Photos provided by NHRA/National Dragster

Shawn Reed is a seasoned nitro veteran who kicked off his 2025 Top Fuel campaign with a win at the SCAG PRO Superstar Shootout. Unfortunately, things took a tough turn for Reed when he crashed his dragster during qualifying at the Muckleshoot Casino & Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.

During Reed’s pass, the right rear slick appeared to come apart, taking out the rear wing and sending him across the track. As the dragster tripped the beams at 290 mph on three wheels, Reed was still trying to keep the car in his own lane. The dragster made contact with the left wall, and then shot back across the track, impacting the right wall. Thankfully, Reed did not collect Doug Kalitta, who was in the opposite lane during his ill-fated run.

The NHRA Safety Safari jumped into action and assisted Reed after the crash. Reed did sustain two broken ribs and serious injuries to his left hand. The hand injuries resulted in Reed losing his left pointer finger, and a pin needed to be placed in his thumb.

“Obviously, you never want a race weekend to go like that, but I’m already on the mend,” remarked Reed, after undergoing surgery on Sunday morning for the hand injury sustained in the crash. “First of all, I want to thank the Safety Safari and the whole NHRA team for everything they do to keep us safe out there. We have the best fans in the world, and I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from our extended racing family.”

Reed isn’t going to let this crash keep him from racing, and he’s already plotting a return to the track.

“I’m going to be back out there as soon as I can. I don’t have a target return date as of yet, and it may require a little adjusting, but it’d take a lot more than one missing digit to keep me down. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than back out at the track, behind the wheel of my dragster, chasing that Wally.”

We will follow Shawn Reed’s recovery and post an update when he’s ready to make his way back to the track.