LASTCARonBROCK

A short six-minute video to kick off this week's action in Daytona. MUSIC: "Friendly Dance" - Nico Staf VIDEOS USED: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZQnMo0uMCHPzC7zjh0ANdZra9hic39e

For more than five decades, Morgan Shepherd has seen it all. He’s driven for more than twenty of NASCAR’s biggest teams, scoring each of his four Cup wins for a different organization. Three of those wins came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he was always a threat for victory. In 1999, at an age where most drivers would retire from the sport, Shepherd turned his attention to team ownership. With just one car, but many friends, he would gradually grow his team through a tumultuous 2004, laying the groundwork for the operation he and wife Cindy still run today. SPECIAL THANKS *Morgan Shepherd, for his interviews from 2017 through 2020, and his wife Cindy for helping arrange this latest interview. *Collin Maybee, for sponsoring this video and consulting on the script *Bill Mares, for contributing his stories and photos *Bryan Hallman at the BRH Racing Archives, for contributing his photos VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZQnMo0uMCEv4SPmAwZU2A01f7DKUL6v ARTICLES *41 WMGT. “69 Year Old NASCAR Driver Chases Down Thief In Las Vegas,” March 1, 2011; https://41nbc.com/2011/03/01/69-year-old-nascar-driver-chases-down-thief-in-las-vegas/ *Bonham, Chad. “A conversation with NASCAR legend Morgan Shepherd,” BeliefNet.com, February 2012; https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/inspiringathletes/2012/02/a-conversation-with-nascar-legend-morgan-shepherd.html *Gregory, Allen. “Morgan Shepherd Still Racing With Faith After 42 Years,” Bristol Herald Courier, August 21, 2009; https://heraldcourier.com/sports/morgan-shepherd-still-racing-with-faith-after-42-years/article_ad509472-cf41-55e5-aaba-ee3892078fa4.html *Long, Dustin. “Shepherd: We’ll go until we can’t go no more,” May 19, 2005; https://greensboro.com/sports_professional/auto_racing/shepherd-we-ll-go-until-we-can-t-go-no-more/article_f43ca0f2-5801-56be-8c63-95cd03486441.html *nascarman, “The NASCAR Christmas 500 in Australia,” Racing-reference.info, December 22, 2016; https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=2872 *nascarman, “The Ballad of Morgan Shepherd,” Racing-reference.info, October 12, 2017; https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=3118 *Sharp, Seth and Sutton. “Memory Lane: Morgan Shepherd,” KeepIt35.com, October 3, 2017; http://www.keepit35.com/memory-lane-morgan-shepherd/ *Whisenant, David. “At age 75, Morgan Shepherd still chases the checkered flag,” WBTV, February 10, 2017; https://www.wbtv.com/story/34477874/at-age-75-morgan-shepherd-still-chases-the-checkered-flag/ *Williams, Deb. “Morgan Shepherd,” NASCAR Illustrated, August 1990. UNCREDITED ARTICLES *Associated Press. “Shepherd Edges Marlin to Win NASCAR Race at Melbourne,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1988; https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-19-sp-407-story.html EBAY LINK FOR THAT CUSTOM GOLDENEYE CAR https://www.ebay.com/itm/Morgan-Shepherd-21-GoldenEye-007-Citgo-1995-Racing-Champions-1-64-Nascar-Custom/193770327359?hash=item2d1d9c8d3f:g:bLQAAOSwN3xfmZfQ WEBSITES *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *“Meet the Field Fillers. . .” Racing-Forums.com, forum thread started March 19, 2004. *Morgan Shepherd Racing; http://www.morganshepherdracing.com/morgan-shepherd.html *NASCAR.com *Racing-reference.info *RacingUnderdog.com, archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20041015083917/http://www.racingunderdog.com/index.htm *UltimateRacingHistory.com PHOTOS *Delbridge *eBay *@EdLovesNASCAR *Edwin Turner *Eric Gilbert *FSP *Getty Images *iRacing *Jack Walker Collection *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *JD Motorsports *Mike Russell *MorganShepherdRacing.com *Motorsport.com *Motorsport Images *NASCAR Images *RacersReunion.com *RacingOne.com *StanBoyd.com *Sugarfreeracing.com *Thomas Chemris

