NCATS: Great start, but a tough finish for Shepherd at Delaware

LONDON, ON - Pete Shepherd and the #7 National Exhaust/Hy-Tech Drilling Challenger, had a great start at Delaware Speedway, but mechanical issues caused him to retire from the Keystone Light 200 early.

Shepherd struggled early in practice finding a balance in the race car. Initially the team was facing a lose race car, but they made several changes towards the end of practice that helped the team, and gave Pete Shepherd a sense of comfort going into qualifying.

Before qualifying, Shepherd pulled the #1 position, which usually is the most feared position to pull, as no one wants to qualify on a dirty race track. “Before qualify, I talked to the team and Mike McColl, and they assured me that the division before us would not leave any rubber on the track, and the surface would be relatively clean for my qualifying run. I didn’t worry about it, and I put down a smooth lap, and was surprised to see the time hold up,” Shepherd explained.

After two laps of qualify Shepherd’s time of 19.482 seconds, held up for the entire session, giving Pete Shepherd his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole. “It felt good to get the pole, because we really struggled in practice, and we didn’t think we had the speed it would take to start near the front for the Keystone Light 200. The team worked really hard, and hard work pulled off as we had a fast car going into the race,” Shepherd replied.

After the green flag dropped, the top three cars pulled away from the field; #7, #17 and #22. Shepherd led the first 17 laps, but was overtaken by the #17 and the #22. “I settled in third as I recognized the #17 and #22 had really good cars. It’s a long race, and I knew towards the end I would have a fast car, as my car was not fading away on old tires.” Shepherd described. After the first caution of the race, before the half way point, Shepherd followed the #17 into the pits. The crew filled up his car with fuel, and as he drove away the crew noticed the car was leaking gear oil.

“When we went back to green, my tires were covered in oil, and I had a hard time even hanging onto the car. I knew the situation was getting worse when I could smell burnt gear oil, and I lost a lot of top end speed. At that point our day was pretty much done.” Shepherd stated. After 200 laps, Shepherd wound up with a DNF in 17th position. Pete Shepherd Motorsports looks forward to taking their efforts to the Toronto Indy, where Shepherd will make his first road course appearance since 2004.

To keep up to speed with Pete Shepherd Motorsports race season in 2011, please follow him on Twitter @Petey_3 and his website www.peteshepherd.ca where fans can find a link to join Pete Shepherd’s Facebook Fan Page.

Pete Shepherd Motorsports would like to thank all of their sponsors: National Exhaust Systems Inc, Hy-Tech Drilling INC, Diamond Material Handling and Insulation, BioX Nutrition and TapouT Energy.

Contact Information: // Pete Shepherd // www.peteshepherd.ca // peteshepherd@hotmail.com
or dRIVEN4 Communications // driven4communications@gmail.com

PHOTOS: NASCAR Canadian Tire Series test day at Mosport Speedway

Photos from the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series test day at Mosport Speedway, on May 19, 2011. The session featured a first look at many new paint schemes, including Scott Steckly's #22 Canadian Tire Dodge, Mark Dilley's PartSource / Rheem Dodge and the #8 EHR Farmers Feed Families Dodge, to be driven by perpetual Chevy driver Don Thomson Jr. Thanks to Rob Morton for supplying the photos. The NCATS tour kicks off May 28 at the Mosport half-mile.

PHOTOS: NASCAR Canadian Tire Series teams test at Flamboro Speedway

Dave Franks (www.davefranksphotos.com) sent along some shots from June 30 at Flamboro
Speedway where Peter Shepherd (7), Kerry Micks (02) and Steven Mathews
(15) tested their cars in advance of the July 3 race at Montreal's
Autodrome St-Eustache. Thanks Dave!

Roush Fenway finalizes Truck line-up... Shepherd not mentioned

(This morning, I received this press release from Roush Fenway Racing. I believe this is the first one in over a year that didn't include Pete Shepherd in the "About Roush Fenway Racing" paragraph at the bottom. - G.M.)

UPDATE (10:45 a.m.): I sent the people at Roush a note and they got back to me right away with the following response: "Peter has been released from Roush Fenway Racing to pursue other opportunities." I will try to contact Pete to see what his plans are going forward.

UPDATE: (11:15 a.m.): Just spoke with Pete, who confirmed the story. For 21 years of age, he is extremely mature and is very positive about his situation. The bottom line is that money buys rides, even with the top teams. He's very positive about the experiences he had at Roush, although it's somewhat frustrating that he never got a real opportunity with a regular ride. Pete's going to keep his place in North Carolina, but isn't ruling anything out. His goal is to race approximately 25 times a year. Shepherd is planning to spend Christmas at home with his family. This is just speculation on my part, but wouldn't it be great to see him teamed with Andrew Ranger at Jacombs Racing in '08?

CONCORD, N.C. - Roush Fenway Racing announced today that Joey Clanton will be part of its NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series line-up for 2008, along with sponsor Zaxby's. Clanton will pilot the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 for the entire truck series season.

Clanton, the 2002 ASA champion, joins Roush Fenway Racing after a season in the Craftsman Truck Series with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. There Clanton earned five top-10 finishes in 16 starts.

"We are pleased to have Joey and Zaxby's join our team," said Jack Roush. "We have a strong line-up in the Craftsman Truck Series for 2008 with Erik Darnell and rookie Colin Braun. Joey is a proven champion in the ASA Series and has a lot to offer young drivers like Erik and Colin as a teammate, and a competitor. I expect to see the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 running up front this season."

"I am really thrilled about this opportunity with Zaxby's and Roush Fenway Racing," said Clanton. "Jack Roush will give me the equipment and the resources I need to win races and that is what I intend to accomplish this year - winning races. I can't wait to get to Daytona and start testing next month."

"We are pleased to have Joey representing our brand, as well as welcoming Roush Fenway Racing into the Zaxby's family," said Zaxby's co-founder/CFO Tony Townley.

The 2008 season kicks off Friday, February 15 at Daytona International Speedway. Roush Fenway Racing starts the season with 48 wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the most of any team in the series.

About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing operates 13 full-time motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; four in the Nationwide Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Erik Darnell and Colin Braun; three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Darnell, Braun and Joey Clanton; and one in the ARCA RE/MAX Series with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr....