182 Facts About Morgan Shepherd

Clay Morgan Shepherd was born on October 12,1941 and is an American retired professional stock car racing driver and current team owner.

Morgan Shepherd last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Ventures.

Morgan Shepherd is a born again Christian who serves as a lay minister to the racing community.

Morgan Shepherd competed in NASCAR for over 50 years, having one of the longest careers in the sport.

Morgan Shepherd holds the record for oldest driver to start a race NASCAR's top three series at age 77, as well as oldest starter in the NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2014 Camping World RV Sales 301 at age 72.

Morgan Shepherd's racing career began in 1967 when he started racing Late models at Hickory Motor Speedway nearby his home.

Morgan Shepherd proved to be fast but he crashed out quite often in his early days.

In 1968, Morgan Shepherd started racing full-time at a Hobby division in Hickory, driving a 1955 Chevy.

The next year Morgan Shepherd drove the same car this time with a 1957 Chevy body on the car.

Morgan Shepherd did not win another race that year after putting a 1966 Chevy body on the car.

Morgan Shepherd built his own cars and raced at several different racetracks in the Southeast.

Morgan Shepherd was looking to get control of his life, and his career got back on track in 1975.

Morgan Shepherd took every racing opportunity he was offered and drove for 17 different car owners during 1975.

Morgan Shepherd finished second in the NASCAR Sportsman national championship to L D Ottinger.

At last, Morgan Shepherd got his big break in 1978 after he met Cliff Stewart, who owned a western North Carolina furniture factory.

Morgan Shepherd made his Winston Cup Series debut in 1970 at Hickory Motor Speedway, driving the No 93 Chevy for Bill Flowers.

Morgan Shepherd started tenth but finished nineteenth out of twenty-two cars due to rear-end failure.

Morgan Shepherd made two more starts for Flowers that year but failed to finish in both of them.

Morgan Shepherd's best finish that year was a fourteenth place at Hickory.

Morgan Shepherd first attempted the Daytona 500 that year but he failed to make the race.

Later that year Morgan Shepherd took his first top-ten finish at Dover International Speedway.

Morgan Shepherd ran two additional races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Morgan Shepherd stayed with Makar for the 1978 season, qualifying for his first Daytona 500.

Morgan Shepherd started the race in 37th place but only finished 40th when his engine failed after only eight laps.

Morgan Shepherd only ran one additional race that season, finishing twelfth at Charlotte.

Morgan Shepherd only attempted the Daytona 500 with Makar in 1979, but failed to make the race.

Morgan Shepherd moved to the Winston Cup Series full-time in 1981, driving the No 5 Pontiac for Cliff Stewart.

Morgan Shepherd took pole position in his first race for Stewart at Richmond, finishing the race in fourth position.

Morgan Shepherd dominated the race and led a total of 203 laps.

Morgan Shepherd left Stewart's team after the Talladega 500 after he had a falling out with his team.

Morgan Shepherd moved to Benfield's team full-time in 1982, driving the No 98 Buick.

Morgan Shepherd won the pole at Nashville and Atlanta, respectively, but retired from both those races with engine troubles.

Morgan Shepherd finished tenth in points that season with a total of thirteen top-ten finishes.

Morgan Shepherd tried to qualify for the Daytona 500 driving for Bud Reeder; however, he failed to make the race.

Morgan Shepherd then drove the Richmond 400 for Wayne Beahr but did not finish the race.

Morgan Shepherd returned to Cecil Gordon for the TranSouth 500 and later drove the Virginia National Bank 500 for Emanuel Zervakis.

Morgan Shepherd scored thirteen top-ten finishes during the rest of the season, with a best finish of second at Firecracker 400.

Morgan Shepherd started off his 1984 season at Richmond driving the No 2 Buick for Robert Harrington.

Morgan Shepherd drove two races for Charlie Henderson early in the season.

Morgan Shepherd made one start for Phil Barkdoll at Michigan finishing the race in the 22nd position.

Ulrich and the No 52 Chevy for Jimmy Means, Morgan Shepherd drove six races for Roger Hamby.

Morgan Shepherd had two top twenty finished for Hamby, with a best finish of twelfth at Richmond.

Morgan Shepherd made another start for Ulrich at Charlotte, before rounding off the season driving the No 98 Chevy for Ron Benfield.

Morgan Shepherd scored his only top ten finish that season at Rockingham, finishing in sixth position.

Morgan Shepherd finished his first Daytona 500 in 1985, driving the No 67 Chrysler for Buddy Arrington.

Morgan Shepherd spent the rest of the season going from ride to ride.

