Ryan Reed Holds Off Kasey Kahne For Second Career Win At Daytona

The 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season began at Daytona today. And it sure was a wild race from the beginning. NASCAR introduced their new stage segments as well, 30 laps made up stage one and two, as 60 laps made up stage three which culminated to 120 laps overall.

Brandon Jones and Ryan Reed set the front row in qualifying. Jones jumped out in front with help from Brennan Poole. Poole took the lead on the backstretch, but Reed assumed back to the lead on the same lap. A lead change happened a lap later as Brad Keselowski went to the top spot. On lap three, Jeff Green brought out the first caution of the race due to laying fluid down on the track. 

Keselowski and Kasey Kahne led the field back to green on lap 8. With help from Darrell Wallace. Jr, this helped Kahne take the lead away from Keselowski. The race was going smoothly for a little bit until Benny Gordon got sideways and hit the wall, but there would be no caution. The lead continued to change hands multiple times until a lap 17 caution, when Brandon Hightower spun in the tri-oval, his car ended up not having much damage. Austin Dillon brought a small line down to pit road. This included championship contenders Matt Tifft and William Byron. The top eight stayed out on the track. 

Elliott Sadler and Brandon Jones took the restart on lap 22. Sadler got the advantage out front as Dillon was pushing him from behind. A moment after that, a big crash happened on backstretch which took out several cars in the process. These included Austin Dillon, William Byron, Cole Custer, Spencer Gallagher, Jeremy Clements, Michael Annett and Tyler Reddick. The wreck was caused by Scott Lagasse Jr who pushed Reddick at the wrong time, which set off the chain reaction crash. 19 cars in total were involved in the melee. This also brought out the first red flag of the day.

The race went back to green on lap 27 with Sadler and Ty Dillon leading the way. Sadler once again regained the lead as his teammate Kahne helped him from behind. As stage one was nearing its end, another big crash happened on lap 29 that took place in turn three and four. Daniel Hemric slid up into Justin Allgaier, which then got into Brandon Jones. This wreck took out multiple cars, especically Jones who had a hard impact with the wall. All drivers were ok from the crash. 

NASCAR decided to end stage one under caution which thus allowed Elliott Sadler to win and collect 10 championship points. The leaders came down pit road to make adjustments to their cars. Brennan Poole won the race off pit road by taking two tires only. This was the end to stage one.

Brendan Gaughan and William Byron who did not pit took the restart on lap 34. Byron with a strong car took the lead one lap later. Gaughan and Byron traded the lead consecutive times until Benny Gordon blew a right front tire on lap 37. This caused the caution to come out for the fourth time of the day. 

Gaughan and Sadler restarted the race on lap 42. With help from Poole, Kahne took the lead away on the high line as Gaughan led the bottom. Sadler regained the lead on lap 47 down the backstretch. Byron had issues with his car as he couldn’t stay up to speed. The race stayed green for 11 laps until Brad Keselowski got in the back of Brennan Poole, which made Poole hit the wall and collect Blake Koch in the process. Elliott Sadler would go onto win stage two and collect another 10 championship points. Most of the leaders dove down to pit road to take some tires and fuel. Sadler won the race off pit road by taking two tires only.

After an exciting stage one and two, Sadler and Ryan Reed were on the front row for stage three on lap 67. Reed regained the lead on the restart with a strong car. But a caution fell on the same lap as there was a tire carcass that came off of Blake Koch’s car. Austin Dillon made a pass for the lead in the process.

The restart took place on lap 71 with Dillon and Sadler on the front row. Dillon held onto the top spot until Matt Tifft blew a left rear tire off turn two. This would bring out the eighth caution of the day with 42 laps to go. Most of the leaders hit pit road and took fuel only. Keselowski won the race off pit road for the lead.

Keselowski and Dillon led the field back to green with 37 laps to go. The racing action started to heat up as Dillon, Keselowski, Reed and Elliott Sadler swapped the lead multiple times. Kasey Kahne recycled back into the lead with 17 laps to go. On the same lap, Austin Dillon pushed Sadler too hard and set off another chain reaction crash. The crash ended Sadler’s strong run of the night. William Byron, Garrett Smithley and more were also involved. This would end up being the ninth caution of the night.

Kahne and Keselowski led the pack of cars to green with 11 laps to go. Kahne held the led for two laps until Reed took it with nine to go in turn four. With help from Ty Dillon, Kahne regained the lead with five to go. The action slowed down with three to go as Ray Black Jr and William Byron wrecked on the backstretch. This would set up an overtime finish.

Ryan Reed and Brad Keselowski took the green with two laps to go. Ty Dillon had trouble as he ran out of fuel after the restart. Kahne, Keselowski and Austin Dillon tried everything they could to pass Reed for the win but was unsuccessful. Reed was able to fend off the cup regulars for his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

This was Reed’s second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win. 

There were nine leaders among 25 lead changes. 

There were 13 cautions for 42 laps. 

20 drivers finished the race out of the possible 40. 

The next scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series race is next Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.