The list of disappointments has ranged from the ordinary to the bizarre.
Shepherd got a call last year from a fan in Pennsylvania who said he'd won the lottery and wanted to help. Shepherd set up meetings with NASCAR and then found out the guy was a phony.
He's been picking up things wherever and whenever he can since. He has tested for the Wood brothers, driven ARCA and Busch cars, as well as several events in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He went to the Daytona 500 in 2001, but failed to qualify.
"I would be a good car owner, if someone believed in me," Shepherd says. "I've been talking to Ford, but nothing concrete yet."
What's Next?Since 1981 Shepherd has driven for 23 different car owners, counting one-race deals and the times he fielded a team himself. He's won four Winston Cup races and more than $7 million in his career, and is tied with Larry Pearson for eighth place on the Busch Series Grand National Division victory list with 15.
"Morgan's a much better driver than he gets credit for," says famed car owner Leonard Wood. "I thought he did a great job for us. The thing about him was the longer the race went green the better he looked. He was tough. And he was a great chassis (setup) guy."
Says Shepherd, "I still want to race. I haven't lost that desire. And I want to prove that life isn't over after 50. Harry Gant lost his desire to race at age 53, but he still could've won races. It's hard in later years in life as a driver because corporations won't spend their money on older guys."
For Shepherd, it's hard to be on the outside looking in-especially when you've been on the inside for as long as he has. "I can't even get a hard card (garage credentials) from NASCAR," Shepherd says. "They forget you pretty quick." But no matter, Shepherd's been there before.
"I was able to get involved in racing and learned the only way you were ever going to have anything was you have to be persistent and stay after it. I learned to build cars, to build engines," Shepherd says.
"It's a rich man's sport, but I'm one of the few people who's come into this sport without any kind of money background or any kind of support, other than just the poor people who helped me get there."