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His first year in the sport, Neil Shepherd says his goal was to just keep up.
A 14-year-old, soon-to-be eighth grader at Edgewood Middle School, Shepherd has certainly kept up and then some, leaving many of the older and more experienced competitors in his class behind him.
Shepherd, son of Terry and Joyce Shepherd of Warsaw, is a rookie in the modified midget sprint restrictor class at U.S. 24 Speedway in Logansport and also at Camden Raceway.
Described as shy and conservative, Shepherd does his talking on the track, where he has steered his bright red No. 4N car to victory in five feature races already this year.
He has also taken the checkered flag in two dash races and two heat races at U.S. 24 Speedway this summer and sits third out of 29 competitors - many of whom are older and have years of racing under their belts - in the season point standings.
"It's pretty neat," Shepherd said of his early successes. "When I started I hoped to stay on the lead lap. It's really fun to hang out with dad. He doesn't push me, but he gives me goals."
Terry Shepherd - the father, crew chief and team owner - knows a little something about sprint car racing himself, having toured the country and raced against some of the sport's biggest names.
The older Shepherd started racing sprint cars at age 21, becoming a household name at the now defunct Warsaw Speedway before making it big on the national scene.
Along the way he won more than a 100 feature races, was the 1986 United States Auto Club (USAC) rookie-of-the-year and the 1990 All-Stars Circuit of Champions national champion.
When four-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon was 14 years old and making a name for himself in the sprint car division, Shepherd was his teammate. In 1994, Shepherd drove for the same two-car team as open wheel and stock car standout Tony Stewart.
"I'm not racing through him," the older Shepherd said of fielding the team for his son. "I've done my share of racing. I just wanted to make sure he was old enough and mature enough to understand the cars."
Having grown up around racing and seen pictures of his dad's successes, the younger Shepherd says he asked his father if he could start racing at age seven.
Dad wouldn't comply, and Neil honed his skills in the backyard, driving circles around a make-shift track on a four-wheeler.
"I watched him race and looked at pictures of him," the younger Shepherd said of his father. "I rode four-wheelers a lot in the backyard. Dad just wanted to make sure I was grown up enough."
Shepherd's make-shift track in the backyard is now overgrown with weeds, while his racing career appears to be healthy and in full bloom.
"He always has the car under control," Terry Shepherd said. "He always has the car under him. He has tremendous natural ability. He's a lot more aggressive than I was. I was more of a methodical driver. I had to think about what I was going to do. Neil is smooth and natural."
Much like his favorite driver Jeff Gordon did, Neil says he wants to eventually graduate to a full size sprint car, the type of machine his father drove while racing against World of Outlaws greats Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser, and then land a ride in NASCAR.
"I like racing because it's competitive," said the younger Shepherd, who carries the same 4N his dad did in his most successful years of the early 1990s. "I like the thrill and the adrenaline rush."
A clean-cut kid who answered questions as fast and smooth as he drives, Neil Shepherd simply loves to play in the dirt.
