Steve Reed - Are we having fun yet?

The 2012 Winternationals didn't quite start out as planned for Steve Reed and the Reed Racing Team. Truth be told, for a split second Steve thought it was the end of his drag racing career.

How did it get to this? Let’s go back a few years to January 2009.

It was the Night Fire Champs at Willowbank Raceway and as Steve passed the 1000ft mark the engine let go in his Top Alcohol Funny Car. A massive fire ball erupted from under the body, obscuring Steve’s vision as he slid out of control into the braking area.

Steve walked away from the crash with some minor injuries but with some significant damage to his back pocket.

Fast forward two years, same event. This time it was Steve’s wife Debbie who experienced a high speed crash in the Willowbank Raceway braking area. Debbie’s Top Alcohol Dragster was a write-off and she spent a number of weeks in hospital recovering from her injuries.

After two shocking accidents in two years there was a fair amount of soul searching and questions asked about the team’s commitment and desire to continue drag racing.

The Reed’s children, Daniel and Sally, were adamant they wanted mum Debbie to stop racing. Debbie and Steve talked about it a lot and came to the conclusion that Debbie would hang up the helmet and Steve would continue racing as long as they were still having fun.

As Steve puts it – “All our friends are involved in drag racing. What else are we going to do? Are we going to buy a caravan and drive around the country or work all the time?”

Neither of these options seemed that appealing compared to covering the quarter mile in 5.5 seconds at over 400ks per hour.

2012 ANDRA Winternationals

So here we are at 2012 ANDRA Winternationals.

With a runner-up at the Nationals and a semi final finish at the recent Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway, Steve and the team were pretty confident that their new found luck was here to stay, even though they weren’t able to test their new combination when the Winter Warm Up was cancelled due to rain.

Steve was strapped in for the first qualifier in his new(ish) Top Alcohol Funny Car; newish because it was the first outing for the rebuilt and refurnished car that crashed in 2009.

But the lack of testing was about to bring the team unstuck. Steve launched the funny car which went straight into tyre shake causing the steering wheel to come off in his hands. With no steering, Steve became a very concerned passenger as the car made solid contact with the right hand wall.

Steve recalls - “They put me in the ambulance and I nearly blew their blood pressure machine up. That’s it I thought. I was done and dusted for the weekend, maybe forever. If the damage had been bad that would have been me out of the sport, I'd had enough. “

Luckily the damage wasn't that bad with the body and right hand header taking the brunt of the impact. With the body straightened, a new set of headers bolted on and the liberal use of racer tape, Reed Racing was back in action. In the 2^nd qualifier the funny car went straight down the middle of the groove to record a 5.65 at 254 mph.

Eventually Steve would qualify 5^th with a 5.61 and face John Cannuli in the 1^st round.

With rain delays (a phenomenon that has affected drag racing up and down the east coast), final eliminations were held on the Tuesday.

To cut a long day short, a red light by John Cunnuli saw Steve move into the semi finals against Steve Ham. An issue for Ham in the semi and Reed Racing was in the final. And when Jamie Noonan couldn't front for the final, Steve took the solo for the win and the Winternationals Gold Christmas Tree.

While not the way Steve would have liked to win the event, “we had some luck as the weekend progressed and we managed to get a win. We haven't had the luck often go our way and to have some was damn good for a change.”

What really matters

Sure the final was run in front of about 15 people and a stray dog. Sure the team packed up with little celebration (apart from a couple of Coronas of course). Everyone had to work the next day.

According to Steve, “None of that really matters though, as long as you can share these moments with your family and friends.”

And this is something the Reed drag racing clan have in abundance, with both children (Daniel and Sally) and their partners (Fiona Reed and Matt Watts) actively involved in their own racing teams.

“Being part of the family makes it worthwhile, all our friends are involved, both our immediate family and our extended family. We've been doing this for a long time, since dad raced in 1965. Now are the good old days, conditions are better, things are not as bad as people make out. We all seem to look back with rose coloured glasses.”

The good news is that the Reed drag racing clan is also continuing to grow with Steve’s granddaughter Leila sure to get a Junior Dragster for her 8^th birthday (ED: too bad if she wants a pony hey Steve).

The future for Reed Racing

Looking back at the season that was, Steve points out that “if I’d gone to Perth and Adelaide, qualified last and been beaten in 1st round I would have won the national championship.”

So while the team is still having fun and remains competitive, you’ll be able to catch Reed Racing in action at the major ANDRA Top Alcohol Championship rounds at Willowbank Raceway and Sydney Dragway, none of which would be possible without the support Steve’s family and dedicated crew.

Hopefully, if Steve and the team can secure some corporate sponsorship they will look to attend all the rounds of the championship, including the Perth Motorplex, Adelaide International Raceway and the Hidden Valley Drag Strip in Darwin.