TJ Reaid Wins Third-Straight Spring CRA Race at Anderson
Georgia Driver Puts New Sponsor Mitch Smith Auto Service in Victory Lane
TJ Reaid really likes Anderson Speedway and the stats show it. Reaid has now gone to victory lane in his last three Spring starts at the Indiana quarter-mile and in Saturday night’s Anderson Properties 125, after setting fast time and starting sixth, he was able to take a new sponsor to victory lane at the drop of the checkered flag.
Reaid, who had long-time short track racing supporters Mitch Smith Auto Service on the side of his No. 41 Super Late Model, was pleased with the result in their first outing together and hopes to continue the trend as their partnership continues.
“I’m really excited to get a win for those guys,” said Reaid. “As of now they’re going to do the Redbud (Redbud 300 CRA event at Anderson in June) with us and the two Winchester (Speedway) races, so I’m really looking forward to that. I can’t thank Mitch Smith enough, plus Gann Aviation, Custom Machine, my mom and dad and everybody who comes up and helps. It’s just a group effort for sure.”
Although it certainly ended to his pleasure, Reaid was not sure how the 125-lap feature event would go in the early stages.
“I was a little worried tonight when we first got started,” said Reaid. “The car wasn’t handling how it had here in the past, so we got lucky that the race kind of played into our favor. We got some long runs and the 47 (Brian Campbell, second) and the 77 (Ross Kenseth, third), they got a little tight. Like I said, the long runs really helped us out.”
Following unsatisfactory finishes in his first three starts of the 2014 season at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) in January, South Alabama Speedway (AL) in February and most recently Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (TN) in April, Reaid was pleased to put his No. 41 ride back on top in Indiana.
“I really feel like we had a really good car at Opp,” said Reaid. “And then we fell out with a broken fuel pump. Then obviously SpeedFest nobody had anything for the No. 9 car (Elliott) but I really feel like we had a second-place car down there, we just got taken out on a restart. And then Nashville I was happy with the car all weekend and then we had some problem there in qualifying and got in the fence and didn’t get to make the race, so this definitely is a weight off my shoulders.”
Despite the success of his Super Late Model team at Anderson Speedway, Reaid isn’t tempted to keep his No. 41 as is, the Georgia driver wants more in his next trip to the Indiana track for the Redbud 300.
“We have to get it better,” said Reaid. “I’m not really happy about how the car ran tonight. I’m super pumped about the win, but I’m trying to get my brain kicked into gear and figure out what we need to do to get better. These guys that we’re racing with, they’re tough and they’re doing their homework too so we have to go home and work just as hard if not harder to come back. We’ve had a shot at winning the Redbud the last two years and just fell short so I really hope we can pull it off this year.”
With his confidence back, Reaid will return to his home state of Georgia for this weekend’s Larry Fleeman Memorial Pro Late Model 100 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia on Saturday, May 3.
“After all those problems I know all the guys, they were questioning whether the car was right,” said Reaid. “And I kept telling them we’re right there. There’s nothing that we can’t accomplish. So I’m glad to be back at Anderson and hopefully we can turn it around and go to Gresham next week for the Pro race and have a good showing down there. We’ve got a new Phil Harper power plant coming so we’re looking forward to that, teaming up with Phil, and hopefully we can get a victory next weekend too.”
Sources: 51 Sports