Ryan Reed, Lira Motorsports win SCOTT ARCA 150 at Chicagoland Speedway

(JOLIET, Ill. – June 20, 2015) – Ryan Reed refused to let a mishap earlier in the day affect his race Saturday as he recovered from a spin during qualifying to win the SCOTT 150 at Chicagoland Speedway. He started near the back of the field, was in the top 10 within 15 laps and in second by lap 20 in his No. 58 Lilly Diabetes / MOMO / Ford Performance Ford.

“Since we unloaded, Carlos (Lira) gave me a car that it was my job to mess up, really, which I tried to in qualifying, but, luckily, we were good enough to overcome that,” Reed said. “All of the guys did a great job.”

ARCA Racing Series point leader Grant Enfinger finished second, Will Kimmel third, Matt Tifft fourth and Frank Kimmel fifth.

Reed became the first Lira Motorsports driver to reach victory lane in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. The first-year team had three cars entered Saturday, Reed in first, David Levine in ninth and John Lowinski-Loh in 23rd.

“My job was easy in this thing from the moment I hopped in it,” Reed said. “We just kind of cruised.”

Reed, who races full-time for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, also is the 15th different winner in 15 ARCA races at Chicagoland Speedway.

“I have to thank Jack Roush for letting me go and drive this thing,” Reed said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Championship NASCAR owner Jack Roush joined the driver and team owner Lira in the media center following the race.

“Ryan did a great job,” Roush said. “Carlos gave him some advice after he wrecked in qualifying. He said he needed to proceed tonight like a mouse chasing cheese, just a little bit at a time.”

The race had five cautions for 27 laps. The final 28 laps were run under the green flag. Enfinger climbed from near the back of the top 10 to second during that stretch, extending his series point lead.

“It was a great night for us at GMS Racing,” Enfinger said. “We were fighting tightness all day yesterday in practice and it was completely opposite today in the race and we were incredibly loose. After the last pit stop, Crew Chief Kelly Kovski made the call to make some really great adjustments that I wish we could have made earlier in the race.

“I was hoping for a late race caution to race for the lead but second place is a great finish for us. Thank you to Alamo Rent-A-Car and all of our supporters.”

The SCOTT 150 took 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete and finished just ahead of a heavy downpour that hit Chicagoland Speedway. Menards Pole Winner Cody Coughlin led the first four laps, Will Kimmel the next 26 then Reed the remaining 70 laps of the race. In an oddity, none of the top 10 drivers in the ARCA Racing Series point standings led a lap.

Matt Kurzejewski finished sixth, his fifth straight top 10 finish in the No. 54 Elmira Heat Treating Chevrolet. Josh Williams was seventh in the Cunningham Motorsports Dodge No. 22 with his teammate Tom Hessert 10th in the No. 77 Barbera’s Autoland Dodge. Sarah Cornett-Ching finished eighth in the No. 2 Race101.net Chevrolet, tying her career-best. She was the last car on the lead lap.

Reed, who won at Daytona in the season-opener in the NASCAR Xfinity Series had planned to drive in both the ARCA and Xfinity races at Chicagoland Saturday until rains led to the postponement of that race. He is the second full-time NASCAR driver to win this season in an ARCA race. Sprint Cup driver Trevor Bayne won at Pocono Raceway. Gaining experience, Reed said, is the key.

“Seat time is seat time,” he said. “Anytime you can be racing door-to-door it hones your skill. From that standpoint, there is always something to be had from driving a race car.”

Lira was pleased with the victory for his team, which was formed during the off-season and usually fields two full-time cars, including one for his son, Michael. Michael, 17, however, is too young to race at Chicagoland.

“Ryan is a tremendous driver,” Carlos said after the race. “We are very, very happy for him.”

The SCOTT 150 was live on Fox Sports 2.

The ARCA Racing Series has reached the mid-point of its 20-race 2015 campaign. The next series race is The Herr’s Chaste the Taste 200 at Winchester Speedway on Sunday, June 28. That race will be live on CBS Sports Network.

ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards

Official Results, Chicagoland Speedway

SCOTT 150 (6-20-15)