Racing With Jesus – Gateway

Taking the lessons from the Chicago race to heart, Morgan Shepherd and the Racing With Jesus team used the short time between races to test the team’s 2 intermediate track cars at the Shelor Motor Mile in Virginia hoping to improve its performance over the coming weeks.

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?

**********

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…..