YOUTUBE PREMIERE FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 AT 8 P.M. EASTERN (5 P.M. PACIFIC), LIVESTREAM TO FOLLOW. The $5 and up members of my Patreon can watch the full 54-minute video NOW at http://patreon.com/lastcaronbrock

Phoenix Racing, one of the most notorious “start-and-parks” of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Season, was ironically one of the strongest underdogs in the field. With Jeff Purvis, the team quickly found victory lane in ARCA and the Busch Series, and with backing from the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, veterans like Geoffrey Bodine and Mike Wallace were turning heads on the superspeedways. Featuring an interview with James Finch, this is the story of one of the most successful independent teams – and one of its most unusual seasons. #RiseOfTheFieldFillers SPECIAL THANKS *James Finch, for his interview *Gabe Wood, for his additional info on the team’s 2004 campaign *Bryan Hallman, for his photos from Phoenix Racing’s history VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZQnMo0uMCGEmQdp4r9v146GsO0q5kC2 ARTICLES *“Background on Seminoles,” https://sites.rootsweb.com/~fltttp/seminoles/seminolebackground.htm *FOX Sports, “Big Sponsor Ditches Phoenix Racing,” FOX Sports, February 4, 2010. *Fryer, Jenna. “NASCAR calls Ruttman run ‘a sham.’” ESPN.com, February 24, 2004. *Gillis, Chad. “Voices of the Everglades,” News-Press, April 28, 2014; https://www.news-press.com/story/life/outdoors/2014/04/28/voices-of-the-everglades-florida-indians-pay-price-for-prosperity/8403947/ *Indianz.com / NASCAR.com, “Miccosukee Tribe cuts sponsorship for NASCAR driver,” Indianz.com, February 8, 2010 *@StartAndParkCar. “2004 Subway 400 (Joe Ruttman, Jams Finch S&P Debacle), April 19, 2020; https://docs.google.com/document/d/10qWoZO7SQlgABwqKy0p9bK3Ap1cJAQHSO3fDme2TSk8/edit?usp=drivesdk *Washington Post, “Subway 400 Sandwiched by Field-Fillers,” February 22, 2004; https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2004/02/22/subway-400-sandwiched-by-field-fillers/5e809905-c983-408c-8a72-e5395478627a/ PHOTOS *Alchetron.com *Bryan Hallman, BRH Racing Archives *CIA Stock Photo *Getty Images *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *Joel Bray *John Harrelson *Motorsport.com *@PhoenixRacing51 *@Phoenix51Racing WEBSITES *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *Miccosukee.com *Racing-reference.info *Wikipedia

YOUTUBE PREMIERE Saturday, November 28 at 7 P.M. Eastern (4 P.M. Pacific) with a post-video livestream to follow. LASTREON Members at the $5 level and up can watch the full 41-minute video RIGHT NOW at patreon.com/lastcaronbrock.

YOUTUBE PREMIERE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23 8:30 P.M. EASTERN (5:30 P.M. PACIFIC) Patreon members $5 and up can watch the full 45-minute video NOW at http://www.patreon.com/lastcaronbrock

After the premiere of Episode 3 of "Rise of the Field Fillers."

