Austin Reed Wins the Legends Race at Willow Springs Raceway
- 14 Mar 2012
The Bakersfield, California native took the checkered flag in his first ever appearance on the 2.5-mile world famous road course. He followed that up with a runner-up the next day while running the course counterclockwise. It was a great start to what is supposed to be a busy season for Reed. "The ability to go out and win the first race of the year is a huge confidence boost not only for me but for my entire crew too," the honors student said. "We are running as many road courses as we can in hopes of racing at the invitational at Infineon (Sonoma, California) Raceway as part of the combination weekend with the Sprint Cup cars and the K&N Pro Series West." Reed and his crew chief, Ryan Sebek, learned early in the weekend that Legend Cars could be a handful on road courses.
"We found that (weight) ballast is the biggest adjustment with these cars (on road courses)," Reed said. "Ryan (Sebek) and I have learned that keeping a level race car can change the entire drive of the car." Reed is going to have to learn to keep his driving style level this season. Along with the various road course races, Reed plans on running in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour on a limited basis. He will run five races for his fathers Dave Reed Racing Team and Dave Reed Racing Driver Development Program. The opportunity to run full-bodied cars at some very fast short tracks throughout the Southwest is one Reed is looking forward to, and the talent around him doesn't hurt. "I need to work around Craig Raudman and Ron Copeland," Reed said. "They will be heading up my program while also managing Jonathan Gomez's effort in both the SRL and the K&N Pro Series."
Raudman has a long history as a driver and crew chief, leading Gomez to several fast time awards and victories in the SRL Southwest Tour. Reed plans on taking advantage of the talent around him while building for a full-time effort in 2013. "I am so lucky to have this many quality people around me to be able to go to with questions, either on or off the track," Reed said. Reed also plans on taking a graduation trip to the East Coast over summer, but it won't be a vacation. Reed plans on running in the Legends Million race and the Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He will also take advantage of being in the hotbed of NASCAR, running in some Pro Late Model races in both the Championship Racing Association (CRA) Super Series and the Pro All Stars Series (PASS). He will also test the team's K&N Pro Series entry at tracks like Gresham Motorsports Park and Rockingham Speedway Park. Reed was quick to thank K&N for their support, noting that it would be much more difficult to run this ambitious of a schedule without their support. "K&N has been a part of all of my racing, dating back to my short course racing days in CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing)," Reed said. "They have proven products and the technical support has been so valuable to us over the years on all of the race cars we have run, not to mention all of our tow rigs and personal cars. We run every product K&N has for all of our race and personal cars, and we really feel like K&N is family." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
