Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 11th, Morgan Shepherd

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 11th: Morgan Shepherd #21 Citgo Wood Bros. Racing Ford


Finished: 10th


Shepherd in retirement
Career Highlights: Four Cup Series wins, oldest Cup Series race starter, fifth-place 1990 Cup 

Series championship finish, looks like a barber from my hometown.


Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 4


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 5th (1996)




1994 Fun Fact: Morgan posted two runner-up and two third-place finishes during the 1994 season.  And to think, it all started when he traded three squirrels for a race car.



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Nascar Rumored to be Rigging Races for 23—Wait, This Makes No Sense


This is a parody

Many in the online racing world have been making claims that Nascar has “rigged” the first three races in favor of 23XI Racing.  However, upon closer inspection, such claims make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

“Nascar obviously wants to see Michael Jordan in victory lane, so they’re letting them get away with gray-area stuff in inspection”, said a message board user at 1:19pm Monday.  However, this was followed by a response from the same user at 1:21pm Monday saying, “Wait a minute—why would Nascar reward the team that just sued them and beat them in court.  Huh, I guess it doesn’t make much sense when you really stop to think about it.  Disregard my previous message.”

Numerous fans have put forth the claim that the sanctioning body is “fixing” races in favor of 23XI Racing as a way to explain the team’s three wins to open the season.  This is despite the fact that 1.) the claims are completely baseless with no real evidence to back them up, and 2.) they make zero logical sense when thought about for more than five seconds.

“After Atlanta, yeah, I thought maybe Nascar was letting 23XI (Racing)’s cars slide through the inspection line with oversized engines or some aero(dynamic) advantages”, said one fan when reached for comment.  “But then I actually thought about it and realized, hey, that doesn’t make sense.  I mean, why would Nascar reward a team that forced them to change their business model?  And why wouldn’t Nascar have ‘fixed’ races for more-popular drivers, like Chase Elliott?  And is it even possible for ANYONE to ‘fix’ anything at a drafting track like Daytona or Atlanta.  Goes to show you how much good a little logic can do for the ol’ brain!”

Nascar had no comment on the matter, which some fans will likely take as a tacit agreement that the opening two races were pre-determined, despite such a concept being laughable.



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Race Picks Las Vegas: Spade Racing vs. AI



Join me as I test my wits against various AI programs in picking the 2026 Cup races.  Once they’ve made their picks, I’ll make my normal Favorite, Next Favorite, and Dark Horse picks (in addition to my regular O’Reilly & Truck Series picks).  At the end of the year we’ll see who knows more—me, or a soulless machine gobbling up water and electricity.


AI (1 win) Claude AI (Sonnet 4.6) sez: “The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled for March 15, 2026 so it hasn't been run yet, and there's no way to predict the winner with certainty. That said, here are some factors to watch heading into the race:  Kyle Larson has historically been strong at Las Vegas, a 1.5-mile intermediate track where Hendrick Motorsports cars tend to excel.


Meanwhile, here’s MY human picks:

Truck Series (1 win) off


O’Reilly Series The LiUNA! Saturday 5:30pm ET on CW: JESSE LOVE—am I the only one who finds oval races without numerical lengths more than a little weird?


Cup Series Pennzoil 400 Sunday 4pm on Fox  FAVORITE: CHRISTOPHER BELL—again, maybe it’s just going to be a Toyota kind of year.  NEXT FAVORITE: TYLER REDDICK—finally, I get to pick him!  DARK HORSE: AUSTIN CINDRIC—it would be funny if he won before Joey Logano this year, but not so much “ha-ha” funny.



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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing


Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized


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A MOXOC Media production

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