Shepherd could share plenty of knowledge gained over the last five decades, but said few of today’s drivers approach him.

“There are few of them that are real good boys like Cole Custer,” he said, “but most of these young guys won’t even speak to you.”

Shepherd has pride, and would certainly like to perform better and not be known as a “start and park driver”. He has approached legendary car owner Richard Childress for some assistance.

“We try to go to all of them [races], but we are down to one car here and it is not doing real good so I talked with Richard Childress to see if they had anything extra,” he said. “We have just got to get something more up to date because this car is just slow…

“If we had the backing, yeah, we would have more cars and go run the whole race. Every time you put on a set of tires it is $2,400. A lot of people have no idea what it costs. Engines are very expensive. There is a lot to it.”

Expect him to be in Richmond on Saturday for the Toyota 250. He has fond memories there, winning an Xfinity Series race there in 1983. He won back-to-back races at Martinsville and Bristol in 1986.