LONG POND, Pa. (June 10, 2017) – Ryan Reed leaves the “tricky triangle” at Pocono Raceway with a 14th-place finish. Reed started the race 16th in his No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford and attempted to use pit strategy to gain an advantage with fuel mileage, but the cautions did not fall in his favor.
“It was a tough day,” said Reed after the race. “Obviously, you don’t want to finish 14th, but given a lot of the adversity that went our way like the caution coming out right after we pitted and a bunch of guys stayed out. That put us behind and that was just a no-win situation there. We still found our way from 21st to 14th at the end of that. Our car had decent speed, but we still need to get better for Pocono. There’s only one track like this, so while we need to get better here, this doesn’t really kill our momentum for the tracks coming up.”
Reed qualified his Lilly Diabetes Ford 16th for Saturday afternoon’s 100-lap race at Pocono Raceway. Despite the handling on his Ford continuing to tighten up over the first 25-lap stage, Reed was able to work his way up to 14th on the track. Reed visited pit road over the stage break for four tires, fuel, track bar and air pressure adjustments in an effort to loosen up the Lilly Diabetes Ford.
Reed took the green for stage two 14th and picked up track position as some competitors opted to pit prior to the stage end. Reed closed out stage two eighth and visited pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and only a small air pressure adjustment.
Reed restarted 11th for the final stage and knew the field would not be able to make it to the end on fuel. Five laps after taking the green Reed visited pit road for a fuel only stop. With the additional dash of fuel, Reed was good until the end. Reed was running 20th and knew at least 10 cars up ahead would have had to pit. That was until the caution came out with 23 laps remaining.
The caution changed the strategy and left Reed having to pit for fresh tires. Reed was able to capitalize on the four fresh tires and work his way forward to earn a 14th-place finish.
About Lilly Diabetes
Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world’s first commercial insulin. Today we are building upon this heritage by working to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes and those who care for them. Through research and collaboration, a wide range of therapies and a continued determination to provide real solutions—from medicines to support programs and more—we strive to make life better for all those affected by diabetes around the world. For more information, visit www.lillydiabetes.com or follow us on Twitter: @LillyDiabetes.
