RICHMOND, Va. -- Morgan Shepherd's goal for Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway was easy -- run the entire event. Sounds simple enough, modest at best. But for Shepherd, that tops any goal he's had this season.

Richmond was Shepherd's ninth start in 11 Nationwide events this season. He retired early in the first seven events for the same reason -- handling. Only at Phoenix did he run more than 50 laps.

But at Talladega last weekend, Shepherd finished 13th in the race, completing all 117 laps. It was the first time he had finished a race since a 2004 Cup event at Daytona, and it was his first Nationwide Series finish since 2003.

The reason he was able to finish the race -- he only had to change tires once.

Running his team from his own pocket, from his own garage in Conover, N.C., racing isn't the most economic-friendly business for Shepherd. His Web site lists 10 employees, if you include his dog, Charger.

So this week, the initial plan was much the same: Qualify for the race, start the race, run until the tires went out, then go home. But that plan changed.

"A good friend of mine, Tony Stewart, decided to buy our tires so we plan to run the whole race," Shepherd said before he qualified Friday night. "I hate going out and running and having to retire because of handling, because when your tires go out you don't have handling."

Stewart hated to see it, too.

"Just felt like doing it," Stewart said. "Morgan is a great guy. There are a lot of people in the stands that don't realize who Morgan Shepherd is. They think he's just some guy who drives a green racecar that says 'Racing with Jesus' every week. They don't understand that years ago he used to be one of the top guys in the Cup Series."

Shepherd's heyday in Cup was during the 1980s and '90s, when single-car teams could succeed and did. Shepherd won four races in his Cup career all while driving for single-car teams. Now as a single-car operator himself, he's trying to overcome the failing economic crunch that has a firm grip on a vast majority of the nation.

It's the camouflaged portion of how such economic hardships can have a crippling effect on auto racing.

The obvious, however, can be seen in the stands.

Thursday night, local television stations aired commercials pushing ticket availability for Saturday night's Crown Royal 400. The sign on the speedway's front door says tickets are still available. It's nothing new; tracks all over the schedule face empty seats each week. But not at Richmond.

The track has sold out 32 consecutive races, but as of Friday night was still pushing tickets.

"Right now we do still have tickets available for Saturday's race, but I will tell you we have less than 500 tickets available. That's great for us," said Aimee Turner, director of public relations at Richmond International Speedway. "We definitely recognize there are some problems with the economy. There's not a single person who will tell you they haven't been affected, at least a person in our world.

"NASCAR fans are the first people affected by the economy and the last people to recover from the economy, so it definitely has affected the industry as a whole. Other tracks have empty seats. Thankfully, I don't think we're going to have that problem. We are very lucky that fans want to come here. We are within 500 miles of 50 percent of the country, which makes it a little easier for people who drive here."

Mark Martin was shocked that the track may risk its sellout streak.

"That's the first I've heard of that," Martin said. "It's a real tough time economically, but that's the first I've heard of it so I haven't thought about it very much. Definitely I know that it's tough economic times; we feel it at our dealerships. I see it when I roll up to any kind of fuel pump, gas or jet fuel or whatever, you name it. It's putting a hurt on a lot of people."

The national average price of gasoline last week was $3.60 a gallon. A year ago, it was $2.96 a gallon. In Virginia, alone, the average is up $0.70 from this time last year. The price of gas the last time Shepherd completed a race: $1.87.

Gas prices are just one of the reasons that Richmond is facing its first non-sellout in 16 years. Ticket prices and the average amount of money fans spend at the track -- concessions, souvenirs and room and board -- add to the overall weekend experience.

Available tickets for Saturday night's race could be purchased for a price between $80 and $90 apiece, depending on the location. A random concessions stand priced a burger at $5 and a bottled Coke at $4.

"As far as ticket sales, there's just no question that our economy is tough right now," Jeff Burton said. "Fuel prices are way up, there are a lot of things going on that make it harder for the heart and soul of our sport, which is average, everyday middle-class -- that's what our sport has always been supported by. When they're feeling it and they're struggling with their finances, then we feel it, too.

"This racetrack has a long history of being sold out, and it is a cause for concern. I'm not concerned about the health of our sport. I believe that racing is good. I believe our fans are still excited and fired up about it. I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about thinking about if someone can't buy a ticket, there's other things they can't do as well."

Stewart said he sees the financial struggles from a track owner's standpoint through his ownership roles at small tracks like Eldora Speedway in Ohio, Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky and Macon Speedway in Illinois. He said the local crowd still comes, but that fans from surrounding areas may hesitate to drive longer distances due to the costs involved.

"I think it's directly related to fuel costs," Stewart said.

Fuel prices may not be the concern inside the garage, but it doesn't mean the economy isn't having an impact on teams. Stewart admits it's confusing trying to solve the issue, even if he's helping a fellow driver solve financial problems of his own.

"I don't know what we've got to do to get that topic under control," Stewart said, "but I would put a high priority on getting that topic squashed as soon as possible and getting it to where we can afford to do what we do again."