Reed Finishes 19th at Road America

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In: Xfinity Series News

Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Reed and the No. 16 Lilly Diabetes American Diabetes Association team finished 19th on Saturday at Road America in the last road course race of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.

“We had a top-10 car today and our finish doesn’t reflect what a great No. 16 Lilly Diabetes American Diabetes Ford Mustang the guys put together for this weekend,” said Reed. “I feel like I just used everything up in the beginning of the race and towards the end I was definitely being out-braked and that’s where we lost speed. I’m excited to get back to oval racing for the remainder of the season and we will work hard to prepare for Darlington next weekend.”

Reed started the 45-lap event from the 24th position after qualifying was rained out on Saturday morning, lining the field up by practice speeds from Friday’s first practice session.

Soon after taking the green flag, the field was slowed by a full-course caution to retrieve a car that was stuck in the gravel on the course. Reed had improved to the 20th position and told crew chief Chad Norris that the car was handling and braking well.

Reed restarted from the 20th position on Lap 3 and was up to the 18th spot by Lap 5. Before completing the fifth lap, Reed was pinched down on the track, causing him to briefly spin out before getting the car going in the right direction. He fell back to the 29th position after this incident.

The team made their first pit stop of the day from the 26th position on Lap 12 for four tires and a full tank of fuel. When he was slow getting going out of his pit box, Reed reported to crew chief Chad Norris that first gear wasn’t working correctly due to a bad wheel hop he had earlier in the race.

By Lap 17, Norris told Reed that he was running lap times equivalent to drivers’ times in the top-10. Reed reported that the car was handling great. He had driven up to the 19th position by Lap 20.

A full course caution slowed the field for the second time on lap 22. Reed ran 19th and pitted on the next lap for four tires and fuel. Knowing that they could not make it to the end of the race on fuel, Norris brought his driver back down pit road on Lap 28, two laps after the restart. Norris informed Reed that he had enough gas to make it through two attempts at a green-white-checker finish.

The field was slowed by a lengthy caution on Lap 34 while Reed was running 20th. Norris and Reed agreed not to come down pit road to put the last set of tires on the car, leaving Reed to restart 13th with five laps to go.

Reed maintained his drive for the remaining laps, but reported the car just wasn’t as good as it was in the beginning of the race. Despite fighting the handling of the car, he held on to bring home a 19th-place finish in the No. 16 Lilly Diabetes American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang.

Reed remains 10th in the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship standings, 204 points behind points -leader and teammate Chris Buescher. Reed and the rest of the NASCAR XFINITY Series will return to the track on Saturday, September 5th at Darlington Raceway.

RFR PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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