Morgan Shepherd has been around NASCAR as a journeyman racer since the early 1980's. In fact, records show he started nine races in 1970 - 1979, but he hit the circuit fulltime in the 1981 season. He has four wins, the last in 1993. His career, especially the last few years, has been a series of relatively short stints in good, but mid-pack destined rides, such as the one shown here.
For 1997, Morgan teamed up with the Richard Jackson's #1 team, and they were able to land DELCO REMY for what was to be a one-shot deal at Daytona, along with "Cruisin' America" phone cards, and some other minor sponsors. This sponsorship was extended, allowing them to race until mid-season, when sponsorship was about to disappear, and Jackson talked of parking the team. Morgan left for the greener pastures of the #77 JASPER team, only to return to the #1 team near the end of the season for the last few races, with R&L Carriers sponsorship.
Thus, the car shown here is one of NASCAR's "half-season wonders" that has become not uncommon among the mid to rear-pack runners as everyone scrambles to be able to afford to run with the "big dogs".
It was built using MONOGRAM's John Deere Pontiac, along with an excellent decal set from SLIXX, and represents the car as it appeared at the 1997 Daytona 500, where Morgan started in the mid -thirties, and finished 29th overall.
Along with the usual wiring, oil lines, etc, the "Earnhardt Bar" had to be added in the middle of the front windscreen area, as mandated by NASCAR after Dale's 1996 Talledega accident. I also removed the material from the grille and substituted photo-etch screening for added realism.
If you are just starting out in NASCAR modelling or the use of aftermarket decals, you could hardly do better than to try this one. Entire body is painted white, and the decals fit well, and snug down beautifully with a little Microset@. Clearcoating is optional, I chose to apply several fine coats of Tamiya TS-13 clear from a heated (hot tap water) rattle can to get better gloss and to protect he decals. Just be sure to give the decals a couple days to dry, and be patient in applying the clear, using light coats - don't worry about the orange-peel, it flows out - with 2hrs+ drying in between.
For 1998, Jackson and Shepherd were to team up again, but with the number 14, as Jackson had sold his team number to Earnhardt for his new team, to be used on Steve Park's car. Unfortunately, in '98, Jackson's team never got off the ground, and Morgan was forced into fill-in roles most of the year, as he could not catch a steady ride.
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