TALLADEGA, Ala. — The day ended in a combination of a career-best Truck Series finish and a ball of fire for Ryan Reed in his return to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition on Friday (Oct. 4).
The two-time Xfinity Series winner was competing at Talladega in McAnally-Hilgeman Racing’s No. 91 truck for his first start of the season. The last time Reed drove in a NASCAR event came last fall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Xfinity Series, and his most recent Truck start came in the spring of 2021 at Darlington Raceway.
“I couldn’t stop making mistakes early on,” Reed said. “The truck was so fast. I think more than anything I’m really proud of myself for being able to get out there and make aggressive pushes and be able to kind of rise to the occasion.”
Despite the speed, Reed’s truck burst into flames shortly after crossing the finish line. Reed said he stared at the door of teammate Christian Eckes while he crossed the line in the middle of a multi-truck pileup.
“Gosh, we could go anywhere we wanted today,” Reed told Frontstretch. “I made a lot of mistakes, but we put ourselves in position at the end. I hate that Bill [McAnally] has torn up race trucks.”
Friday marked Reed’s sixth start in the past six years in Truck and Xfinity equipment, something Reed said might have added some doubt.
“When you’re sitting on the couch every weekend, you think you can do it,” he reflected. “I remember I used to race every single weekend, I know how to get around these plate tracks, but you don’t know, right?
“It’s really gratifying to come off the couch and remind myself, like ‘hey I can still do this,’ at least at superspeedways. I think I can do it at other tracks too.”
Despite the last-lap wreck, Reed wound up seventh at the finish for a career-best result in the Truck Series.
“I sell orange juice for a living, so this is a lot of fun when I get to take a break from the day job and go play race car driver.”
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