Shepherd and Hall Family Work for Common Goal at Kern
Bakersfield, CA – It is always special for the Shepherd family when they race in Bakersfield, CA. Dick Shepherd honed his skills at Bakersfield Speedway, and later made his home at the now defunct Mesa Marin Raceway, winning two Late Model track championships at the paved half-mile oval, to go along with 11 on the dirt. His son Buddy took up the families mantle and won the track championship at the new Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway (formerly Kern County Raceway Park), sweeping all nine events in the track’s Late Model division in 2016. What both father and son had in common was a relationship with Harvey L. Hall. This weekend, at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, that relationship will be remembered with an auction for a special cause.
The Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series will visit the half-mile on June 29th for the $7,776-to-win “Masellis Drilling – Salute to America 100”. Buddy Shepherd will be looking for his fourth career series victory, and second in-a-row at Kern. But the Shepherd family will also be looking to honor one of their former friends and supporters, Harvey Hall. Hall passed away on May 19, 2018, from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). CJD is a prion disease in which proteins in the brain misfold. This causes others to do so with debilitating effects. With no known treatment or cure, the Shepherd family is seeking to raise money for additional research into the disease, with hopes of making progress towards treatments or a possible cure.
The Shepherd Racing team will auction off the hood of their Super Late Model Saturday night, with the proceeds going to Team Big H in Memory of Harvey L. Hall. Both Dick and Buddy will autograph the hood for the winner, who’s scheme will honor Hall. The proceeds will go to medical research grants and programs of the CJD Foundation. To this point, since 2018, Strides for CJD – Bakersfield (founded by Harvey’s wife Lavonne) and Team Big H, in Memory of Harvey L. Hall, has raised over $451,000 towards the cause.
Harvey’s relationship with the Shepherd family went back over 35 years. Hall himself was a racer as far back as the ‘70’s, as well as a sponsor, and car owner, before becoming the owner and founder of Hall Ambulance Services. He served as the Mayor of Bakersfield for 25 years, the longest stint of mayorship in the town’s history. In addition to his relationship with the Shepherd’s, he also supported legendary drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Mike Chase, Dick Trickle, Mike Hood, and Frank Swords.
Today, Buddy Shepherd carries the standard for the Shepherd family on both the dirt at Bakersfield Speedway, and on the asphalt in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series. Shepherd was the 2021 Rookie-of-the Year with the SRL, after winning three track championships in his Pro Late Model at Madera Speedway. He has a win in the prestigious $10,000-to-win “Short Track Shootout” at Madera as well as another $10,000 win in the “JM Environmental Highline 150” at All American Speedway, both in his Pro Late Model. He won the Pole in 2018 at the prestigious “Winter Showdown”, finishing second to Kyle Busch in the 300-lap. $30,000-to-win affair. He has SRL wins at Madera, Kern, and Irwindale Speedway.
This weekend, Shepherd will be behind the wheel of a Super Late Model out of the Strmiska Racing stables, as a teammate to two-time SRL winner Blaine Rocha. It will be a special weekend of racing for Shepherd, as he honors long-time friend and supporter Harvey Hall, with a special paint scheme, as well as raising funds for the CJD Foundation.
“The Hall Family has been an instrumental part of mine and my dad’s racing career for many years”, the younger Shepherd stated. “Their support gave my dad the opportunity to move from dirt to asphalt racing, including some Spears Super Late Model racing. For me, they’ve been so supportive in my racing career, beginning as far back as my Micro Sprint dirt racing days, asphalt Pro Late Models, and today in asphalt Super Late Model racing.”
This weekend, Shepherd will be a sentimental favorite to make it two victories in-a-row, at the Bakersfield half-mile. If he can accomplish the feat, Harvey Hall would be proud.
The Spears Southwest Tour will return to Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on June 29th for the 26th championship event at the facility. They will race for $7,776 in the “Masellis Drilling – Salute to America 100”. The event will also pay a minimum of $500 to start, and $1,000 for those on the Spears Frequent Flyer Program. The Spears Pro Late Models and the Spears Modified Series will join the Super Late Models in Round #2 of the season series. A Fireworks Show along with a Monster Truck Destruction is also on the card, for a night expected to be full of excitement.
Celebrating its twenty fourth season in 2024, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.
Story: K. Peters, SRL Media
PC: Shepherd Racing
