Reed’s patience pays off

“It was wild Dillon added.

Under NASCAR’s new championship points system this season, races are divided into three stages — with a playoff point awarded to the winner of the first two stages, and the race winner receiving five points.

Elliott Sadler won the first two of the three stages and appeared to have the best car on the day but was involved in the final wreck that knocked him out of the race late.

Reed earned 47 for the win.

Most of the drivers didn’t feel there was much difference to how they approached racing under the new points system.

“I never really felt the stages,” said Kahne, “It seemed liked the wrecks came prior enough. I wasn’t racing for points but I was still racing to lead the stages if possible.”

Reed earned a spot on the front row in qualifying, starting next to pole-sitter Brandon Jones. Despite the early positioning, Jones was overtaken by the No. 22 Ford of Brad Keselowski. The NASCAR Cup series driver led for the first 10 laps before falling back into the pack.

The first major wreck of the day took place on Lap 25 when the No. 42 Chevrolet of Tyler Reddick for sure,” points was clipped by the No. 24 Toyota of Scott Lagasse Jr., sending Reddick spinning into the wall in Turn 2. The crash impacted 18 drivers, sending some cars to the pits while bringing out the third caution of the day and a red flag stop.

After a nearly 20-minute stoppage, the race got underway again but four laps later saw another huge crash. This one began when Daniel Hemric pushed the No. 7 Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier up into Brandon Jones, bringing out another red flag and temporarily stopping the race. The fourth caution of the day involved 12 cars.

Twenty-seven of the 40 cars that began the race were involved in the two wrecks.

Sadler took charge, grabbing the lead early on while remaining out of the fray and earning the first set of points after winning the first stage under caution.

The second stage of racing was tame in comparison to the first 30 laps of racing, with Sadler adding to his playoff point total by capturing another segment — again under caution. This time it was because of a wreck involving Brennan Poole, who spun out, taking Blake Koch with him into the wall on Lap 59.

Sadler would wind up in the third major wreck of the afternoon with 17 laps remaining, spinning out into the grass in the back straightaway — taking with him a handful of cars.

“I started out pretty aggressive and made some mistakes and ended up in the back of the pack,” Reed said. “I knew if I was there in the end, it doesn’t matter where you are at, you will have a shot. I reminded myself of that, took a deep breath, bided my time and found my way to the front at the end.”