HAMPTON, GA - The four-week qualifying nightmare continued for Morgan Shepherd and his abbreviated crew at Atlanta Motor Speedway over the weekend.
Failing to make the starting field for the fourth consecutive race has forced the team to cut its staff to the bare minimum and rely on help from those willing to turn wrenches for free.
"NASCAR's licensing and drug testing rules make it impossible for volunteers to help like they used to, but we had a few guys who were licensed help us at Atlanta," Shepherd said. In addition to his two remaining crew members and two-person office staff, a laid-off crew member volunteered his time, and Shepherd said fellow driver Brett Rowe was at Atlanta helping the team prepare the car.
"Brett has helped us at numerous races this year. I really appreciate his knowledge of the race car and his willingness to come with us when he can to help," Shepherd said.
Rowe, who drives for Faith's sister team, Herd Racing, will likely also help at Richmond, as may Herd's other driver, Virginia native Chad Beahr, a former Shepherd crew chief from Faith's 2006 Cup team.
"We have made some changes to the cars and we hope it pays off at Richmond," Shepherd said. "We need to get in a couple races to get back on our feet. It isn't possible to dig out this year, but if we can make some races we can finish out the year. We really need to run the whole schedule if we can and wait to see what happens with the Top 30 cars over the winter."
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