Morgan Shepherd made a start for Petty Enterprises at the TranSouth 500.

Morgan Shepherd fielded his own car at Talladega, finishing the race in thirteenth place.

Morgan Shepherd made four races for Bobby Hawkins, with a best finish of fifth at Atlanta.

Morgan Shepherd made most of his starts that season for Helen Rae Smith, but failed to finish all of those seven races.

Morgan Shepherd moved to the team of Jack Beebe in 1986, driving on a part-time basis.

Morgan Shepherd had a good start to the season, finishing fourth at the 1986 Goodwrench 500.

At the next race in Atlanta, Morgan Shepherd led 97 laps and held off Dale Earnhardt to win his second career Winston Cup race.

Morgan Shepherd got very emotional at the final laps of the race.

Morgan Shepherd scored two additional top-ten finishes for RahMoc Enterprises and finished the season eighteenth in points.

Morgan Shepherd joined King Racing for the 1987 season, driving the No 26 Quaker State Buick Lesabre owned by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein.

Morgan Shepherd scored eleven top-ten finishes; seven of those were in the top five.

Morgan Shepherd led the early part of that race but retired after engine problems.

Morgan Shepherd switched to Tom Winkle's team for the 1988 season.

Morgan Shepherd had a good start to the season, with a pole at Richmond and a top-ten at Rockingham.

However, after that race Morgan Shepherd started racing for his own team, driving a Buick.

Morgan Shepherd led 110 laps at Dover, eventually finishing second to Bill Elliott.

Morgan Shepherd led the most laps at the Talladega DieHard 500 but eventually finished the race in sixth place.

Morgan Shepherd led the early parts of that race but lost his chance of winning the race after contact with Geoff Bodine.

Morgan Shepherd moved to Bud Moore Engineering for the 1990 season, driving the No 15 Ford.

Morgan Shepherd had a great start to the season finishing in the top ten in each of the first eleven races.

Morgan Shepherd took the championship lead for the first time in his career after the Budweiser 500.

Morgan Shepherd had a difficult midseason, losing the points lead and dropping to tenth in the standings after the Tyson Holly Farms 400.

Morgan Shepherd ended his season on a high after winning his third career race at the season finale at Atlanta.

Morgan Shepherd finished fifth in the final points standings, which would turn out to be a career-high.

Morgan Shepherd stayed with Bud Moore for the 1991 season, but had a more up and down season than the year before.

Morgan Shepherd had his best run of the season at North Wilkesboro, where Shepherd led a total of 41 laps and just missed out on the win.

Morgan Shepherd joined Wood Brothers Racing in 1992, driving the No 21 Citgo Ford.

Morgan Shepherd came short of winning the Daytona 500, finishing second to Davey Allison.

Morgan Shepherd had a good run at Dover early in the season, where he led 52 laps, but he dropped back at the end of the race.

Morgan Shepherd scored a total of fifteen top-ten finishes during the season.

Morgan Shepherd became the second-oldest race winner when he won the spring race at Atlanta at the age of 51 years, 4 months, and 27 days.

Morgan Shepherd took the race lead with 12 laps to go and cruised across the finish line.

Morgan Shepherd continued his good run for the Wood Brothers in 1994.

Morgan Shepherd equaled his career-best top-tens in one season with sixteen, nine of those were top-five finishes.

Morgan Shepherd came close to winning his fourth race at Atlanta, but just came short and finished second to Ernie Irvan.

Morgan Shepherd came close to winning the Mello Yello 500 at the end of the season but was passed by Dale Jarrett during the last four laps of the race.

Morgan Shepherd finished sixth in the final points standings with a career-best 4029 points in a season.

Morgan Shepherd stayed with the Wood Brothers for the 1995 season.

Morgan Shepherd had a decent season but dropped to eleventh in the points standings.

Morgan Shepherd had his best run at Loudon, where Shepherd finished second to Jeff Gordon.

Morgan Shepherd signed for Butch Mock Motorsports to drive for them in the 1996 season, driving their No 75 Ford with sponsorship from Remington Arms.

Morgan Shepherd scored five top-tens during the season, with a best finish of fifth at the Brickyard 400.

Morgan Shepherd had a good run going at the Miller 400, where Shepherd led 44 laps in the early part of the race.

Morgan Shepherd moved to Precision Products Racing for the 1997 season, driving the No 1 Pontiac.

Morgan Shepherd finished tenth at the Goodwrench Service 400, scoring his first top-ten of the year.

Morgan Shepherd had his best run of the season in Atlanta.

Morgan Shepherd looked strong all race and was a contender for the win, but eventually he finished the race in third place.

