Ford Performance NASCAR: Phoenix 2 (Ryan Reed)

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Ford Performance NASCAR Notes and Quotes
NXS Ticket Galaxy 200 – Phoenix International Raceway

Friday, November 11, 2016

Ryan Reed, driver of the No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang, enters the Phoenix race weekend with a shot to advance to the Championship 4 of the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase. Reed, along with fellow contenders Elliott Sadler (Chevrolet) and Erik Jones (Toyota) took part in a NXS Chase panel discussion Friday.

RYAN REED, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH PRESSURE DO YOU FEEL KNOWING YOU NEED TO WIN TO ADVANCE TO HOMESTEAD? “honestly I don’t feel a ton of pressure. I feel like we just go in here and leave it all out there. We need to give 110% and take chances. I think me and Erik (Jones) could probably completely swap positions and like he said, one mistake and you are out. We are out right now so we have to go in there and do everything right to get in. I don’t feel a whole lot of pressure because it isn’t like it is mine to lose right now. We have to go get it. We have to work really hard in practice and we had about a 10th place car in practice and sometimes you look at small changes but right now we are throwing a lot at it in between sessions. We have to take chances. We have to get away from some baseline stuff and be willing to try stuff. We will do whatever we can and not regret anything come tomorrow afternoon.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE HEAT RACES WE SAW THIS YEAR IN THE SERIES IS SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE CONTINUE IN 2017? “I think the heat races have changed a lot of the dynamic. If you look at those races, it shortens the main event. We have one pit stop in a lot of those races. I think that they change up the dynamic and what you are looking at. From the driver’s seat it certainly felt different. I think there is room to improve on it. I think we can figure out a way to continue doing heat races because there is a way to make those really exciting and I like how you raced in the heat race to get locked in to the Dash for Cash in the main but I also think we can make them even better yet.”

 

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.