Shepherd Trying To Climb Racing's Ladder

On a humid summer afternoon, 16-year-old Neil Shepherd slips into his driver's suit and climbs a ladder to stand in front of some trophies for a photo.

This was an easy task for the talented young racecar driver from Warsaw, and in a way metaphoric for what he's trying to do, which is climb the ladder in the racing world.

And then maybe someday, the photo shoots will follow.

Jeff Gordon. Tony Stewart. Ryan Newman. Kasey Kahne. Ken Schrader. Carl Edwards.

All are Nextel Cup drivers, and all came from the same background as Shepherd, who will soon be a sophomore at Warsaw Community High School.

Shepherd competes in the outlaw series for mini sprints.

Now in just his third year of driving, Shepherd, whose father Terry Shepherd was a highly successful driver in his day, has already won 55 feature races.

His dad believes he is one of the "nation's most gifted and up-and-coming racecar drivers."

Arguably the biggest race of his young career took place three weeks ago at Hill Valley Speedway in Orbisonia, Pa.

"It was by far the biggest race ever held for micro sprints," the younger Shepherd said of the Super 600 Show Down. "The best guys in the country showed up to that race."

Of the 112 cars that were there, only 26 made the A Main, the feature event of the evening.

Normally, the feature winner of a micro sprint show will pocket $500. On this night, the winner took home $10,000.

While Shepherd didn't find his way into victory lane, he did finish second, earning a $3,000 check.

Shepherd started eighth in his heat race and qualfied for the feature event by finishing second in the heat.

In the feature event, a 50-lap battle around the quarter-mile dirt track, Shepherd started fourth.

He said he worked his way up to third on the first lap and then took over the runner-up spot in the final eight laps.

"It looked like a bunch of NASCAR teams," the younger Shepherd said of the Super 600 Show Down, noting the huge and expensive transporters that filled the pit area. "We went there just wanting to make the show. Then we ran really well in the heat race. And to run second in the feature was great."

Shepherd, who turned 16 less than a month ago, began his racing career in 2003, driving at Camden Raceway and U.S. 24 Speedway.

In his rookie season, he won 15 features and came in second in 18 others. Sixteen times he was the fastest qualifier.

He finished the season second in points at U.S. 24 Speedway, was named the Rookie of the Year, as well as the Kokomo Tribune Driver of the Year.

In his second season, Shepherd won 31 feature races.

Along the way he also set track records at Stateline Speedway in Ohio and Camden Raceway.

He was the Monroe County Fair national champion, the NMMA Region 20 champion and finished second in both the Blair Luyster Memorial Race and the Gene Oberlander Memorial Race.

Fresh off victories in two feature races last weekend, Shepherd has nine feature victories already this season and was the Pike County Spring Fling champion, Lincoln Speedway Summer Championship champion and the Pike County Mid-Season Championship champion.

Terry Shepherd guesses his son has competed in 120 feature races in his career, meaning the younger Shepherd has won nearly half the features he has started.

At a race in Oklahoma last year, a 15-year-old driver who had signed a seven-year contract with NASCAR's Hendrick Motorsports competed against Neil Shepherd.

Shepherd, who has no factory or big-team affiliation, lapped the Hendrick driver.

"He has a gift," said Terry Shepherd. "He's both aggressive and smooth. He's just a natural."

Like the aforementioned drivers have, Neil Shepherd would like to work his way up through ARCA, the NASCAR Busch Series and maybe someday the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

"It's a neat situation to have ML Motorsports here in town," said Terry Shepherd. "You don't have to go to Charlotte to see a full-time stock car team. We'd like to get with a stock car team someday and get Neil some experience."

Until that happens, Neil Shepherd is focused on getting in a full-size sprint car soon.

Terry Shepherd believes that sprint cars are the best learning experience for an aspiring NASCAR driver.

It worked for Stewart, Gordon, Kahne and Newman.

Maybe Neil Shepherd can someday add his name to that list.