FANTASY NASCAR Racin

Reed made his first NASCAR start in 1951 at Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds in 1951. It was a 200 lap race won by Fonty Flock. Reed fell out early and finished 19th. He did have a great run at Thompson Speedway in October when he started fourth and finished second, behind winner Jim Cole. During the 13 years that Reed raced he never came close to racing in half of the events each year. NASCAR ran from 37 to 56 races each year and the most Reed ran in one season was 17. He had a best run of fifth in 1952 at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester NY. 1953 saw him run only three races in the 37 race schedule. He finished fourth at Langhorne Speedway in PA. In 1954 he made nine starts and had a best finish of fifth, coming at Martinsville and Grand Rapids. 1955 saw Reed almost won the Southern 500 at Darlington. He finished second behind Herb Thomas. He won his first pole in 1956 at Willow Springs Speedway in CA. He would go on to finish fourth. Again, he almost claimed his first win when he finished second at Old Bridge Speedway as he was beat out for the win by Ralph Moody. He only ran six

races in 1957, and ran well again at Old Bridge, finishing third. 1958 he upped his race participation to 17 events; the most of any season he ran. This year he finally broke through and got his first win; coming at Old Bridge. He went to victory lane the next race he ran at Starkey Speedway and out ran Rex white to get the win. But he wasn’t done winning in 1958. In July when NASCAR went to Civic Stadium; Reed would pass Rex White on lap 46 of the 100 lap race, and go on to out run Cotton Owens to get the win. His next race would come at Wall Stadium. He would start second next to Rex white; but jump into the

lead on lap one. He’d lead all 300 laps around the 1/3 mile oval to claim his fourth win of the year. Even with only running 17 of 51 races, he would finish tenth in points. 1959 would again see him go to victory lane. He made 14 of 44 starts and finished a career best ninth in points. His first win of 1959 came at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. It was tough to pass on the tight ¼ mile paved track, and Reed started way back in 20th. Making it even harder was the fact there was only two yellow flags in the whole race. Reed worked his way though the field and passed Rex White on lap 118, and led until the checkers

waved on lap 200. He won for the second time when they raced at Heidelburg Raceway in PA. It was a ¼ mile dirt track. This time Reed would start sixth. Again he battled Rex White and made the winning pass on lap 155 of the 200 lap race. His final and most prestigious win came at Darlington in the Southern 500. Reed would start 14th and work his way through the pack as such all star drivers as Speedy Thompson, Fireball Roberts, Banjo Matthews, Cotton Owens, and Richard Petty took turns leading the race. Reed grabbed the point for the first time on lap 188, and would hold it all but 25 laps to claim the win by two laps over Bob Burdick. This would be Reed’s final win. He only ran 21 races over the next four years, but he was still competitive. He finished second at Bowman Gray and South Boston in 1961; and was fifth at Richmond in 1962. He only made one start in 1963, and it would be the final start of his career. It would come at Old Bridge Stadium on July 19. He would start eighth; but fall out with rear end

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

JIM REED - 02/21/1926 - 06-29-2019