Momentum Builds for Shawn Reed with Career-Best Speed at Route 66 Nationals
JOLIET, IL – After racing to a new career-best speed during qualifying, Shawn Reed, pilot and owner of the Reed Trucking & Excavating 
Top Fuel dragster, built on his continuing positive momentum when he reached the quarterfinals at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals by defeating Dan Mercier on a holeshot effort in the first elimination round on Sunday.
Inclement weather plagued qualifying on Friday and Saturday as rapid and remarkable fluctuations in air pressure, density, temperature, wind speeds, and wind direction made tuning tricky.
Reed opened qualifying on Friday afternoon with a full pull down the track, recording a 4.150 E.T. at 230.10 mph. As a dust storm started rolling in later that day, Reed made the smart decision to shut off early in his second qualifying attempt so as not to risk unnecessary damage from battling powerful crosswinds. Reed powered to a blistering 3.720 E.T. in the third qualifying opportunity, posting the fastest speed of his Top Fuel career (334.82 mph) in the process. While he made another respectable pass in the final heat of qualifying, it was that top-speed run from the third session that put him in the No. 7 position on the ladder.
Reed lined up next to No. 10 qualifier Dan Mercier in both qualifying sessions on Saturday, giving fans a preview of the duo facing off in round one of eliminations. On Sunday morning, Reed’s 12,000 horsepower machine left the starting line first, rocketing down the track just a tick ahead of Mercier to snag the round win on a holeshot with a 3.750 at 334.40.
In the second round of eliminations, Reed faced motorsports legend Tony Stewart after watching several of his fellow Top Fuel competitors smoke the tires. Reed smoked the tires at the hit but was able to get back on the throttle quickly. Meanwhile, Stewart experienced tire smoke further down in the other lane, resulting in a pedal fest to the stripe. Stewart turned on the win light, but the Reed Trucking & Excavating team is leaving Route 66 Raceway on a high note after making positive progress throughout the event.
“We’re definitely a little bit closer to where we want to be,” said Reed. “We tested in Indy earlier this week, and that really helped us figure some things out. The first round today went pretty good. We got by our friend Dan, but then in E2, the track got pretty cruddy. I don’t know for what reason. I got a little nervous about that after watching some of the other cars smoke the tires. But all in all, we got a round win. You’ve got to get one of those wins once in a while, so you can keep it moving forward, so that’s what we’ll do. We’re going to get ready for Epping and hope we will get a few more round wins out there.
“Getting to a new top speed was pretty cool. I try not to think about that kind of stuff, but when it happens, it’s fun. We barely crept into the 330-mph range last year, so to go to 334, that means we’ve got our top-end game going. Now we’ve just got to get this thing off the starting line. That’s tough. To be able to build that power and speed down the track is great, but you’ve got to get off the starting line to win races. Rob Wedland (crew chief) and the boys will get it figured out, and when they do, we’ll be better for it. Hopefully, we peak at the right time like we did last year.”
In two weeks, the Reed Trucking & Excavating team will head up to Epping, N.H., for the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, May 30 to June 1, as the competition continues to heat up in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Qualified: No. 7 (3.720 E.T. at 334.82 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.750 E.T. at 334.40 MPH defeated Dan Mercier 3.748 E.T. at 329.26 MPH
E2: 5.043 E.T. at 267.11 MPH defeated by Tony Stewart 4.539 E.T. at 261.47 MPH
