Ryan Reed was a dominating presence Saturday afternoon at Michigan. Reed led laps, scored points for finishing in the top-10 in both Stages and ultimately drove his No. 16 Drive Down A1C Ford Fusion to a fourth-place finish after rain shortened the race.
“I think just being smart and knowing where the momentum is going got us a great finish today,” said Reed. A lot of credit goes to my spotter, Herm, he spots for Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and he does a great job. He has had a lot of plate racing success with Ricky’s two wins and my two wins at Daytona. Then also to Roush Fenway who brings really good Ford Mustangs here. Everyone on this team did a really good job all weekend. Thanks to Lilly Diabetes. This was a lot of fun. When we have fast race cars and go to the tracks we know we are good at it is a lot of fun and we need to make that kind of progress on the tracks we aren’t so close on. We have a really good team.”
Rain on Saturday morning washed out qualifying for the field, leaving NASCAR to set the starting lining up by owner’s points. Reed lined up 15th for the start of the race, which was also delayed due to continued rains.
The No. 16 Ford started off a little tight in Stage 1, but came around with some clean air and Reed raced his way to third to close out the first 30-lap run. After a quick pit stop for two tires and fuel Reed lined up 12th for Stage 2. By the end of the second 30-lap Stage Reed had worked his way back to third.
Rain was quickly approaching the track and everyone knew once it arrived the race would be called. Crew chief Phil Gould gambled and left Reed on track saving fuel. After a few quick cautions, Reed was scored the leader. As the final green flag laps played out, Reed drafted with the lead pack and was in the fourth position when the caution flag was displayed for rain. The rain intensity increased, forcing NASCAR to conclude the race short of the scheduled distance, leaving Reed with a solid top-five finish.
RFR PR/Photo Credit Jerry Markland/Getty Images
