Roush Fenway Racing rookie of the year contender Ryan Reed battled a loose race car in Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, ultimately bringing his No. 16 American Diabetes Association Drive to Stop DiabetesSM presented by Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang home in 18th.
“We battled a pretty loose Drive to Stop Diabetes Mustang all night,” said Reed. “Seth [Barbour] and the team never gave up and kept trying to make our car better all night. I’m proud of how hard everyone worked.”
Reed started in 12th on Saturday afternoon, after qualifying was briefly delayed due to rain. From the drop of the green flag, Reed informed the crew that his race car was much too loose, telling the team that he was dead sideways.
Crew Chief Seth Barbour brought his driver down pit road on Lap 52 to adjust on the handling of the No. 16 Mustang. The team opted for four tires, fuel as well as multiple chassis adjustments to help the loose race car.
On the next run, Reed’s Mustang was still too loose on entry, but had tightened up in the center. As the green flag run progressed and tires continued to wear, Reed’s Mustang swung back to the loose side.
The team brought the No. 16 Mustang back down pit road on Lap 114 to work on the handling again, taking four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Reed held on to his loose race car for the remainder of the evening, eventually crossing the finish line in 18th.
With the finish Reed remains ninth in the NNS point standings heading to Richmond International Raceway.
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