Reed prevails in shootout to capture crash-filled Xfinity opener
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Reed picked up the second Xfinity Series victory of his career — both at Daytona International Speedway — by winning the wreck-filled season opener Saturday.
Reed held off Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne in a two-lap overtime shootout to win in a Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Reed’s only other career victory came in this race in 2015, and he was celebrated for overcoming a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes to become a race-winning driver.
Reed initially had been told upon diagnosis that he would not be able to race.
“Man, I thought about it this morning. I’ve had so many people come up to me and tell me how amazing that last win, my first win, was for certain people,” Reed said. “Everyone knows, a lot of people know, that I have Type 1 diabetes, and to see what that win meant to people it drove me to get back to Victory Lane.”
Roush was winless last year in both the Xfinity and Cup Series, but Reed’s victory ensures him a spot in the Xfinity Series playoffs.
“At the end of last year, I told everyone we had a lot of momentum and I said we’re going to go to Speedweeks ready to go and here we are,” Reed said. “So many good things are happening right now.”
Kahne finished second in a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, which had five cars in the field and a rough day because of all the accidents.
Dillon was third in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, and Brad Keselowski was fourth in a Team Penske Ford. Scott Lagasse was sixth and the highest finishing Toyota driver.
A multicar accident with 17 laps remaining cost Elliott Sadler the victory, but it wasn’t a total loss. Sadler, one of the JR Motorsports drivers, won the first two stages of NASCAR’s new format and was in contention for the win until the accident. He wound up in the garage because his car was too damaged to be repaired on pit road. Sadler finished 24th.
Gordon ready to set the pace
Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will drive the honorary pace car for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Gordon will lead the field to green behind the wheel of a 2017 Camaro ZL1.
Gordon, a three-time Daytona 500 champion, retired after the 2015 season and returned to drive in eight Cup races last season, subbing for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“You go down the list of prestigious things I have done, this is right at the top of the list,” Gordon said.
He then will resume his Fox broadcast duties with Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip.
Gordon will have a familiar car behind him — his old No. 24 Chevy now driven by pole winner Chase Elliott. Earnhardt will join his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the front row.
Bakery counters sponsorship suit
Nature’s Bakery filed its response to a $31 million breach of contract suit brought by
Stewart-Haas Racing because the company severed its sponsorship with Danica Patrick.
The counterclaim filed Friday in North Carolina Superior Court came a little more than a day before the season-opening Daytona 500. Patrick is to start 12th in Sunday’s race.
Nature’s Bakery contends Stewart-Haas Racing “could not control” Patrick and allowed her to endorse products that rivaled the fig bars and brownies sold by Nature’s Bakery. The com- pany said it was spending $15 million a year and expected four times the return for sponsoring Patrick’s car.
Instead, SHR could not guarantee exclusivity in the on-the-go foods category because Patrick endorsed competitor Six Star Pro Nutrition.
The counterclaim alleges “it was as if Michael Jordan decided to wear Adidas while being paid by Nike.” Nature’s Bakery said the relationship was clearly not working six months into the contract, Stewart-Haas Racing took ad- vantage of a young company with no NASCAR sponsorship experience, and SHR “did nothing other than collect Nature’s Bakery’s money.”
Nature’s Bakery said SHR promised to support the sponsorship but failed to provide significant value as part of the deal that was worth $15 million annually. SHR is seeking $31 million, plus damages.