Top Fuel competitor Shawn Reed is determined to keep his 2025 NHRA championship hopes alive after a devastating crash at the NHRA Northwest Nationals sidelined the Washington native with serious injuries. Reed, who was competing at his home track of Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, suffered a high-speed crash during the third qualifying session, sustaining two fractured ribs and a severely injured left index finger that required partial amputation.

Despite the setback, Reed remains focused on recovery and ensuring his Reed Trucking & Excavating team maintains its place in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

“We didn’t run Sonoma (the event immediately following the Seattle race) for obvious reasons, but I intend to be race-ready and back behind the wheel by Reading (Pa.) for the first race of the Countdown,” explained Reed. “I have a pin in my thumb, which will come out later this month, and have been in regular contact with Josh Peterson (NHRA’s VP of Racing Administration) and feel confident I will be able to pass all of NHRA’s required medical clearances and be reinstated in time to run all six Countdown races.”

Reed currently holds a 148-point lead over No. 11-ranked Ida Zetterström, who recently added Brainerd and Indy to her competition schedule in a late-season push. With up to 250 points still available before the Countdown begins, Reed knows the risk of being bumped from the top 10 is real, and he’s not willing to take that chance. With just two races left in the regular season, Reed plans on using a substitute driver to defend his 10th position in the points chase.

“The JCM Racing team recently announced that Ida (currently competing on a limited basis) has added Brainerd and Indy to her schedule, and while our points cushion is pretty good, I’m leaving nothing up to chance,” added Reed. “My team deserves to have a shot at the Countdown, and maybe in these last two races, we’ll really go on a tear and move up to eighth or ninth to start the Countdown, who knows. This is drag racing, and stranger things have happened, but what I do know is that I want to lock up a spot in the Top 10 and give (crew chief) Rob Wendland the opportunity to continue collecting more data at these next two races. So, that being said, we’ve made the decision to have a fill-in driver compete on my behalf at Brainerd and Indy.

The identity of the fill-in driver for the next two events will be revealed on Reed’s official Facebook page during a live announcement scheduled for Friday, August 8, at 12:00 p.m. ET.