Racing With Jesus – Phoenix

This past Friday, the Nationwide NASCAR series was in Phoenix for the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 race. Most of Morgan’s fanbase was anticipating another race in which he was able to run for a short period and then be forced to pull in.

Instead, we were all treated to a truly memorable performance that night. Finishing in 34th place, Morgan ran a total of 127 out of the scheduled 200 laps. During his time on the track, his lap speeds were in the top 5 of those competing. The significance of this feat must be weighed in light of the competition – Jeff Burton, Kyle Bush, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer – the list goes on.

Image courtesy of thehotlap.com

From Faith Motorsports PR:

AVONDALE, AZ – Morgan Shepherd turned in his best performance of the short 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series season to date, earning a 34th place finish in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway Friday night.

Shepherd ran on the lead lap for the first portion of the race and later earned the Lucky Dog pass to get back on the lead lap again near the mid-point of the 200 mile race.

Had it not been for a misunderstanding that lead to a collision under caution, Shepherd was hoping for a much better night.

“We battled and battled and got back on the lead lap and under the caution we had pitted and was ready to go green when another car ran into our right rear and cut the tire down,” Shepherd said. “We had to come in just as they went green and went down two laps before we got back up to speed.”

Shepherd said earlier in the race the driver had pinched him down in a corner, causing the candied-apple green Charger to get loose and wiggle up into the passing car a little.

“We just touched and didn’t even do any damage. I guess he thought I hit him on purpose and under caution he wanted to let me know that.”

Shepherd said that while the incident put a major damper on the team’s best performance of the season, he considers it over.

“I had our spotter relay a message to them that we don’t race that way.”

Even running two laps down, Shepherd was able to keep the #89 Racing With Jesus Dodge running with the main pack of cars, sometimes turning in Top 5 lap times.

After the mid point of the race the car’s handling went away as the track temperatures cooled off and the tires fell off.

“We made a major adjustment to try to get the car to work better and it didn’t work. We needed to go under the hood and lower the front end, but we just didn’t have the people.”

The crew also had went through all of the tires it was able to purchase.

Shepherd said he would like to thank the crews from drivers Kevin Harvick and Brett Rowe for loaning personnel to supplement the #89’s pit crew. Harvick’s team provided a gas and catch-can man, as well as two tire carriers. Rowe’s #05 team provided a jack man after he fell out of the race early. Shepherd’s Racing With Jesus crew handled adjustments and tire changing, he said.

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…..