Bashas' Supermarkets 200 - Boston Reid Notes

BOSTON REID
NO. 5 LOWE’S / BRIGGS & STRATTON CHEVROLET
PHOENIX PREVIEW

REID “SWINGS” FOR CHARITY: Team Lowe’s Racing driver Boston Reid showed his skills on the links on Tuesday, when he participated in Lowe’s “Swing For Charity” golf event at the Rock Barn Golf Course in Conover, NC. The annual golf event, hosted by Lowe's and supported by its vendors, raises funds to benefit local non-profit organizations in North Carolina and across the country. Last year, the event raised $1.7 million, with $100,000 of that going to the Hendrick Marrow Program.

SPEED READING: The First Book Speed Read Challenge event held last Friday at a Lowe’s store near Texas Motor Speedway will result in 50,000 new books being donated to low-income families in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Team Lowe’s Racing driver Blake Feese challenged local students, teachers, firemen and police in attendance at the event to try and beat his mark of 114 words read in just 15 seconds from the children’s book, “Fix-It Duck.” For every word read at the event, First Book donated a new book to low-income families and charitable organizations in the area.

Now, it’s Boston Reid’s turn. Prior to climbing behind the wheel of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevy for the first Busch Series practice session on Thursday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, Reid will head to a Lowe’s store in nearby Scottsdale, Ariz., to take part in another Speed Read Challenge.

BOSTON REID: “I’m a competitive guy, so I definitely want to try to beat Blake’s word count, just for bragging rights. I hope someone at the challenge beats my number, though, because that just means more books for families in need. It’s such a great cause, so this is the one time where getting beat is a good thing.”

First Book is a national nonprofit organization that provides new books to children in low-income families, and the Speed Read Challenge Event is part of Lowe’s commitment to supporting education across the country.

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: Team No. 5 has never finished outside the top-five in a NASCAR Busch Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. In 2002, David Green drove the No. 5 entry to a fifth-place finish, while Brian Vickers started sixth and finished third in 2003. Kyle Busch won the pole position and led all but 53 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in last year’s event.

THIS WEEK’S DRIVER - BOSTON REID: This weekend’s event marks the third start of the 2005 Busch Series season for Team Lowe’s Racing driver, Boston Reid. In his previous starts, Reid finished 22nd at California Speedway and 30th at Nashville (TN) Superspeedway.

Reid, 22, is the 2002 USAC (United States Auto Club) Sprint Car Rookie of the Year. Signed to Hendrick Motorsports’ driver development program last year, Reid scored three top-10 finishes in four ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) starts, and made three Busch Series starts (Richmond International Raceway in Sept., Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway in Oct.) in the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevy, in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

MULTI-DRIVER TEAM: The No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing crew is competing for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points championship with four different drivers. Boston Reid and Blake Feese will drive at least 13-15 races apiece, while Kyle Busch will drive the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet in three events. Open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez drove the No. 5 to a top-10 finish in the Busch Series race in Mexico.

Q&A WITH DRIVER BOSTON REID:

Phoenix Int’l. Raceway:
“I raced in the USAC (United States Auto Club) Copper World Classic in 2004 and then earlier this year. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend, just because I’ve had racing experience at Phoenix. I tested at the other tracks I’ve been to in the No. 5 (California Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway), but I didn’t have any race experience at those places. At Phoenix, I feel like I already know where the slick spots are. I know where the tight spots are. I think it’s just really going to shorten my learning curve quite a bit.

“I think we actually got around Phoenix quicker in a sprint car than you can in a stock car. I’m sure I’ll probably have to get off the throttle sooner going into the turns in the stock car. Plus, turns three and four were pretty narrow to me when I was in a sprint car, so I can only imagine how tight it’s going to be in a stock car. It should be interesting.”

Now that you have a couple of races under your belt in the No. 5 car, what has been the biggest eye-opener for you in moving from sprint cars to NASCAR?:
“Probably the biggest thing has to do with the team aspect of it. You know, how many people it takes to get a car on the track, and how important a role each of those people play in being successful. Also, how important a role team chemistry plays, and how tough it is to build that chemistry with a new team.

“We’ve got pretty much an entirely different team from the guys who worked on the car when Ricky (Hendrick), Brian (Vickers) and Kyle (Busch) drove it, with a new crew chief and new drivers, too. It’s going to take time for everyone to jell and build up the chemistry.

“Since Blake (Feese, co-driver of the No. 5) and I ran well in the sprint cars, I think we both thought we could jump right in and maybe pick up where Kyle left off. It’s been a hard adjustment to go from being competitive every weekend in the sprint cars to struggling a little bit in the stock cars. But again, you remember that pretty much everything about the team is new this season, and you remind yourself you have to be patient. Hendrick has the best guys and the best equipment in the sport, so I think it’s just a matter of time before everything comes together.

“You have to realize you’re racing against 42 of the best drivers in the country, especially when you think about how many (NEXTEL) Cup drivers are in the field every week. As a young driver with very little stock car experience, you can’t realistically expect to go out there and run in the top-five every time.

“When you look back at how Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne have done in the Busch Series, it gives you a lot of hope. In his first year, Kasey really struggled, and Jeff also did to a certain extent. You have to step back and look at the bigger picture. You see how successful those guys are now, and you tell yourself, ‘Hey, maybe it’s good luck for me to struggle. It sure hasn’t hurt (Kahne and Gordon’s) careers.’ I just need to focus on getting more experience and improving every time I get a chance to race, and we’ll start getting the results we’re looking for.”

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 275- Kyle Busch drove this chassis to a dominant win at Michigan International Speedway last August, and a runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway last April. Most recently, Boston Reid drove this chassis to a 22nd-place finish at California Speedway in February.

STATS AND FACTS