Morgan Shepherd struggled at Jasper Motorsports and only managed to qualify for five of the eleven races he entered with the team.

Morgan Shepherd's best finish for the rest of the season was a twelfth place at Talladega Superspeedway.

Morgan Shepherd had a good run at Talladega, where he qualified in fifth place.

Morgan Shepherd left the team late in the season and closed the year in the No 8 Chevy for the Stavola Brothers.

Morgan Shepherd had a good run and was running in the top ten, until he made contact with Jeff Gordon and wrecked, finishing 39th.

Morgan Shepherd attempted the 1999 Daytona 500 for Pinnacle Motorsports, but he failed to make the race.

Morgan Shepherd made his only Cup start that season the following week at North Carolina in the No 90 Ford Taurus for Donlavey Racing, where he started 39th and finished 32nd, five laps down.

In May 1999, Morgan Shepherd announced he was partnering with Rhea Fain to field the No 05 Wendy's Pontiac.

Morgan Shepherd only attempted one race in 2000, driving the No 80 Ford for Hover Motorsports in the season finale at Atlanta.

Morgan Shepherd failed to make the race as Shepherd set the 49th-fastest time in qualifying.

Morgan Shepherd returned to Hover Motorsports for the 2001 Daytona 500, but failed to qualify.

Morgan Shepherd attempted the season finale at Loudon driving for his own team, but he failed to make the race.

Morgan Shepherd started racing for his own team on a part-time basis in 2002, driving the No 89 Ford.

Morgan Shepherd attempted his first race at Loudon, qualifying in 43rd position.

Morgan Shepherd made six more attempts in the No 89 and qualified for three of them, with his best finish of 40th at Kansas.

Morgan Shepherd made two additional starts for Ware Racing Enterprises, but he failed to make the race at Dover and Talladega.

Morgan Shepherd had to cut back on his Cup schedule in 2003 and only attempted seven races that year.

Morgan Shepherd started his season at the Pocono 500, but was the slowest car in qualifying and did not make the race.

Morgan Shepherd did make the race at the New England 300 where he parked after 43 laps and finished in last position.

Morgan Shepherd attempted four additional races that season but failed to make any of those races.

Morgan Shepherd had a good start to the season, qualifying for the first race he attempted at Las Vegas.

The No 89 team did not have sufficient sponsorship money to complete the races, so Morgan Shepherd sometimes had to park his car early to save money.

Morgan Shepherd had his best run at the spring race of Martinsville, finishing in 32nd position.

Morgan Shepherd ran the full race at the summer Daytona race, finishing in 33rd place.

Morgan Shepherd started his 500th Cup start at the Siemens 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

Morgan Shepherd attempted to qualify for the 2005 Daytona 500 but missed the race after he was caught up in a wreck during the Gatorade Duels.

Morgan Shepherd eventually managed to qualify for four of the 21 races he entered that season.

Morgan Shepherd's team had to cut on their schedule and only entered 15 races that year.

Morgan Shepherd failed to qualify for the first 9 races he entered in 2006.

Morgan Shepherd failed to make any additional races for the rest of the year.

Morgan Shepherd shut down his cup team after the season and moved to the Busch Series for 2007.

Morgan Shepherd ran the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Brian Keselowski Motorsports, his first Sprint Cup race since 2006, becoming the oldest driver to race in the Sprint Cup at an age of 71 years, nine months and two days, and breaking the previous record held by Jim Fitzgerald, who ran at Riverside International Raceway in 1987 at age 65.

Morgan Shepherd started 41st and finished in the same spot in a start-and-park effort, completing 92 of 301 laps.

Morgan Shepherd attempted to make the 2014 Daytona 500 in the No 93 for BK Racing in collaboration with MacDonald Motorsports, but failed to qualify.

At the following race at Phoenix, Morgan Shepherd drove Joe Nemechek's No 87 Toyota, extending his record as the oldest driver to compete in a Cup Series race.

Morgan Shepherd ran the 2014 Camping World RV Sales 301 for Circle Sport Racing.

Morgan Shepherd was the subject of a Joey Logano complaint when the 24-year old Logano was involved in an accident with Shepherd.

Logano was credited with a 40th-place finish while Morgan Shepherd, who was the last car running, albeit 27 laps behind the leaders, finished 39th.

Morgan Shepherd had last finished a Cup race at the 2004 Pepsi 400.

Morgan Shepherd made his Busch Series debut at Hickory Motor Speedway in 1982, the series' inaugural season.

At Hickory, Morgan Shepherd won his first race in only his second start in the series.

Morgan Shepherd scored a total of eight top-five finishes that season, earning the pole position twice.

