Morgan's first time driving a Texas Pete sponsored car came in the 1988 BGN season, when he drove Hubert Hensley's #63 Texas Pete Chevrolet in the season finale "Winston Classic" @ Martinsville~ He started the race in 9th, and finished in 6th place~ This was also the only time Shepherd ever drove for Hensley, who had 11 wins during his 21 year tenure in the BGN series as an owner~
His next race in a Texas Pete sponsored car came in the 1990 BGN season~ He drove 9 of those races for Mark Swaim, and 2 for his own #97 team~ The races he ran for Swaim was in the #9 car, except in the True Value Oxford 250 @ Oxford, when the car was renumbered to #18, due to Joe Bessey being in the #9 car~
Back then, if a driver had your number, whoever qualified the lowest had to change their number for the race~ It most famously happened to Jeff Gordon, driving the #1 Baby Ruth car in the 1992 Budweiser 300 @ Loudon~ Gordon qualified 44th, in the 46 car field, so Busch North driver Tony Hirschman, who qualified 22nd, got the #1 for the race, while Gordon had to change his car to number 4~
Morgan Shepherd at Oxford in the #18 car~
His first race in the #97 car came in the 1990 running of the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte, where he started dead last in the 40 car field, and finished in 36th after his engine expired~ He next drove it in the 1990 AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, and after qualifying 18th, drove the car home to his 3rd top 5 of the season, with a 3rd place finish~ Steve Grissom won the race in his #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile, his 3rd win of the season~
Shepherd ran 16 races in the 1991 BGN series, and drove all of them in his own #97 Texas Pete Ford~ The season started out pretty darn good, with Shepherd picking up top 10's in the first 2 events, with a 7th place showing in the season opener @ Daytona, and a 6th place finish in the Pontiac 200 @ Richmond~ It seemed like Morgan was going to have great success in the series that season, and then... disaster struck~
Morgan Shepherd #97 Texas Pete hero card~
Morgan began to have a slew of bad luck, resulting in one of the poorest seasons I've ever seen~ He started 7th in the Pontiac 200 @ Darlington, but his engine blew, resulting in a 35th place finish~ His next race was in the Budweiser 250 @ Bristol, where he started 25th, and was involved in a crash on lap 45 which ended his day, finishing 31st~ In the Pontiac 200 (there were a ton of Pontiac 200's apparently.. haha) @ Nazareth, Morgan put the car 11th on the starting grid, but a blown engine regulated him a 35th place finish~
He again qualified in the 11th spot for the Champions 300 @ Charlotte, but.. you guessed it... another blown engine knocked him out of competition, and he finished 30th~ In the Budweiser 200 @ Dover, he started in the 7th position, but handling issues ended his day on lap 74, and he came home in 28th place~
He next ran in the Fay's 150 @ Watkins Glen, where he qualified in 5th place, but once again was foiled by that pesky engine, and finished 26th~ In the Budweiser 300 @ Loudon, ignition issues plagued his day, and he ended the day in 39th place~ He was involved in a crash in the Kroger 200 @ IRP, and came home 32nd~ The same goes for the Jay Johnson 250 @ Bristol, where a crash on lap 129 resulted in a 27th place finish~
Custom Racing Champions card~
I hate to continue being the bearer of bad news, but in the Gatorade 200 @ Darlington, ignition problems reared their ugly heads once more, and Morgan finished in 35th place~ He did however have 1 more shining moment in the season, with a 5th place finish in the Autolite 200 @ Richmond~ He even led a lap in the race~ In the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte, Shepherd qualified on the outside of the front row, but his engine blew on the 3rd lap of the race, and he finished in 41st place~
He ran his final race in the #97 Texas Pete car @ Rockingham, in the AC-Delco 200, and started the race in 19th place~ You just know what happened, don't you?~ Yeah, that's right.. he blew an engine on lap 82, and finished the race in 36th spot~ That concluded his 1991 BGN season, as well as his tenure with sponsor Texas Pete, as they left at the end of the season~ In 16 races, he netted 1 top 5, and 3 top 10's, while leading 9 laps, and finishing 32nd in the final points standings~
Morgan Shepherd #97 Texas Pete Sauces Ford~
This car was done by me in Photoshop, and isn't an actual Racing Champions car~ It does give you an idea of how cool it would look if they did make one, though~ The car never had red rims, but I thought it would look cooler, so I made them red~ I used the 1991 Sears set exclusive #91 Ford to make this one~ I'm not the best at Photoshop, but I think it looks decent, and I'm proud I was able to make it look as good as it does~
Black and red are 2 of the best color combinations out there, in my opinion.. and this car really pops~ It was one of my favorites as a kid, and it's awesome to see it again in its current form~ I don't care that it's just a "fantasy" car, I still have to give it an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, because it's easily one of my favorite cars of all time~
Morgan Shepherd continues to race in the BGN series (I know what it's really called) today, and although he operates on a shoestring budget, can still qualify the car pretty well~ I can almost guarantee that if he was in a decent car, he could still pick up top 20 finishes on a regular basis~ He a man who deserves respect, but rarely gets it in this day and age~ I'm very proud of him for all he has done, and continues to do for the sport~ Below are some clips from Morgan's career... enjoy them, and thank you all for stopping by the blog~ :)
All of Morgan's Cup wins~
Morgan being awesome and destroying Logano~
Morgan Shepherd interview~
Top 10 unluckiest drivers - #10 Morgan Shepherd~
SINCERELLY CAR VERY COOL
ReplyDeletei'm motived for realized the car of Morgan Scheperd of the team TEXAS PETEE in custom
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