Shawn Reed Racing Post-Race Recap: Epping

NHRA New England Nationals

Event 7 of 20

New England Dragway

Epping, N.H.

May 30 – June 1, 2025

Shawn Reed Kicks Off Four-Race Summer Swing With Strong Showing in Epping

EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2025) - Shawn Reed’s outing at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H can best be described as a morale-booster of a weekend as the Reed Trucking & Excavating Top Fuel team enjoyed one of their best performances to-date during the NHRA New England Nationals. At the first of four races over a five-week span, Reed scored his sixth top-half qualifying position in seven events, reset his career-best speed, was quick and consistent all weekend long, and advanced to the quarterfinal round, arming Reed and his team with a renewed sense of confidence heading into the next race on tour, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. 

With crew chief Rob Wendland calling the shots, Reed opened the weekend with a 3.751-second pass at 331.04 mph to place him fourth on the Top Fuel timing sheets. Wendland, assisted by Ryan Elliott, leaned on it even more during Friday’s second session, sending the Reed Trucking & Excavating dragster barreling down the track in 3.702 seconds at 334.24 mph to move up to the No. 2 spot to close out day one of qualifying. The powerful run earned the team two bonus points for being the second-quickest pass of the session. On Saturday, Reed made it three for three with another straight and smooth lap, this time posting a 3.737 E.T. before smoking the tires right at the hit of the throttle in the final session. With four rounds of qualifying in the books, Reed settled into the No. 4 starting position to draw No. 13 qualifier Scott Farley as his round-one race day opponent. 

The drag boat champion-turned Top Fuel racer nabbed the starting line advantage and clocked the fastest run of his career (335.23 mph) to kick off his Sunday morning in Epping. His 3.724-second pass easily defeated his opponent’s 4.345-second effort and sent Reed into the quarterfinals for the third time this season. Reed gave it a good run against Brittany Force in round two, recording a 3.721 E.T., but it wasn’t enough to outpace the former world champ’s 3.69, ending his day after the quarterfinals. 

“I’m proud of the guys, we had a good weekend,” Reed said. “Five times out of six made it down the track, all in the low 70s. The car pretty much responded to what the crew chiefs told it to do and that’s always the goal. Morale is up, the team is feeling upbeat. We’re going to go down to Bristol, the guys will enjoy a day off and spend the day on the lake, and hopefully, we’ll learn more and continue to make progress next weekend." 

Prior to the previous race in Joliet, Ill., the Reed Trucking & Excavating team tested in Indianapolis where Reed noted they had worked out some of the issues that had been plaguing them since the start of the year. It was evident in Joliet that their testing efforts had paid off as they showed an improvement in performance, including posting what was at the time a new career-best speed. This weekend in Epping appeared to continue to build on that momentum. 

“You’ve got to walk before you can run, and we walked in Chicago,” added Reed. “We’re walking fast now, so hopefully we can do a little jogging down there in Bristol and keep climbing all the way to Indy and turn it on right there, just like we did last year.” 

No. 10 ranked Shawn Reed and the Reed Trucking & Excavating team will compete next at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., June 6 – 8.

Qualified: No. 4 (3.702 E.T. at 334.24 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

E1: 5.724 E.T. at 335.23 MPH defeated Scott Farley 4.345 E.T. at 189.71 MPH

E2: 3.721 E.T at 334.57 MPH defeated by Brittany Force 3.690 E.T. at 338.26.

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):

1 Tony Stewart 616

2 Shawn Langdon 545

3 Antron Brown 527

4 Doug Kalitta 501

5 Brittany Force 452

6 Justin Ashley 438

7 Steve Torrence 335

8 Clay Millican 328

9 Josh Hart 311

10 Shawn Reed 298