89 Morgan Shepherd

YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RECAP

2011: Finished 21st in series points. … Attempted full schedule for fourth consecutive season in his own Faith Motorsports equipment and successfully made all 34 races, with best points position since 1983. … Best start, 21st at Phoenix-2. … Best finish, 18th at Las Vegas. … Completed 76.7 percent of laps attempted. … Became 12th driver in series history to reach 300 career starts.

2010: Finished 28th in series points. … Attempted full schedule in his own cars for third straight year, deferring in one race (Homestead-Miami) to Johnny Chapman. … Made 27 races. … Best finish, 18th, at Gateway-2. … Completed 57.3 percent of laps attempted, one lap led. … Formed partnership with fellow owner Richard Childress midway through the season, running 13 races in Childress' No. 21 Chevrolet.

2009: Finished 30th in series points. … Attempted full schedule for the second consecutive year, driving his own cars. … In 21 races, and despite six DNFs (did not finish), completed a competitive 86.4 percent of laps attempted - best of his most recent four full seasons - and led three laps. … Best start was 10th, at Daytona-2, best finish was 13th, at Las Vegas.

2008: Finished 29th in series points. … Attempted full schedule for the first time in his series career - which began in 1982 with the series' formation - running his own Faith Motorsports equipment. … Made 27 races. … Best start, 14th at Daytona-2; best finish, 13th, at Talladega, his best series finish since an 11th at 'Dega in 2003.

2007: Finished 51st in series points. … Ran 21 of 35 races, five to start season for Johnny Davis and the rest in his own cars.

2006: Finished 95th in series points. … Ran just six races, five for Davis and one for Wayne Day.

2004: Finished 117th in series points. … Ran two races for Rick Ware.

2003: Finished 43rd in series points. … Ran 14 races, most in a 15-year stretch from 1992-2006, split between Davis and Dayne Miller. … Finished 11th at Talladega.

1999: Finished 94th in series points. … Ran one race, for Steve Coulter and scored 10th-place finish at North Carolina Speedway-2.

1998: Finished 111th in series points. … Ran one race, for Mac Martin at Texas.

1997: Finished 115th in series points. … Ran three races, two for Bobby Jones and one in his own car.

1996: Finished 83rd in series points. … Ran two races for Jones.

1995: Finished 45th in series points. … Ran seven races in his own No. 21 car and began with season-best start, sixth, and finish, fifth, at North Carolina Speedway-1.

1994: Finished 45th in series points. … Ran eight races in his own No. 21 Cheerwine Ford, with a best finish of seventh, at Daytona and a best start of fifth, at Darlington-1.

1993: Finished 96th in series points. … Ran one race, in his own No. 21 Ford, at Michigan but was involved in an accident with 10 laps to go after leading three laps.

1992: Finished 37th in series points. … Ran 11 races, had five top-10 starts, four top-10 finishes in his own Fords.

1991: Finished 32nd in series points. … Ran 16 races in his own No. 97 Texas Pete Sauces Ford, the most that he would run until he began competing fulltime, in 2008. … Had a top five, three top 10s.

1990: Finished 34th in series points. … Ran 12 races, for Dwight Huffman (one), Mike Swaim (nine) and himself (two). … Had two fourth-place finishes for Swaim (Nazareth, New Hampshire) and a third at North Carolina Speedway-2 in his own car.

1989: Finished 52nd in series points. … Ran seven races, for four owners. … Won pole at Bristol-2, finished sixth at Martinsville-3.

1988: Finished 24th in series points. … Ran 17 races, for four owners; won from the second starting position at Lucas Oil Raceway.

1987: Finished 24th in series points. … Ran 14 races, for three owners. … Won three times, at Bristol-1, Road Atlanta and North Carolina Speedway-2, and had eight top-10 finishes. … His 20th-place at Dover-2 broke a 43-race string of top-10 finishes in races in which he was running at the finish.

1986: Finished 24th in series points. … Ran 14 races, 13 for legendary owner Ed Whitaker and one for himself. … Won career-best four races (Martinsville-1, Bristol-1, Dover-2, North Carolina Speedway-2). … Had 11 top-10 starts, average start, 7.1. … Won at Dover from pole, and for the fifth consecutive season, every race in which he was running at the finish was a top 10.

1985: Finished 27th in series points. … Ran 11 races, for five different owners. … Had top 10s in every race he finished, for the fourth consecutive year.

1984: Finished 22nd in series points. … Ran 15 races, for Whitaker and Lindy White. … Had nine DNFs (did not finish) but won three times, including from the pole at Bristol-2. … Once again, every race he finished produced a top 10.

1983: Finished 18th in series points. … Ran 18 races for Whitaker. … Nine top fives were a career-high. … Registered at top-10 result in each of the races he finished.

1982: Finished career-best 11th in series points in the series' inaugural season. … Ran 11 races for Whitaker, after a long career competing NASCAR's national late model sportsman series. … Five-year streak began where he produced a top 10 in each race he finished. … Won from the pole at Hickory in his second career start, later won first of three career victories at Lucas Oil Raceway.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Has concentrated solely on the NASCAR Nationwide Series since 2009. … Raised as an avid mechanic, racing stock cars was virtually a natural offshoot for Shepherd, who also saw it as a way to earn a living. … After making an impact in late model sportsman competition, he made his debut in what would become the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1970, when he made three starts. …. He didn't race another NASCAR Sprint Cup event until 1977, but scored his first top-10 finish, 10th, at Dover-1, in his fourth career start. … After making eight starts over three seasons, he made a run for NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year in 1981, winning his first career pole in his ninth start, at Richmond-1. … He made 29 of 31 races that season with his first career victory in his 15th career start, at Martinsville-1, leading to a second-place finish behind Ron Bouchard in the rookie race. … Over his 29-year NASCAR Sprint Cup career, he finished in the top 10 in the standings four times - including a best of fifth in 1990 for NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore - and made 514 starts, with wins for such notable owners as Moore and the Wood Brothers, another NASCAR Hall of Fame organization. … His last Sprint Cup victory, in 1993 at Atlanta-2 for the Woods, made him the second-oldest winner in the sport's history, at 51. … Dabbled in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making a total of 55 starts between 1997-2008, including running more than half the races in three seasons between 2001-03, mostly in his own trucks.

NOTEWORTHY

Shepherd has competed in at least one of NASCAR's national series since 1970. … His 891 combined starts in NASCAR's three national series entering 2012 are 11th on all-time list. … Shepherd utilized a series of unique paint schemes during the 2011 season to celebrate many of the cars he's driven in his six-decade career. … Inducted into the Daytona Hall of Fame in 2011 along with crew chief Dale Inman, who also is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. … Thoroughly committed to helping others, he administers The Morgan Shepherd Charitable Fund that will celebrate its 26th anniversary in 2012 (www.morganshepherdcharitablefund.com). … Will turn 71 on the day of Charlotte-2 NASCAR Nationwide Series race in October. … Voted by fans into the Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame in 2010. … A 10-time grandfather thanks to his six children. … Two pet dogs offer some diversity: Bella, a Pomeranian and Charger, a German Shepherd.