Feese, Reid to Enter Talladega ARCA Event

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Sept. 22, 2004) - Blake Feese and Boston Reid will each enter the Oct. 2 Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) season finale at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway as part of Hendrick Motorsports’ driver development program, team owner Rick Hendrick announced Tuesday. Feese, an accomplished sprint-car driver from Saybrook, Ill., has earned top-10 finishes in each of his three ARCA starts this season, including an April 9 victory at Nashville, Tenn. The 22-year-old will pilot the No. 94 CARQUEST Chevrolet at Talladega, with veteran crew chief Gary DeHart heading up the Hendrick effort. Also making his fourth ARCA appearance of 2004, Reid, 21, will drive a Bobby Gerhart Racing-prepared No. 7 ditech.com Chevrolet at the high-banked 2.66-mile tri-oval. The Logansport, Ind., native has posted three top-10 finishes on the circuit this year. Since its inception in April, the Hendrick Motorsports driver development program has posted two first-place finishes and nine top-10 results in nine ARCA races with the Gerhart team and drivers Feese, Reid and 18-year-old Kyle Krisiloff, who won Sept. 11 at Chicagoland Speedway. Kyle Busch, who campaigns Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolets full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series, also has scored an ARCA triumph for the organization this year, visiting Victory Lane in the circuit’s Feb. 7 season-opener at Daytona Beach, Fla. As part of the development initiative, Feese and Reid also have embarked on limited Busch Series schedules with support from Hendrick ally NEMCO Motorsports. The driver tandem will start a total of six races -- three apiece -- in NEMCO’s No. 87 Chevrolets this season. With starts at Kentucky Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park under his belt, Feese will enter the Sept. 25 Busch Series event at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Reid, currently competing full-time on the United States Auto Club tour, is scheduled for upcoming Busch Series events at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. His NASCAR debut came at Richmond, Va., on Sept. 11.