Shawn Reed Racing Pre-Race Report: Charlotte 1

American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

Event 5 of 20

zMAX Dragway

Concord, N.C.

April 25 – 27, 2025

SHAWN REED

Driver of the Reed Trucking & Excavating Top Fuel Dragster

2024 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Recap:

Qualified eighth; First round exit (defeated by Jasmine Salinas, Doug Kalitta in E1)

Last Event (Las Vegas 1):

Qualified seventh; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Brittany Force, Terry Totten in E1; defeated by Antron Brown, Jasmine Salinas in E2)

Noteworthy:

• Scored his best qualifying position (2nd) of the 2024 season during his most recent Charlotte outing at the Fall event

• Secured his first round-win of the season at the most recent event in Las Vegas

• By advancing into the Top Fuel final eight at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, Reed clinched a spot in the Charlotte running of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge

• While he won the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout event, Reed is eager to capture his first NHRA Wally trophy, and a trip to the winner’s circle this weekend would make the former drag boat champion the winner of NHRA’s 1,000th Top Fuel race

  
  

Fan Events:

• Friday, 2:15 – 2:45 p.m., Mission #2Fast2Tasty driver autograph session, Mission Foods midway display

Quotable:

“We began this season on such a high after that win at the PRO Superstar Shootout, but the first few races didn’t go the way we had planned. Its been frustrating, but the reality is, drag racing is a very humbling sport. It’s not easy and this Top Fuel class is ultra-competitive, so we’ve got to remember to celebrate small victories as they come. Getting that first win light of the season in Vegas was great and it feels like we finally got that monkey off our back. We’ve been steadily improving with each race weekend, and as long as we continue to move in the right direction, that’s what’s most important at this point in the year. There is still so much racing left ahead of us, we’re just focused on getting everything dialed-in so that we feel we have a really solid, consistent combination come July and August when things start to really ramp up.

“We’re excited to get down to Charlotte this weekend. It should be a good bit cooler than in Vegas, we just need the rain to stay away. Last time we raced at zMAX, we ran well and were the No. 2 qualifiers, so hoping for more of that this weekend. Plus, we qualified for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday, so it’ll be cool to get to run in that and even better if we can start Sunday with one win from the weekend already under our belt.”