HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 15, 2014) – Ryan Reed, driver of the No. 16 American Diabetes Association Drive to Stop DiabetesSM presented by Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang was running solidly inside the top-10 with just a handful of laps remaining in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The closing laps proved to be chaotic with several cautions and a green-white-checker finish. Contact with another competitor ultimately led to a flat tire, leaving the team with a 27th-place finish.
“We had a top-10 car all night,” said Reed. “We were smart about it and saved our stuff. It is unfortunate because we wanted to end the season on a good note. I think we have a strong program and a great group of guys. There were a lot of things I needed to learn and I feel like I did a good job learning those things and we can go into 2015 and really step up our performance.”
After Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session, Reed lined up 11th for the 200-Lap, 300-Mile season finale. The rookie of the year contender held his ground on the opening green flag run of the race, settling into the top-15.
When Reed visited pit road for the first time of the day under caution on Lap 36, the young driver was happy enough with his Mustang that the team opted for four tires, fuel and no adjustments.
As the race progressed, Reed, pleased with the handling of his Mustang, steadily began to climb into the top-10. Crew chief Seth Barbour would bring his driver down pit road multiple times for tires, fuel and no adjustments as the laps wound down.
The caution flag waved multiple times as the laps began to dwindle. Reed’s Mustang suffered contact with another competitor as the final caution flag of the evening flew. The No. 16 lined up 12th for the final green-white-checker finish, however when the green flag flew, Reed radioed to the team that the contact caused a flat tire. Reed limped his Mustang home to a 27th-place finish. With the result he closes out the season ninth in the NNS point standings.
RACE SUMMARY
Ryan Reed
Started: 11
Finished: 27
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Ryan Reed
2014 Season Total: Ninth with 889 points
