Morgan Shepherd Barely
Escapes Serious Injury
by Marty Tyler-Staff Writer
08/09/2002

Tuesday, August 5, Morgan Shepherd had traveled from his Hickory, North Carolina shop to Charlotte to buy some needed racing parts. While enroute back from Charlotte, on Interstate 40, a van traveling at a high rate of speed came up behind Morgan's truck.

Morgan joked, "That was unusual for somebody to pass me! So I moved over and let her go by."

After allowing the van to pull ahead of him Morgan then fell in behind the van. He was thinking of all the things left to attend to in preparation for Saturdays running of the Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Speedway.

The tires of the van ahead of him apparently picked up a large hook, similar to the hook on a towtruck and threw it in the path of Shepherd's red Dually. The hook struck the front windshield very close to the driver area of the windshield, sheared off the rearview mirror...whizzed mere inches past Morgan's head. The hook then crashed through the rear windshield, through the windshield on his bubble camper and came to rest in the bed of his pickup. It weighed in at a whomping 6 pounds!

Morgan had no time to react. "You know, this is the honest truth...I don't really fear anything. Alot of people would have probably been shaken up. The only thing I thought when I pulled over is wow, I was that close to going to heaven. When I die, I know the Lord is finished with me."

"You know, no one that went into the twin towers last year thought that it would be their last day. We start our daily duties, whatever they may be, and we never think that this may be our last day on earth. We need to be (spiritually) ready at any time."

Police investigating the incident stated that Shepherd was, indeed, extremely fortunate that he was not hit by this projectile. The results, they suggested, would have been deadly.

"It was not my time, " Morgan believes, "undoubltedly, the Lord wants to leave me here for now."

You can reach Marty Tyler at:martyt7806@aol.com.