Double Trouble In Memphis
Seeing Double?
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
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.
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….. to be continued…..
This is the one.The Lexington area is located between Memphis and Nashville. Business Plans