🇺🇸 Morgan Shepherd

Morgan Shepherd was a semi-professional stock car racing driver who raced for over three decades in NASCAR's national series. He competed primarily in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 1982 to 2019, running 453 starts for Shepherd Racing Ventures, a team he owned. He also made two starts in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2013 and 2015. Shepherd raced ovals almost exclusively; 435 of his 453 Xfinity starts came on oval tracks.[1]

Across his 455 starts, Shepherd recorded 15 wins and 28 podiums. His most recent activity came in 2019, when he competed in 12 rounds of the Xfinity Series before finishing 34th in the championship standings. His career spanned 34 seasons from 1982 onwards, making him one of the longest-tenured drivers in NASCAR.[2]

Shepherd raced in fields that mixed amateurs, semi-professionals and graded professionals on the same grid. Among his regular opponents were Jeff Green, a 2000 Xfinity champion with whom Shepherd typically finished ahead, and Mike Wallace, a professional-level driver against whom Shepherd more often finished behind. On occasion Shepherd finished ahead of drivers who went on to elite professional careers; he beat Denny Hamlin, later a 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion, six times across their Xfinity meetings, and finished ahead of Joey Logano three times. The headlines that marked the end of his racing career noted his age; he was 77 when his final indexed Xfinity start took place.