Ryan Reed wins Crosley Brands ARCA 150 at Kentucky

SPARTA, Ky. - Ryan Reed grabbed the lead from Austin Cindric with 20 laps remaining in Saturday’s Crosley Brands 150, then held off a charging Travis Braden, to win his second ARCA Racing Series race of the season.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s amazing when you drive as good as racecars as this one…how fun it can be,” Reed said. “We started the day off in maybe an eighth-place car, but my crew chief Teddy Brown and everyone at Lira Motorsports did a great job tuning up our hot rod. We just never gave up. We got out front and got track position.”

Reed, in the No. 38 Lilly Diabetes-MOMO-TraqGear-Ford Performance Ford, captured the second win for Lira Motorsports, a first-year team that entered four cars in Saturday’s race. Another of those cars, the No. 59 driven by David Levine, improved 15 spots to finish third. Braden was second. Ross Kenseth was fourth and ARCA Racing Series point leader Grant Enfinger finished fifth.

Braden made up a big margin on Reed, closing the gap in the final laps before Reed pulled away, winning by .356 seconds.

“It was probably a rookie mistake on my part,” Braden said. “I think I got too close to him too soon. When I got there, I didn’t have anything for him. I’m very happy to finish second-place here. I definitely didn’t expect what we’ve done here in just two races.”

Braden was the highest finishing SCOTT Rookie of the Race with Levine right behind him in a career-best finish.

“This car was an absolute rocket today,” Levine said. “To be where we were Tuesday in the test to where we are now is great. It’s great to see a Lira Motorsports driver in victory lane and that our team has won races.”

The rest of the top 10 included Daniel Suarez in sixth, Kyle Weatherman in seventh, Chris Windom in the No. 36, eighth. Kurzejewski finished ninth, with Bo LeMastus in 10th.

Cindric, after having a tire issue on lap 80, finished 17th.

Saturday’s race was scheduled for Friday night at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway but was moved to Saturday afternoon due to rain. It took one hour, 26 minutes to finish the race, which saw three cautions for 34 laps. Most of the caution laps came when a light rain shower hit the track near the middle of the race.

Venturini Motorsports driver Suarez led the first 53 laps with Cindric leading 27 and Reed the final 20.

It was a big day in the point standings for Enfinger. The Fairhope, Ala. native entered the day with a 225-point lead over Josh Williams and Tom Hessert.

Hessert, however, crashed on the first lap with Sarah Cornett-Ching, an accident that also caught up Menards Pole winner William Byron and Atlanta, Ga.’s Brandon Jones. Williams also had problems, finishing 24th, allowing Enfinger to widen his lead to 320 points. By starting race No. 20 of the 2015 ARCA season at Kansas Speedway, Enfinger will win his first series championship.

ARCA Racing Series
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, KY
Crosley Brands 150 – Sept. 26, 2015