WACO, Texas — Twenty years after he first gave any thought to being an IMCA national champion, Jeff Shepperd has started making notes about who all to thank when his turn comes to speak at the IMCA awards banquet in November.
Shepperd won 13 features, along with the track title at Cotton Bowl Speedway, in racing to the 2024 Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod national crown.Â
“We basically did the same thing we’ve always done,” said the veteran from Waco, more than a little motivated to run for the top spot on the podium this year after his national runner-up finish last season. “We tried to bring the best prepared car to the track that we could, and we tried to get a little bit more sponsor help throughout the year to keep fresh tires on the car, which I think is a huge key in this division.”
“Everything we have, motor, transmission, rear end, we try to get the best we can get. Other than that, we just try to make sure everything is greased and ready to go.”
Shepperd was ready to go from the drop of the green in February. He’d pace points on the strength of six wins at Paige, complemented by five checkers at Southern Oklahoma Speedway and two more at Heart O’ Texas Speedway.
“Last year we got to August and were leading national points but we had been racing at all the tracks around here, not one in particular, and didn’t have a chance to win a track championship at any of them,” said Shepperd. “We led points at the end of the season but didn’t have a track championship and lost by one (point).”
“It stung a little bit,” he continued. “We hadn’t set out at the beginning of last year to run for points but we were there at the end, realizing how close we were without a track championship. This season we came into the season telling ourselves we were going to give it our best shot and try to win a track championship and ultimately a national championship.”
Shepperd had started his racing career in a pure stock class before an early segue into the Southern SportMod division.
He got back in the sanctioned class in 2013 and brought 46 career wins – and a single season best 16 from 2023 – into this season. He’s parked the same 2022 Generation Race Car by Justin Long, out of Springtown, in victory lane 33 times over the past three years.
“We knew that recreating the success of last year was going to be hard to do,” admitted Shepperd. “We had a great year. We knew that that not all seasons are like that but didn’t know if we’d be able to get enough wins to make it work this year.”
“I’ve dreamed about winning a national championship since 2004. I’ve never really had the means to try for it. Forty nights was probably the most we’ve raced in a season,” he’d add. “We had good luck in 2019 and 2020 and won track championships both years (at Heart O’ Texas) but didn’t run that many Saturday nights because we were trying to focus on a track championship. This year we focused on the national championship and took a different dynamic. My wife says I wasn’t as exciting. I definitely raced a little more conservatively.”
Shepperd is the 11th different national champion crowned in IMCA’s Southern SportMod division since 2013. His crew includes son-in-law Trey Votaw, who succeeded him as champion of the All Star Shootout in May.
By The Numbers
Wins-13
Top Five Finishes-31
Starts-43
His Crew
Wife Stormy, son-in-law Trey Votaw, Michael Votaw, Charles Sanders, Jake Sanders, Ryan Hopkin and Zane Vincent.
His Sponsors
Generation Race Cars of Springtown; Dynamic Fabrication Solutions, Brake & Clutch Supply and J & M Transport, all of Lorena; WE Electric of Elm Mott; Cornerstone Plumbing, Les Clark Remodeling, AAA Rebel Enterprises, Hurricane Harley 12 and Jenkins Racing Components, all of Waco; Fletcher Custom Engines of Tuscola; H & B Farms of Riesel; Dustin Davidson Racing of West; A & C Mobile Home Transport of China Spring; Tru Form Racing of Seagoville; Supreme Vinyl Works of Plantersville; Tomas Lawn and Tree of Lacy Lakeview; CRS Suspension by Jeffrey Abbey of Boyd; Speed Secrets of Copperas Cove; Dan Finn and Performance Specialty of Beaumont; Motech Services of Robinson; and Rhino Racing Rear Ends of Mission.