Reed’s Team Has Surpassed Lofty First-Year Expectations

When Mark Reed began planning for the 2001 Winston West season, his hope was to put together a team that would contest for rookie of the year. He did better than that.

With only four races--one of them Saturday night’s Food 4 Less 250 at Irwindale Speedway--remaining in a 14-race schedule, the Bakersfield driver is not only the rookie leader, he is also the series leader.

Reed, 32, leads defending series champion Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas by three points, 1,585 to 1,582, despite having won only one race to Gaughan’s three.

“Brendan has an established team, they’ve won the championship the last two years [Sean Woodside won for the team in 1999], they’re well financed and he’s an excellent driver,” Reed said. “I like to think, as a rookie team, we’re a thorn in his side. I feel we are capable of running right there with him.”

Most impressive is Reed’s finishing record. He has completed 1,871 laps of a possible 1,875, an incredible 99.79%.

Jerry Pitts, who has been in Winston Cup racing for the last eight years, is Reed’s crew chief. While living in North Carolina, he worked with Michael Waltrip, Jerry Nadeau and the last two years with Melling Racing and Stacy Compton.

“It was a big lift when we got Jerry as our crew chief,” Reed said. “He is a Bakersfield native and when he decided he wanted to come back home, we were lucky enough to grab onto him. That, and buying two Pontiac [Grands Prix] from Joe Gibbs for our primary cars has really helped.”

Reed is a product of karting, having won 30 regional and two national championships between the ages of 6 and 15.

“When I was 14, I lied about my age and as soon as I turned 15, I jumped into a car at Mesa Marin,” he said. “Stock cars had appealed to me right from the start.

“I’m especially looking forward to Saturday night’s race at Irwindale. I consider it my new home track. As far as short tracks go, it is the best. It has multilevel banking, great lighting and a first-class surface. We were on the pole there the last race and I’ve finished second a couple of times, so now I want my first win.”

Reed has a special reason for wanting to win Saturday night. The race is being sponsored by Food 4 Less, also the team’s primary sponsor.