own car at Talladega, finishing the race in thirteenth place. Shepherd made four races for Bobby Hawkins, with a best finish of fifth at Atlanta. He made most of his starts that season for Helen Rae Smith, but failed to finish all of those seven races. Shepherd moved to the team of Jack Beebe in 1986, driving on a part-time basis. He had a good start to the season, finishing fourth at the 1986 Goodwrench 500. At the next race in Atlanta, Shepherd led 97 laps and held off Dale Earnhardt to win his second career Winston Cup race. Shepherd got very emotional at the final laps of the race. "I was trying not to cry. I knew I had to keep my self-control because we were so close to finally winning a big one, a major race. My racing career was nearly gone just a year before, and I was getting ready to win a big one." Shepherd made ten more starts for Beebe that season, scoring four top-ten finishes. After making several starts for RahMoc Enterprises mid-season, he moved to the team full-time after the Southern 500. Shepherd scored two additional top-ten finishes for RahMoc Enterprises and finished the season eighteenth in points. Late 1980s and early 1990s Shepherd joined King Racing for the 1987 season, driving the No. 26 Quaker State Buick Lesabre owned by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein. It was the first time in Shepherd's Cup career that he competed in every scheduled event. Shepherd scored eleven top-ten finishes; seven of those were in the top five. He also scored his fourth career pole st Martinsville. He led the early part of that race but retired after engine problems. His best finish of the season was at the Coca-Cola 600, where Shepherd finished second to Kyle Petty. Shepherd switched to Tom Winkle's team for the 1988 season. Shepherd had a good start to the season, with a pole at Richmond and a top-ten at Rockingham. However, after that race Shepherd started racing for his own team, driving a Buick. After failing to finish a race with his own team he moved to Mach 1 Racing, replacing the injured Harry Gant. Shepherd led 110 laps at Dover, eventually finishing second to Bill Elliott. After Gant returned Shepherd again replaced an injured driver, this time Neil Bonnett at RahMoc Enterprises. In his first race for this team,