LEBANON, Tenn. — 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.”
This article was originally featured at SpeedwayMedia.com.
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