 BRISTOL, TN - Bristol Motor Speedway has been good to veteran driver Morgan Shepherd over the years, but the Friday night Food City 250 ended with multiple issues and disappointment.
"We didn't have the right chassis for this race and the setup was way off," said Shepherd. "The car was way too loose. We were slow in practice and qualifying and it's hard to make adjustments during this race. It's just so fast and you go down multiple laps quickly. Especially under long green flag runs like we had tonight."
Shepherd started the race 40th and cleared the start and park teams to settle in the 33rd position at the beginning of the race. Shepherd was fortunate enough to catch a caution and make adjustments, but by then he was two laps down to the leaders.
"Once we made adjustments it was a whole different car," said Shepherd. "Our lap times were not far off from the leaders." Then everything started to go sour for the #89 team. "We had to pit under green for a lose hood pin that was not properly inserted," said Shepherd. "Then we had to pit again for a flat front tire. Then the lug nuts were not tight and were cross-threaded."
By lap 161 of the 250 lap race, Shepherd had to radio in that something was wrong and he was going behind the wall.
"Something was really wrong and when we looked at the lug nuts, they were loose on both sides of the front wheels," said Shepherd. "That pretty much did us in. There wasn't enough time to fix it and gain anything." Shepherd finished the night in a disappointing 34th position.
One bright spot of the day for the Shepherd team was making a dream come true for a very special guest. Portsmouth, Ohio native Kyle Keaton, 23, who has Cystic Fibrosis and is in dire need of a double lung transplant was escorted down to Bristol by team sponsor ABLE EMS Medical Transportation Company from Kyle's hometown. Kyle's favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt Jr., and thanks to Morgan Shepherd's commitment to make lives a little better, a surprise meeting was arranged for Keaton with Earnhardt for pictures and autographs.
 "Morgan's people told me that we had to be somewhere at 2 pm," said Keaton. "I didn't know what was going on. They escorted me over to Dale Jr.'s hauler and that's when he walked up to me. I couldn't believe it! It was an awesome experience. The greatest day of my life that I'll never forget. Morgan and his team was so gracious the entire time. I'm definitely a big Morgan Shepherd fan."
"I can't imagine the courage it takes to deal with what Kyle has to go through everyday," said Shepherd. "If we can do something to make his life a little more tolerable and inspire him through this tough time. I'm all for it. That's what it's all about. I asked Dale if he'd do it, and he said no problem. I know we all have busy schedules. It was certainly generous of him to take time out of his schedule. It makes me feel good to do something for others during difficult times in their lives and put a smile on their face."
The Shepherd Race Team would like to thank ABLE EMS for their support as our title sponsor and FATZ Restaurants as our official food provider for the entire race weekend at Bristol. Fatz General Manager Brett Hadley of Bristol was also a guest of the team during the race event. Go to www.Fatz.com and find a FATZ restaurant near you during your next dining experience.
Story and photos compliments of Dave Pack.
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