Ryan Reed

With the January news that Roush Fenway Racing was ceasing all Xfinity Series efforts with their two race teams, Reed was left without a home in 2019. He spent the past six seasons racing at Roush, and earning two victories and 27 Top-10 finishes over those 171 starts. Now the 25-year-old Californian will test the waters of free agency and see where he can land in the upcoming season. Reed has not been rumored or linked to anyone, so it could be anybody's guess where he lands. One thing is almost certain, it won't be as good a ride as the No. 16 Roush Ford Mustang.

Reed once again surprised his critics last season and turned in some impressive racing for this Roush Fenway stable. He nabbed a second-career victory in the season-opener at Daytona, and he grabbed seven Top-10 finishes along the way in 2017. Reed and the No. 16 team’s week-to-week consistency wasn’t the greatest, and that allowed his average finish to balloon almost two spots over 2016. Still, Reed finished an impressive eighth overall in the final championship standings. That was good enough for Reed to sign a multi-year contract renewal with Roush and see most of the sponsorship return to the team’s Ford. The young talent should continue to grow and surprise in the new season.

Reed had his best season to-date in 2016. He registered a career-best seven Top-10 finishes and also finished a career-best eighth overall in the final driver standings. Reed reduced his DNF’s to only two and shaved his average finish down to a respectable 15.6. Those were great improvements over his prior two full-time seasons. The 23-year-old driver from the Roush stable will be back in the No. 16 Ford this season. Reed will be reunited with crew chief Phil Gould and the two will set out to raise the bar even higher for this team. With the big influx of young talent into this division of NASCAR, it will be harder than ever to improve and succeed, and Reed could encounter some headwinds in making significant improvement.

The young driver and primary sponsor American Diabetes Association will return for another season in 2016. Reed and the No. 16 team acclaimed all sorts of fame and attention when they won the season-opening Daytona race last year, however, it would be the only time they’d visit the Top 10 all season long in what was a disappointing campaign. They would rack up 17 Top-15 finishes over the course of 2015, but just lack the speed and consistency to push into the Top 10 any given week. Reed hopes that will change in the coming season and with the help of new crew chief, Phil Gould, it may very well. With Chris Buescher moving onto the Cup Series, more time and attention will be focused on Reed’s success at Roush Fenway Racing.