Racing With Jesus – Darlington

Darlington.

One of the most storied race venues in all of NASCAR. Known as “The Lady In Black.” The track’s tagline is “Too Tough To Tame.” It is a racetrack that is filled with legend.

This track is merciless to all who dare to compete there. Seasoned drivers know that you don’t go into this track expecting to win. You hope to be able to finish the race intact.

The real key to success, according to those who’ve been there is to “race the track” not the other cars.

Practice and Qualifying

Both practice and qualifying took a heavy toll on the drivers and their cars. There were some big names in the sport that didn’t survive the run-up to the race.

Morgan Shepherd drove the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge into 24th place in the initial practice session and managed to turn in a solid qualifying run locking him into 28th for the start of the race.

The Race

For the second week in a row, Tony Stewart stepped up and bought the tires for the race. As fans, we thank Tony for his generosity in providing this under-funded team an opportunity to show what it’s capable of doing.

In a conversation with Dana Tomes, the General Manager for Faith Motorsports, Dana talked about the relationship that Morgan has with Tony and how Tony grew up idolizing Morgan. He commented that “Tony loves Morgan,” and is delighted to be able to contribute to Morgan’s efforts.

The race was everything fans anticipated. Filled with action and taking its toll on a number of competitors. This is usually one of the more exciting race venues to watch and this week’s event was no disappointment.

Throughout the majority of the race, Morgan kept pace running in 24th to 27th position until the race neared the closing laps.

(Image courtesy of the Hotlap)

With about 40 laps to go, Morgan had slipped into 27th following a round of pit stops. As the laps started to wind down, the race ticker revealed what was happening. 27th place. Then 24th. Then 22nd.

Morgan was on the move, making a closing charge to move up.

As the race entered into the final 10 laps, Morgan Shepherd moved into 20th place. Like Talladega, the fan forum at Morgan’s website was lit up like a Christmas tree.

With the big-money teams dropping like flies, the unsponsored Racing With Jesus Dodge, driven by 66 year-old Morgan Shepherd had managed to avoid the carnage of the night and was closing on the leaders.

With only 4 laps to go, a major wreck involving several of the front-runners sent several teams to the garage for the night resulting in another green-white-checker dash for the finish line.

As Tony Stewart crossed the finish line in his first-ever win at Darlington, the cameras revealed a truly inspiring effort as Morgan continued to battle for position, pulling out for a last-lap effort to pass yet one more car.

It was a time of celebration on the Race With Faith website as Morgan drove to a 16th place finish.

We pray that God continues to bless this team as the events of the last 3 races illustrate how the Lord is able to “make much with little.”

You can watch the video of the closing laps by clicking here, and then selecting “Final Laps: Stewart Wins At Darlington.” (Video link from NASCAR.com)

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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…..