Meet the New Faces of Team Lowe's Racing
In 2005, the No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing entry will field two new faces behind the wheel, Blake Feese and Boston Reid. The duo will lead the Hendrick Motorsports campaign for the NASCAR Busch Series owners championship.
Feese and Reid joined Hendrick last year as part of the organization’s driver development program. The pair ran selected ARCA and Busch Series events throughout the 2004 season.
Feese managed to take his Chevrolet to Victory Lane twice in ARCA-sanctioned events. The Saybrook, Ill. native took the checkered flag first at Kentucky Speedway in the spring and later in the fall at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
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The 23-year old co-driver of the No. 5 Lowe’s machine began his career at the tender age of 10 on the open-wheel circuit.
“I started in quarter midgets when I was young, then started racing winged sprint cars in 1999 and worked my way up to running with the World of Outlaws part time,” said Feese.
“Then Jimmy Spencer gave me the name of a guy in Indianapolis who knew a lot of people down in Charlotte, and that was Charlie Patterson.
“He knew Ken Howes at Hendrick Motorsports and, in short, that’s how I got my foot in the door at Hendrick.”
Reid, a native of Logansport, Ind., also had strong showing on the track in 2004, cementing three top-10 finishes in four ARCA events.
Like Feese, Reid, 22, began racing at a young age.
“I grew up racing open-wheel cars. The quarter midgets, go-karts, USAC (United States Auto Club) Silver Crowns, sprint cars,” said Reid.
“We wanted to focus on the open wheel background, the USAC stuff, (racing on) pavement and the dirt, just because the past guys that came out of there developed the right skills to succeed at the NASCAR stuff.”
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Both driver’s will be under the guidance of veteran crew chief Jim Long, who prior to joining Team Lowe’s Racing called the shots for driver Terry Labonte and the No. 5 Kellogg’s team.
“I don’t think you can put a value on how much Jim will be able to teach both Boston and myself,” Feese said. “He’s been doing this long enough that he can predict a lot of things we’re going to encounter and can hopefully help us from making some of the more obvious mistakes.”
In recent years, the Team Lowe’s Racing Busch Series entry has had an incredible amount of success on the track. Brian Vickers captured Hendrick Motorsports’ first NASCAR Busch Series title in 2003 and Kyle Busch snagged a second-place finish in championship points as well as rookie of the year honors in 2004.
“I’m sure going to try my best to be as successful as they were in this car. As long as I know at the end of the day that I gave everything I had, then I think you have to be content with that,” Reid said.
In 2005, NEXTEL Cup Series rookie Kyle Busch will kick off the season with his old team in the Busch Series event at Daytona. Feese and Reid will take over driving responsibilities of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolets after that, with each running a minimum of 13 races during the season.
The 23-year old co-driver of the No. 5 Lowe’s machine began his career at the tender age of 10 on the open-wheel circuit.
“I started in quarter midgets when I was young, then started racing winged sprint cars in 1999 and worked my way up to running with the World of Outlaws part time,” said Feese.
“Then Jimmy Spencer gave me the name of a guy in Indianapolis who knew a lot of people down in Charlotte, and that was Charlie Patterson.
“He knew Ken Howes at Hendrick Motorsports and, in short, that’s how I got my foot in the door at Hendrick.”
Reid, a native of Logansport, Ind., also had strong showing on the track in 2004, cementing three top-10 finishes in four ARCA events.
Like Feese, Reid, 22, began racing at a young age.
“I grew up racing open-wheel cars. The quarter midgets, go-karts, USAC (United States Auto Club) Silver Crowns, sprint cars,” said Reid.
“We wanted to focus on the open wheel background, the USAC stuff, (racing on) pavement and the dirt, just because the past guys that came out of there developed the right skills to succeed at the NASCAR stuff.”
Both driver’s will be under the guidance of veteran crew chief Jim Long, who prior to joining Team Lowe’s Racing called the shots for driver Terry Labonte and the No. 5 Kellogg’s team.
“I don’t think you can put a value on how much Jim will be able to teach both Boston and myself,” Feese said. “He’s been doing this long enough that he can predict a lot of things we’re going to encounter and can hopefully help us from making some of the more obvious mistakes.”
In recent years, the Team Lowe’s Racing Busch Series entry has had an incredible amount of success on the track. Brian Vickers captured Hendrick Motorsports’ first NASCAR Busch Series title in 2003 and Kyle Busch snagged a second-place finish in championship points as well as rookie of the year honors in 2004.
“I’m sure going to try my best to be as successful as they were in this car. As long as I know at the end of the day that I gave everything I had, then I think you have to be content with that,” Reid said.
In 2005, NEXTEL Cup Series rookie Kyle Busch will kick off the season with his old team in the Busch Series event at Daytona. Feese and Reid will take over driving responsibilities of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolets after that, with each running a minimum of 13 races during the season.