STEVEN REED FIRES TO TOP OF CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE DESPITE SPECTACULAR CRASH

Queensland based professional Drag Racer Steven Reed escaped major injury in a fiery crash at his home track of Willowbank Raceway during the Nightfire New Year Series event last night (Saturday 3^rd January).

Steven had been performing well in the Top Alcohol bracket making the Final and taking the National Championship series lead in the process in his 3500 horsepower Premier One backed Funny Car.

However not everything went his way when pushing for the event victory with a massive engine explosion at approximately 200mph (322kph) causing his entire vehicle to catch fire and hit the safety wall.

Steven was able to exit his car himself but was taken to Ipswich Hospital for treatment of minor burns and observation, and was released earlier this morning (Sunday 4^th January).

“It was definitely a wild ride in the Final, I was side by side with Gary Phillips and my engine just let go kicking a rod out,” Steven Reed said.

“The entire car just blew up in flames and when I went for my onboard fire extinguisher it veered sideways impacting the wall as I passed the finish line.”

“I managed to get away from it all relatively unharmed but at this stage the car doesn’t look too good with extensive fire and chassis damage. We will have to take it back to the workshop and see what we can salvage.”

“It has definitely taken the shine off taking the Championship lead and we will now have to re-evaluate our resources and funding for the rest of the season.”

Steven’s wife Debbie Reed was also on track in her Dragster as the sole female competitor in the Top Alcohol category and had another strong showing on the back of her win in Sydney last week.

Qualifying in third position, she was pitted against her hubby in her Quarter-Final eliminator for the second event in a row, however after getting the better of him last time out, Steven was able to exact some revenge by knocking her out of the competition.

“We are really on top of the tune ups in my Dragster at the moment and it is showing on track with good, consistent quick times,” Debbie Reed said.

“I had to relinquish my Championship lead to Steven with my quarter-final loss to him, but I guess now we are even after I knocked him out at the same stage at the last round.”

“I am still currently in third spot though, meaning we have the two Reed Racing entries in first and third positions in the National Series.”

DANIEL REED CHARGES HOME FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH WINTERNATIONALS WIN

The largest Drag Racing event in the Southern Hemisphere and the finale of the Australian National Drag Racing series rocked Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway last weekend (June 8-10) when it hosted the 40^th anniversary of the Winternationals.

One of the local standouts was Brisbane’s Daniel Reed from the Reed Racing team who wrapped up his first Australian Championship with a win in the Supercharged Outlaws bracket at the event.

In front of a near capacity crowd, Daniel drove his ‘Start Ya Bastard’ Altered to victory which not only sealed the National Title for him, but also the Willowbank Raceway track Championship.

“The pressure was really on me to perform at the event, I was leading the points chase going into the Winternationals but there were 5 other competitors that could have overtaken me,” Daniel said.

“I knew though we were a good chance to take the title so I just went out there and did what we had been doing all season.”

“To win a Winternationals title is an achievement that all Australian Drag Racers strive to achieve, so to win the event and the Australian Championship on the same day is just unbelievable.”

“I would really like to thank my sponsors Nulon and Start Ya Bastard, the fans, my crew and everyone involved with the Reed Racing team for giving me the opportunity to get where I am today.”

The Reed Racing team also contented the professional Top Alcohol bracket at the event with Steven Reed driving his Nulon Engine Oils Funny Car and Debbie Reed in her Nulon Dragster.

With consistent results throughout the season, both of the teams entries in what is one of the most competitive bracket in the sport, finished inside the Top 5 of the Championship with Steven securing the number 3 plate and Debbie number 5.

“Finishing the season with both of our Nulon cars inside the Top 5 in the Australian Championship in what has arguably been one of the most competitive seasons in Top Alcohol history,” Stevens said.

“The bracket has really come of age and is now one of the leading categories in Australian Drag Racing, so it is a great achievement for the team to gain the result it has.”

“It would have been great to go further than the quarter finals at the Winternationals after qualifying well in 4^th position, but over all the 2006/2007 season has been a resounding success for the entire Reed Racing team.”

“I would again like to thank all of our team sponsors, the crew, the fans and to all those who have helped us gain our excellent results this year.”

Throughout the season the team has stocked up their trophy cabinet with some great results that have included an East Coast Nationals Top Alcohol win (Debbie Reed), Australian Nationals Supercharged Outlaws win (Daniel Reed), Summernationals Top Alcohol runner up (Steven Reed), Summernationals Supercharged Outlaws runner up (Daniel Reed) and a Winternationals Supercharged Outlaws win (Daniel Reed).

With Daniel’s success throughout the year the team have also decided to licence him in Stevens Nulon Engine Oils Funny Car as a backup driver should he be required.

Following the completion of the Winternationals Daniel took control of the 3500 horsepower vehicle for the first time and spectacularly reeled off a pass of 5.71 at approximately 400 kph during licensing. This time would have been good enough for the number 4 qualifying position in the Top Alcohol bracket at the Winternationals.