final practice session, Morgan Shepherd was able to turn in a total of only 2 laps practice before qualifying time. The practice times were not encouraging as the car was running towards the bottom of the speed charts.

Fans of the #89 held their breath for qualifying. It wasn’t until late in the qualifying session that the #89 was locked in for the race with a 41st qualifying speed.

As the race began, rain was an ever-present threat. Knowing the potential of rain was eminent, NASCAR had announced that the race would run even in the event of rain.

According to the announcement on ESPN, NASCAR would be providing the teams with “rain tires.”

Once the green flag dropped, fans of Morgan Shepherd and the #89 Racing With Jesus team watched as Morgan moved up through the field.

With each passing lap on the twisting road course, the #89 advanced by one position.

And then – the rains came.

The race was halted as teams entered the pits to replace their racing slicks with the afore-mentioned rain tires.

As it turned out, the announcement that the rain tires would be “given” to the teams was a bit less than accurate. They would be “given,” but only if the teams paid for the “gift.”

Having spent their budget on regular tires for the race, the #89 Racing With Jesus team was forced to retire from the race, taking a finishing position of 37th place for the day. The #89’s withdrawal was accompanied by the withdrawal of several other under-funded teams.

From The Hotlap, we offer the following announcement concerning the team’s plans for the coming week in preparation for the race at Watkins Glen:

Aug 2 NASCAR Nationwide Series:WILKES BARRE, PA – Faith Motorsports has entered into a uniform sponsorship agreement with 3:16 Athletic Wear, Inc., a producer of Christian-oriented technical clothing for athletes, the companies announced August 1.The partnership will begin immediately and will include driver Morgan Shepherd and his Racing With Jesus NASCAR Nationwide Series race car appearing with 3:16 representatives next week at KingdomBound, a faith-based gathering in Darien Center, NY. As part of the sponsorship, 3:16 will produce custom technical clothing for the Faith Motorsports team, including crew shirts, jackets and other apparel. The company will also produce custom technical clothing bearing team logos which will be available for purchase by fans online at www.kingdomwinners.com, the team’s official online merchandise home. The 3:16 logo will appear on Shepherd’s #89 Racing With Jesus stock car next weekend at Watkins Glen and at other select races later this year.Read more (FM) (08-02-08)

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

Action at ORP

Returning to O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the Racing With Jesus team experienced both highs and lows with this week’s effort.

This is the track where Morgan Shepherd holds the record for most wins with 3 career victories.

A solid qualifying effort gained the #89 a 25th place starting spot.

For the first half of the race, Morgan was able to stay on the lead lap varying his position from 25th up to 22nd place.

With a caution in effect about midway through the race, he was able to gain some much-needed points by leading the field for 2 laps.

As the race resumed under the green flag, Morgan once again raced competitively in the top 25.

A serious lack of funding for the team once again proved to be the nemesis for this race.

The majority of the cars running in the Nationwide series incorporate an elaborate and expensive cooling system for the brakes whenever they race on short tracks like ORP. This is crucial as braking is heavy, with the temperatures of the brake discs reaching upwards of 1600 degrees.

Without this cooling system, it’s simply a matter of time before the brakes fail.

And fail they did.

Even with the brakes almost totally gone, Morgan was able to continue racing – running in the top 25.

Realizing that the potential for disaster was growing with each lap, Morgan chose to park the car early, settling for 37th position.

After staying on the track during the mid-race caution, Shepherd said he feared his continuing could have resulted in a wreck.

“Our brakes were gone and had been gone for a while so we did about all we could do with what we had.”

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..

From the testing, it was apparent that the car donated by Kevin and DeLana Harvick was the better of the two while the older car also demonstrated that it was better than anticipated.

Preparing the car for the Gateway race with this much-needed test results, Morgan drove the car to a solid 21st place qualifying spot for the race.

First – the good news.

Early in the race, Morgan improved upon the 21st place starting spot and was moving up in the field.

NASCAR called for a “competition” caution flag around lap 20 of the race. At the time, the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger was in 17th place.

As the leaders entered the pits, Morgan Shepherd took over first place and held that spot for 3 laps.

When the green flag dropped for the re-start, Joey Logano, driving the #20 Gibbs Racing Toyota, eased past Morgan to claim the lead. This is the same #20 that is on a blistering pace to claim the title for most race victories this year.

Watching the race unfold over the next couple of laps, fans of the #89 received a rare treat as Morgan battled to hold onto 2nd place.

Hanging tough, Shepherd refused to “roll over” as he was challenged. Racing on the outside, Morgan and the #89 battled back and forth as faster, better-sponsored teams began to slowly edge past him.

Fans were treated to a rare glimpse of Morgan’s racing skills as he more than held his own against superior equipment.

And now – for the bad news.

This exciting display was all too short as Morgan was eventually shuffled back to 9th place where he ran for but a short time.

As the laps continued to unfold, the #89 started dropping to the rear of the pack. Brake overheating was taking a toll on the handling of the car and Morgan was forced to park the car after some 34 laps, winding up with a 37th place finish.

While many of Morgan’s fans had hopes of another top 20 finish, this particular night showed, once again, that Morgan Shepherd and the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge Charger can race with NASCAR’s best and the only thing keeping this team from great success on the track is sponsor money.

Next Up: Indianapolis

Pop Quiz: Can anyone guess who holds the record for the MOST WINS at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis?

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You can follow the inspiring story of this team and read more about Morgan Shepherd and Racing with Jesus at the team’s website – www.racewithfaith.com. In addition to the team’s site, Jeff Parnell of KingdomWinners.com is writing a weekly blog of the team’s exploits at Christian Business Daily.

Read more of this inspiring story

….. to be continued…..