No slowing down for Shepherd.

He may be the oldest regular on the NASCAR Nextel Cup tour but 63 year-old Morgan Shepherd isn't slowing down even though another long, tiring season has only just finished.

Shepherd, who entered no less than 31 races during the 2004 season, qualifying for 19, with his self owned 'Racing with Jesus' Dodge will kick off the 18th annual week long Morgan Shepherd Charity Ride, dedicated to helping handicapped and underprivileged people, on Monday December 13th.

With a passenger bus and passenger vans, a group of drivers, racing personnel and media will travel from Conover with a stop to pick up additional passengers in Statesville North Carolina before heading to the PARC Workshop in Stuart, Virginia, and other towns in the region.

"We're carrying friends, presents and hope for these people," Shepherd said. "Besides a donation, hopefully a large donation, to the PARC Workshop, we are delighted to have the chance to meet with old and new friends, and to show the love of Christ to these folks."

The annual Christmas trip began in 1986 when the Morgan Shepherd Charitable Fund was established to assist the needy and handicapped in the Virginia mountains. That first year the trip culminated with the group putting a new roof on the house of a needy person in Fries, Virginia., and has grown since then. The trip now assists over 300 needy and handicapped persons each year.

"We're looking for drivers to join us and we're looking for donations to carry with us," Shepherd said. "We'd love to give the PARC Workshop a huge donation. This trip is to raise awareness of their needs and to help them as much as we can financially and emotionally. I've been fortunate to have a lot of friends join us and help us over the years."

Drivers such as Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Dale Jarrett and Jeff Green have been on the trip in the past.