“The cockpit filled up with smoke”: NASCAR’s Ryan Reed opens up on escaping scary situation unscathed at Talladega 

Ryan Reed, a former full-time NASCAR driver, is back with a stellar performance at the Talladega Superspeedway before the crash he got involved in on the last lap of the race. After staying away for three years, he raced for the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in their #91 Chevy Truck.

Reed raced in an action-packed race full of wrecks at the Love's RV Stop 225 held on Friday, October 4, 2024. The 31-year-old NASCAR driver was a part of the wreck and caught massive fire in the last lap. In a post-race interview, he shared his experience after being in the truck.

"Yeah. I mean, I was okay. It was just, you know, it wasn't that hot. It was just the smoke. The cockpit filled up with smoke so quickly, and can't breathe. You can't see anything. They're telling you to pull the fire pin. You can't see anything in there. So he was trying to evac, right? And then, my God, I was just trying to catch my breath because there's so much smoke in the car for a second," said Ryan Reed. [00:13]

The former full-time NASCAR driver wanted to push his teammate Christian Eckes #19 driver to the win and explained:

"I wanted to see, you know, a tandem diabetes care, Chevy Silverado and a Napa, Chevy Silverado. You know, pushing one two, right? That was the goal." [00:52]

The former full-time driver mentioned he tried to get away from the #19 driver and tried giving room to him, but he got involved in the crash. Further, Reed thanked BillMcAnally-Hilgemann Racing for making a fast and safe truck.

"When he started to get loose, I tried to let him go, and then I tried to get away from him, to give room. And then when he hooked back up, the track kind of collected both of us. So is it? So, you know, I think we still ended up with decent finishes," explained Ryan Reed. [01:03]

The #91 Chevy driver's teammate Christain Eckes finished in sixth place and he finished in seventh place.

A look at Ryan Reed's performance at Talladega Superspeedway after a three-year hiatus from the truck series

Ryan Reeds raced for the first time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after his last appearance at the Darlington Raceway. He qualified for the race in 22nd place with a best time of 54.992 seconds and a top speed of 174.134 mph. Reed was 0.51 seconds behind Toyota's prodigy, William Sawalich, the leader of the pack.

By the end of stage 1, Reed fell two spots and finished in 24th place behind Norm Benning. Even in stage 2, he stayed in the same place, but in the final stage of the round of 8, the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team driver switched gears.

Ryan Reed is known for success on Speedway tracks, as he won two times in the Xfinity Series at Daytona International Speedway. His skills helped him move from the last of the pack to the top ten. Reed successfully managed to stay away from all the wrecks in the 85-lap race, but in the last lap, he got hit by 19 resulting in an unavoidable crash.

Grant Enfninger won the race, followed by Taylor Gray in second place and Daniel Dye finishing third. Enfninger led 34 laps, securing his spot for the next round. He is now leading the playoff standings with a buffer of 18 points from the qualifying line.