In Naples, Florida, real estate developer Don Arnold embarked on his longtime dream to own a NASCAR team. With the aid of his family and a local driver, Arnold Motorsports breathed new life into a once-great single-car team that had fallen on hard times. As he had with his properties, Arnold redeveloped the program around the likes of Derrike Cope, Mike Wallace, and Todd Bodine. The result was one of the most successful Truck Series teams in the sport’s history, and a Cup organization that ran until just this year. #RiseOfTheFieldFillers #ROTFF CUSTOMIZE THE NO. 50 CAR (REQUIRES FLASH): https://web.archive.org/web/20031003112905/http://www.arnold-motorsports.com/opportunity/carDiagramFlash.html BIG THANKS *Dean Arnold, for his interview about his father *Bryan Hallman of BRH Racing Archives, for sharing his high-quality pictures of Arnold Motorsports’ entries in 2003 through 2005. MUSIC “Get Tough” – TrackTribe “Come On Out” – Dan Lebowitz "The Awakening" – Patrick Patrikios ARTICLES *Frater, Stephen. “Naples’ Don Arnold took fast track to mega-success in real estate,” Herald-Tribune, January 18, 2004; https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20040118/News/605197140/SH *James, Brandt. “Site notable after being junked,” Tampa Bay, August 27, 2005; https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/03/27/site-notable-after-being-junked/ *Layden, Laura. “Naples developer Donald Arnold remembered as pioneer, family man,” Naples Daily News, December 16, 2015; https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/local/naples-developer-donald-arnold-remembered-as-pioneer-family-man-27061b3f-cde0-2f60-e053-0100007f9882-362691061.html/ WEBSITES *Arnold & Arnold, LLC - https://arnold-arnold-real-estate-in.business.site/ *Donald L. Arnold Obituary, https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/naples-fl/donald-arnold-6714935 *Germaincars.com *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *Racing-Reference.info *TobyChristie.com PHOTOS *Bryan Hallman, BRH Racing Archives *CIA Stock Photo *Denison Yachting *Jayski’s Silly Season Site *Motorsport.com *@NASCARMemories on Twitter ARCHIVED WEBSITES *Arnold Development (www.arnolddevelopment.com) *Arnold Motorsports (www.arnold-motorsports.com)

They got it in!

In 1992, Kirk Shelmerdine left a lucrative job as Dale Earnhardt’s championship crew chief and decided to race his own way into the Cup Series. But the journey proved as treacherous as it was humbling. By 2004, he was a struggling owner-driver fielding some of the slowest cars on the circuit. All kinds of controversy followed his No. 72 – even political intrigue. But this same year laid the foundation to something much greater, much to the joy of his small but dedicated fan base. #RiseOfTheFieldFillers #ROTFF MUSIC CREDITS “Get Tough” – TrackTribe “Come On Out” – Dan Lebowitz "The Awakening" – Patrick Patrikios SPECIAL THANKS (1) Dave Laurence at RacingUnderdog.com for his coverage in 2004 (https://web.archive.org/web/20040212065151/http://www.racingunderdog.com/) (2) Dave W’s Racing Channel for his collection of classic qualifying broadcasts (https://www.youtube.com/user/de31168) (3) BakerRacingPix.com for his collection of photos from Riverside, particularly the championship “start-and-parks.” (http://www.bakerracingpix.com/) (4) Rick Houston and Steve Waid at "The Scene Vault Podcast," for their interviews with both Kirk Shelmerdine and Brett Bodine. (https://www.patreon.com/thescenevaultpodcast/posts) VIDEO CREDITS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZQnMo0uMCH1XGqEgdhjTmhnmUtwLmkR PHOTO CREDITS Associated Press BakerRacingPix.com Crash.net eBay Edwin Turner Fuller Motorsports and Collectibles Google Images KirkShelmerdine.com Jayski’s Silly Season Site Jim Garrahan Legends Media Motorsport.com @nascarman_rr PhotosByBill.com Precious Moment Photography Richard Childress Racing ShelmerdineRacing.com Sportpics Wikipedia Commons @wimmer33fan OTHER SOURCES 2ndChanceRaceParts.com Jayski’s Silly Season Site Racing-reference.info The Scene Vault Podcast

Patreon members at the $5 level and up can watch the full 50-minute video TONIGHT at https://www.patreon.com/lastcaronbrock The YouTube premiere will come later this week, the date to be announced.

The Round of 8 begins with a frigid Kansas race.

Covering the action from a wet and wild weekend in Charlotte.

On a day where everything happened

The members of my Patreon reached our latest stretch goal and voted for this Sunday's Cup race to be my newest starting grid. Check out the LASTREON today at http://www.patreon.com/lastcaronbrock. MUSIC: "Berlin at Night" - Dan Henig