Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner.

At last, Shepherd got his big break in 1978 after he met Cliff Stewart, who owned a western North Carolina furniture factory.

For the next couple of races Shepherd drove for Cecil Gordon and his team, finishing in the top ten at North Wilkesboro and Charlotte.

Shepherd returned to Cecil Gordon for the TranSouth 500 and later drove the Virginia National Bank 500 for Emanuel Zervakis.

26 Quaker State Buick Lesabre owned by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein.

After Gant returned Shepherd again replaced an injured driver, this time Neil Bonnett at RahMoc Enterprises.

He had a difficult midseason, losing the points lead and dropping to tenth in the standings after the Tyson Holly Farms 400.

[20] Even though Shepherd scored eleven top-ten finishes during the season he dropped to fourteenth in the final points standings.

[21] Shepherd had a good run at Dover early in the season, where he led 52 laps, but he dropped back at the end of the race.

Shepherd came close to winning his fourth race at Atlanta, but just came short and finished second to Ernie Irvan.

Shepherd also came close to winning the Mello Yello 500 at the end of the season but was passed by Dale Jarrett during the last four laps of the race.

After the Pocono 500, Shepherd left Precision Products Racing and switched to Jasper Motorsports, driving their No.

[31] Shepherd struggled at Jasper Motorsports and only managed to qualify for five of the eleven races he entered with the team.

After failing to qualify for the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400, he departed and rejoined PPR, now with R+L Carriers sponsorship.

[33] After beginning 1998 without a ride, Shepherd brought out his own team to attempt the races at Rockingham, Atlanta and Darlington, but his No.

Shepherd also attempted the season finale at Loudon driving for his own team, but he failed to make the race.

Shepherd attempted to qualify for the 2005 Daytona 500 but missed the race after he was caught up in a wreck during the Gatorade Duels.

Shepherd ran the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Brian Keselowski Motorsports, his first Sprint Cup race since 2006, becoming the oldest driver to race in the Sprint Cup at an age of 71 years, nine months and two days, and breaking the previous record held by Jim Fitzgerald, who ran at Riverside International Raceway in 1987 at age 65.

Despite only starting twelve of the twenty-nine races in the schedule, Shepherd finished eleventh in the final points standings for that year.

In 1983 Shepherd drove 18 races for Whitaker, winning at Bristol and Richmond International Raceway, but dropping to eighteenth in the final standings.

Shepherd finished in the top-ten six times that season, winning a total of three races at Bristol, Indianapolis Raceway Park, and Martinsville.

Shepherd also made his first start for his own team at Martinsville, but retired at lap 133 due to steering problems.

The team planned to run at least fifteen races but after Shepherd failed to qualify for the first two attempts the partnership dissolved.

Shepherd would start and park the majority of the schedule but did qualify for 16 of the 20 races he attempted in his self owned Dodge.

After failing to qualify for the first two races he attempted that season, Shepherd announced that the lack of sponsorship forced him to scale back on his schedule.

Shepherd became the oldest driver to lead a Nationwide Series race at the age of 70 when he led 3 laps in the 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

Following a week of partying, Shepherd awoke that Sunday and vowed to change his life for the better, explaining in a 2005 interview, "When I got done praying, I'm not kidding you, I felt like I could jump straight through the roof.

[60] When not at the race track, Shepherd is involved in several religious causes, and also hosts a charity event for disabled Americans during the offseason.

In response, Morgan would say that the punishment was deserved and that he advocated for more prison time for Clay, saying that "He needs to face God's vengeance and justice, too.

* Season still in progress 1 Ineligible for series points (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.