Reid Makes First Busch Series Start

RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 10, 2004) – Boston Reid made his NASCAR Busch Series debut Friday at Richmond International Raceway, gaining valuable experience in just his fourth career stock-car race. Starting the Emerson Radio 250 from the 24th position, Reid maintained his spot throughout the opening laps, racking up needed seat time while running alongside veterans of the Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Series. After fighting a tight-handling condition that plagued his No. 87 ditech.com Chevrolet, the 21-year-old, who is participating in Hendrick Motorsports driver development program, made his first pit stop around Lap 40, during the event’s third caution period. Crew chief Gary Putnam elected to make chassis and air-pressure adjustments before the ditech.com crew returned Reid to the track in the 30th position. Following the caution, the field embarked on more than 60 laps of green-flag racing, which saw leader Kasey Kahne put a number of cars a lap down, including Reid’s still-tight No. 87 Chevy. With a yellow flag being displayed for an accident in Turn 3, the team’s second pit stop came just after Lap 100. Again, the crew made chassis and air-pressure changes to help the handling of the ditech.com Monte Carlo before sending Reid out in 31st. The team completed another 20 laps before Reid’s No. 87 Chevy broke loose in Turn 2 to bring out the evening’s fifth caution flag. With heavy rear-end damage, the car was taken to the garage area as Reid made a required trip to Richmond’s infield care center for evaluation. He was quickly released without injury. Reid was credited with a 37th-place finish, but gained priceless experience at Richmond. “The whole weekend was awesome,” he said. “The guys really worked hard and gave me a great car to drive. I’m looking forward to my next two races and hopefully building on what we accomplished this week at Richmond.” A native of Logansport, Ind., Reid is scheduled to enter upcoming Busch Series events at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series regular Robby Gordon won Friday’s Emerson Radio 250, earning his first-ever Busch Series victory.