Guidance on project

Where do I connect the Ping sensor to (Uno or motor shield)?

Put the motor shield on the UNO, then connect the Ping sensor to some unused pin, as defined here:
http://arduino.cc/playground/Code/Ping

What would I use to connect the different pins on the Ping sensor (would this be a 3 pin cable or some other method)?

Wire would work.

Where on the motor shield do I connect the 2 motors to?

The proper places. See those screw terminals along the bottom of the picture? There's text next to them, and I bet you got an instruction manual.

Where on the motor shield do I connect the external power supply?

Same answer.

is there anything else that I need that I might have missed out on or would I be good to go to run the code?

Well, first you need to write the code...