Morgan Shepherd and Brett Rowe to pilot 2 car effort for Faith Motorsports

Faith Motorsports announced January 10 that Morgan Shepherd and Brett Rowe will fill the driver’s seats in a two-car Faith Motorsports effort in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series in 2011.

The duo will kick off the 2011 season in the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway in early February with the team attempting to field both entries through at least the first five events of the season.

“We will run as long as we can and hope to have both cars locked in after the fifth race,” Shepherd said in making the announcement. “We are building cars and gearing up to have a great season.”

Shepherd’s ride will feature multiple paint schemes throughout the season and will bear his historic number, 89. The car will be owned by Shepherd Racing Ventures through his 2010 partnership with Richard Childress in the #21 car. Morgan Shepherd will be listed as the car’s primary owner. Childress will retain the #21 number, however the points will be applied to the #89 car pending NASCAR’s approval. This will result in Shepherd being locked in to the first five races of 2011 as the #89 team in 2011 will be the same team which fielded the #21 in 2010.

Shepherd’s car will bear the Racing With Jesus logo on the hood, but the paint schemes will change periodically to coincide with another program the team plans to announce at a later date.

Rowe will pilot a second car for which the car number is yet to be approved by NASCAR. His car will be owned by Victory in Jesus Racing with Cindy Shepherd listed as the primary owner. The points from last year’s #89 car will be transferred to Rowe’s car pending NASCAR’s approval as the listed owner will not change, just the car number.

Rowe’s car will field the consistent green paint scheme historically associated with the #89 entry. It will carry the Racing With Jesus logo on the hood as the #89 car has in past seasons.

Both cars will fall under the Faith Motorsports banner.

“I’m real excited about the opportunity to go to Daytona with high hopes of getting the year kicked off right,” Rowe said. “We hope to run competitively in the first five races in hopes that we can get the car locked in and continue after the fifth race.”

Rowe, who had driven on a limited basis with Faith’s sister team, Herd Racing, since 2008, indicated that Herd will not field a Nationwide team in 2011. Many of Herd’s crew members, including Rowe’s brother, Brian, will transfer to his effort under the Faith Motorsports banner. Herd Racing does not have a Nationwide COT and have no plans to run in the Nationwide Series in 2011, team owner Dana Tomes said.

Both Shepherd and Rowe agree that without Top 30 security the second Faith Motorsports car will not be able to continue full time past Week #5.

“We will do our best to go to the track ready each week and see what happens,” Shepherd said.

Sponsorships and additional information about the teams’ Daytona efforts will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

Credit: Faith Motorsports PR