|
Call Dave Thomas a
cheerleader. Call him
pseudo public relations.
Call him another member
of Morgan Shepherd’s
Faith Motorsports racing
team.
Since starting with
the team in 2006, the
full-time Walgreens
truck driver and
part-time supporter of
Shepherd’s racing
ventures has been there
for the team through the
thick and the thin,
doing anything he can to
lend a helping hand.
“I said give me a
shirt and a hat and I’ll
be a salesman,” Thomas
said of his beginnings
with the team in 2006.
“We’ve always run on
faith.”
Like many Faith
Motorsports employees,
Thomas isn’t in it for
the money, but rather
the message and a love
of racing. Thomas said
most of the motivation
comes from Shepherd, who
at 67, continues to run
full-time on the
Nationwide circuit and
came into Nashville
locked in to race.
“(Morgan) will race
until he dies,” Thomas
said. “It’s all he
knows.”
After playing the
start and park game for
years in the Cup series
where purses were high,
competition was high,
but the entry fee even
higher, Shepherd moved
his operation to the
Nationwide Series.
Although the No. 89
car started 39th at
Nashville and finished
31st, Shepherd isn’t
losing his bearings over
poor performances,
saying that he knows
this year’s team is
different than years
past.
“Last year this time
we would have been sent
home, so we are very
thankful to have those
points there when we
need them,” Shepherd
said.
Building his team to
the “locked in” position
of a major NASCAR series
has been a long road
dating back to his
self-ownership
beginnings in 2001’s
Victory in Jesus Racing,
a truck team that made
16 starts and recorded a
best finish of 11th at
Daytona.
Now, with the
assistance of
businessman Dana Tomes
and Echo First, Shepherd
can fund Faith
Motorsports full-time in
the Nationwide Series.
In 2009, the team
finished 19th at
California and 13th at
Las Vegas -- the best
runs Shepherd has had in
quite awhile.
“We know we are still
better than what we have
been able to show so
far, but we are aware
that we continue to
improve and that is
good,” Shepherd said.
Without the efforts
of Tomes and NASCAR
driver Tony Stewart,
Shepherd would still be
starting and parking.
Stewart pays the No. 89
team’s tire bill each
week, meaning they can
practice and race on
separate sets.
Thomas suggested the
bill ran as much as
$7500 a week, and
without it, the team
wouldn’t have completed
221/225 laps at
Nashville last Saturday.
All in all, Thomas says
Faith Motorsports is
funded 70 percent from
outside help and 30
percent from Shepherd.
The team has faith in
the car and the people
around them, but Thomas
said it isn’t always
easy.
“It’s like a
Christian lifestyle,”
Thomas said. “There are
ups and downs and it’s
hard sometimes, but it’s
always worth it in the
end.” |
