Shawn Reed Racing Post-Race Recap: St. Louis

NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals

Event 17 of 20

World Wide Technology Raceway

Madison, Ill.

Sept. 26 - 28

Reed Leaves St. Louis Confident in Team’s Performance Heading into Second-Half of NHRA Countdown

MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 28, 2025) – Still riding the high from his first NHRA Top Fuel victory during the 2025 Countdown to the Championship playoff opener in Reading, Pa., earlier this month, team owner/driver Shawn Reed was looking to keep the momentum rolling this weekend at the NHRA Midwest Nationals. His Rob Wendland-led team was strong during qualifying, earning a starting position in the top half of the field for the 13th time out of 15 events, but faced a tough draw in fellow Countdown-challenger Shawn Langdon during round one of eliminations. Against Langdon, the Reed Trucking & Excavating team gave it a good run but were outpaced by their opponent and will now look to the upcoming Dallas race to continue to add to their points total as they attempt to climb the NHRA Top Fuel standings.

Reed opened the weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis by taking his 12,000-horsepower machine on a 3.764-second ride to place him eighth after the first qualifying round. In Friday night’s field-setting session, Reed kept the candles lit from start to finish to clock a 3.703 E.T. at 332.10 mph and move up four positions to fourth. Reed’s machine was up in smoke early during Saturday’s first session, but he closed out qualifying with another quick and consistent pass, laying down a stout 3.793 E.T. at 328.94 mph, which held up to be the best run of the round. For their efforts, the Shawn Reed Racing team earned the No. 4 qualifying position but faced Langdon from the No. 13 seed, setting up a monster first-round matchup.

Reed lined up next to Langdon on Sunday morning, ready to throw down aboard his Reed Trucking & Excavating machine. He clocked a .069-second reaction time to Langdon’s .062, and took his dragster to the finish line stripe in 3.788 seconds. It was a good run, but it wasn’t enough to outpace Langdon’s 3.772-second pass, ending Reed’s day after the first elimination round.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a letdown because the car is continuing to run well, but we definitely had high hopes going into this weekend,” said Reed, a part-time resident of nearby Defiance, Mo. “We qualified well and then saw that we had Langdon first round. We weren’t too happy about that, but racing is racing. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. He’s been doing it for a long time, and I knew I was going to have to dig deep and try and hang with him, and I did that. I’d like to say I’ve been driving one of these things for 30 years like he has, but the reality is, I’ve only been driving full-time for a year and a half. I’m working on getting better on the tree. That’s one of my projects for the off-season, to work on my lights. I’d like to be down in the low 60s/upper 50s if I can, and give my team a little bit bigger window to tune into; that would sure help them a lot. But, all in all, still real happy about the car. It’s going down the track consistently, we’re sneaking up on things, and we’ve got a dang good race car.”

Reed, who recently won his first IHRA Top Fuel race in addition to his Maple Grove Raceway triumph, started the weekend ranked seventh in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship standings. After Sunday’s early exit, he slipped to ninth, but with three races to go before a champion is crowned, Reed, a second-time playoff contender, is focused on finishing as high in the rankings as possible. 

“We want to finish strong, of course, but I’m looking beyond that,” added Reed, who closed out the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Series season ranked 10th. “We’re looking at starting next year like we’re finishing this year. A lot of people went out early today, so the points are still wide open up to about the number three spot. I’ve been saying all year, my goal is to take the ‘10’ off my car. It’s coming off; I just don’t know what number is going on. Hopefully it’s a four, five, or six.”

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will take a week off before the playoffs resume in Ennis, Texas, for the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, Oct. 10 – 12.

Qualified: No. 4 (3.703 E.T. at 332.10 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

E1: 3.788 E.T. at 330.80 MPH defeated by Shawn Langdon 3.772 E.T. at 336.82 MPH

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

1	Doug Kalitta		2409
2	Justin Ashley		2323
3	Shawn Langdon		2282
4	Tony Stewart		2256
5	Clay Millican		2227
6	Brittany Force		2216
7	Antron Brown		2207
8	Steve Torrence		2203
9	Shawn Reed		2194
10	Josh Hart		2117