Shawn Reed’s Comeback Story Continues With First Career NHRA Top Fuel Win at Reading Nationals

READING, PA – Eight weeks after a top-end crash at the NHRA Northwest Nationals left Shawn Reed with multiple fractured ribs and an amputated left index finger, the independent Top Fuel driver raced to his first career NHRA Top Fuel victory Sunday evening at the 40th NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish at Maple Grove Raceway. It was Reed’s first NHRA race back in competition in his Reed Trucking & Excavating Top Fuel dragster after taking several weeks off to recover from the crash. He entered the weekend 10th in the Top Fuel points standings and is now tied for fifth going into the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship.

The win came just one week after Reed raced to victory at an IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series race in Hebron, Ohio, while preparing for his NHRA competition return. The event served as a test run to get Reed comfortable in the car again, and he ended up defeating three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Larry Dixon in the final round to claim his second win of the season outside NHRA competition, adding to his victory at the PRO Superstar Shootout in Bradenton, Fla., in February.

While Reed was on the sidelines, he tapped NHRA on FOX broadcast team member and former Bachelorette contestant Jordan Vandergriff to serve as a replacement driver. With Vandergriff driving at the final two races of the NHRA regular season, Shawn Reed Racing maintained its Countdown to the Championship eligibility, allowing Reed to continue his pursuit of a Top Fuel world championship starting at the Reading Nationals.
Reed and crew chief Rob Wendland established a solid baseline in the first qualifying session on Friday when Reed ran a 3.86 E.T. at 325.30 mph to sit eighth. He moved up to fourth in the second session with a 3.758-second pass at 328.46 mph, the third-quickest pass of the session. The consistency carried over into Saturday, where Reed earned another bonus point for making the third-quickest run of the third session, a 3.813 E.T. at 329.26 mph. He dropped a cylinder in the final qualifying session but still managed to run a 3.86 at 316.52 mph.

After qualifying firmly in the No. 4 spot, Reed met up with rookie Kyle Satenstein in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. Reed stayed right in the same range he ran in qualifying, winning with a 3.801-second pass at 328.54 mph over Satenstein’s 4.002 E.T. He then recorded a 3.834 E.T. at 326.87 mph to get around a tire-hazing Shawn Langdon in the second round. The semifinals saw Reed leave just a tick ahead of No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican and kept the lead rolling to a consistent 3.833 E.T. at 326.87 mph to beat Millican’s tire-smoking effort.

Reed went into his second career NHRA final round facing one of the most accomplished drivers in the class, 2023 world champion Doug Kalitta. The two drivers left the starting line together, but Kalitta fell back as he lost traction while Reed marched on to a winning 3.844-second pass at 326.63 mph.

“This car has always been good,” said Reed, who last went to the final round at the 2018 NHRA Gatornationals. “Early in the year, we were running into a few little issues on Sunday morning that would bite us, but these last several weeks, going back to when Jordan Vandergriff was driving, we qualified No. 3 in Brainerd, No. 2 in Indy, and then won the IHRA race last weekend in Ohio. So, this car has been running good for a while now and has been steadily getting better and better throughout the year. Hats off to Rob Wendland, Ryan Elliott, and our whole Reed Trucking & Excavating team. We dragged this bucket of bolts up there every weekend for a year and a half and we finally got a Wally. I’m just so happy for these guys, even moreso than I am for myself probably, and I’ve waited six years to get one of these.”

Reed, who didn’t qualify at last year’s Reading Nationals, is now tied for fifth place in the Top Fuel points standings, up from No. 10 going into the Countdown. He’s off to a bright start to the playoffs, and he’s motivated to continue climbing the standings now that he has his first Wally in hand.

“Last year, we DNQ’d here and still had a pretty good Countdown, and I said to everyone on this team, ‘We’re going to be part of the conversation next year,’ and that’s still my goal,” Reed said. “I know it’s a hard road, and in my mind, I’m not even thinking about the championship, but what I will tell you is that No. 10 will not be on my wing next year.”

Reed won’t have to wait long to get back into the seat of his Reed Trucking & Excavating dragster, as the next stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour is just days away. For the first time ever, the Countdown to the Championship will include a four-wide event, the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals, Sept. 18-21, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Qualified: No. 4 (3.758 E.T. at 328.46 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.801 E.T. at 328.54 MPH defeated Kyle Satenstein 4.002 E.T. at 293.73 MPH
E2: 3.834 E.T. at 326.87 MPH defeated Shawn Langdon 4.198 E.T. at 247.38 MPH
E3: 3.833 E.T. at 326.87 MPH defeated Clay Millican 6.135 E.T. at 102.32 MPH
E4: 3.844 E.T. at 326.63 MPH defeated Doug Kalitta 4.717 E.T. at 202.12 MPH