NASCAR sees historic 39-year streak end in disappointing fashion
By Asher Fair
For the first time since 1980, Morgan Shepherd did not compete in a race in any of the three NASCAR national series in 2020.
There were high hopes for Shepherd Racing Ventures in 2020 after the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season ended with what was unquestionably the feel-good story of the year: Landon Cassill wheeling the #89 Chevrolet to their first finish of any kind since 2013 and their top finish since 2009 with his 15th place effort at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The start-and-park team had hoped to continue competing — competitively, that is — in more races in 2020.
Cassill started the year by competing in the first four Xfinity Series races, retiring in the usual start and park fashion, but that is when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
The pandemic unfortunately hit the smaller, lesser funded teams such as Shepherd Racing Ventures harder than others.
Due to NASCAR’s new practice and qualifying rules as they got racing back underway amid the pandemic following a 10-week hiatus, Shepherd Racing Ventures were in a position where they simply couldn’t run the rest of the year.
And they didn’t. Cassill’s start in the race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 7 ended up being their final start of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
By the time the dust had settled at the same venue on Saturday, November 7, the 2020 season had become the first season in which team owner Morgan Shepherd did not compete in a NASCAR race among any of the three national series in four decades.
The 79-year-old Ferguson, North Carolina native competed in 12 races in the 2019 Xfinity Series season to run his streak up to 39 consecutive seasons, by far the longest streak among active drivers. He hadn’t not competed at all since 1980.
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Now sitting atop this list are Joe Nemechek, who has competed in the sport on some level every year going back to 1989 (32 consecutive seasons), and Jeff Green, who has competed on some level every year since 1990 (31 consecutive seasons).
Nemechek has made a record 1,197 starts across NASCAR’s three national series, including 674 Cup Series starts, 453 Xfinity Series starts and 70 Truck Series starts. Green has made 815, including 270 Cup Series starts, 535 Xfinity Series starts and 10 Truck Series starts.
Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
Among current full-time drivers, 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick leads the way, having competed in at least one race every year since 1995 (26 consecutive seasons). He has made 1,187 starts across NASCAR’s three national series, including 718 Cup Series starts, 346 Xfinity Series starts and 123 Truck Series starts.