In 1983 Morgan Shepherd drove 18 races for Whitaker, winning at Bristol and Richmond International Raceway, but dropping to eighteenth in the final standings.

Morgan Shepherd finished in the top-ten six times that season, winning a total of three races at Bristol, Indianapolis Raceway Park, and Martinsville.

Morgan Shepherd stayed with Lindy White for 1985 but had a difficult season.

Morgan Shepherd had his best Busch series season in 1986, winning four races, all of them for Whitaker.

Morgan Shepherd made his first start for his own team at Martinsville, but retired at lap 133 due to steering problems.

Morgan Shepherd continued to enter his own car for the 1987 season, driving the No 97 Buick.

Morgan Shepherd started the year with a fifth-place finish at Daytona.

Morgan Shepherd dominated the early part of the race but retired from the race on 101 after an axle broke on the car.

At Road Atlanta Morgan Shepherd scored his second win of the season.

At Darlington Morgan Shepherd led 42 laps but finished second to Harry Gant.

Morgan Shepherd won final race of the season at Rockingham after a photo finish with Geoff Bodine.

The highlight of the season was a lone win at Indianapolis Raceway Park after Morgan Shepherd took the lead with 7 laps to go.

Morgan Shepherd cut back on his Busch schedule in 1989, only running two races in his No 97.

Morgan Shepherd made two starts for David Pearson, winning the pole at Bristol.

Morgan Shepherd dominated the early part of that race but retired halfway through the race after having handling issues.

In 1990 Morgan Shepherd made three starts in his No 97 Ford with a best finish of third at Rockingham.

Morgan Shepherd made nine starts for Mike Swaim finishing fourth at Nazareth and Loudon.

For 1991 Morgan Shepherd increased his schedule to sixteen races with sponsorship from Texas Pete Sauces.

Morgan Shepherd's season was plagued by mechanical problems and Shepherd only finished four races, with a best of fifth at Richmond.

Morgan Shepherd had a good run going at Loudon but retired after 203 laps.

Morgan Shepherd's best finish of the season was a third-place at Charlotte.

Morgan Shepherd continued to race his No 21 Ford till the 1995 season.

Morgan Shepherd struggled to get results and could only score three top-ten finishes in sixteen races.

Morgan Shepherd made two starts for Bobby Jones Racing in the 1996 season, but he failed to finish any of those races.

Morgan Shepherd returned to Jones for two races in 1997 with a best finish of sixteenth at Bristol.

Morgan Shepherd entered his own car for two races but only managed to qualify for the race at Michigan.

In 1998 Morgan Shepherd made one start for Mac Martin at Fort Worth.

Morgan Shepherd entered his own car for two races but failed to qualify for both of those races.

Later that season Morgan Shepherd made two attempts for Ed Whitaker but he failed to qualify for those races as well.

Morgan Shepherd joined Xpress Motorsports for the race at Rockingham and qualified in the eleventh position.

Morgan Shepherd joined Davis Motorsports for the 2003 season, driving their No 0 and No 70 Chevy.

Morgan Shepherd's best finish was an 11th-place finish at Talladega.

In 2004 Morgan Shepherd made 9 attempts with a bunch of different teams.

In 2006 Morgan Shepherd returned to Davis Motorsports and made five starts in a start and park effort.

Morgan Shepherd would start and park the majority of the schedule but did qualify for 16 of the 20 races he attempted in his self owned Dodge.

For 2008, Morgan Shepherd announced intentions to run the full Nationwide Series schedule for the first time in his career.

The alliance would run as Morgan Shepherd Racing Ventures and would allow Morgan Shepherd to drive the 21 car to keep it up in owner points, as well as run full-time with limited sponsorship from Zaxby's.

The 89 Faith Motorsports Chevy would run as a start and park effort when Morgan Shepherd was behind the 21.

Morgan Shepherd did become the oldest driver to lead a Nationwide Series race when he led 3 laps at Richmond.

Morgan Shepherd stated that he did not know if or when he would be attending another race event in 2013 due to non-funding.

Morgan Shepherd returned at Richmond, but again failed to make the race.

Morgan Shepherd did qualify for the next race at Talladega, but retired on lap 72 because of a fuel pressure problem.

Morgan Shepherd became the oldest driver to lead a Nationwide Series race at the age of 70 when he led 3 laps in the 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

Morgan Shepherd extended this record when he led one lap in the 2016 Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Morgan Shepherd was 74 during this race, he again extended the record when he led during the 2016 Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona.

Morgan Shepherd has been married to his sixth wife, Cindy since 1994.

In November 2020, Morgan Shepherd revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.