Vandergriff Tapped To Fill In Again For Shawn Reed

Jordan Vandergriff is back in the seat for Shawn Reed for the upcoming U.S. Nationals.

BROWNSBURG, Ind. – Jordan Vandergriff will return to the driver’s seat of the Reed Trucking & Excavating Top Fuel dragster for the upcoming Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Vandergriff debuted for the team as the substitute for injured owner/driver Shawn Reed at Brainerd (Minn.) Int’l Raceway and now gets a repeat performance during drag racing’s most prestigious event.

Reed remains sidelined for the third consecutive race as he recovers from an on-track incident last month, which left him with two fractured ribs and an amputated left index finger.

In his absence, Reed appointed Vandergriff to race and collect points on his behalf at the Brainerd event and has called upon Vandergriff to once again serve as the fill-in driver of his 12,000-horsepower machine during next weekend’s race in Indianapolis, the final event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season.

“This was not a difficult decision,” said Reed, who plans to return to the driver’s seat in time for the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, beginning in Reading, Pa., Sept. 12-14. “Admittedly, it took some time and a lot of weighing out pros and cons when it came to deciding who would drive the Reed Trucking & Excavating dragster in Brainerd. But after seeing how easily Jordan mixed in with the crew and jumped right back into competition mode after knocking the rust off those first few runs, it wasn’t even a question for me for Indy, I knew I wanted Jordan back in the car.

“To be honest, I’ve had quite a few offers, most of which came with money attached, and as tempting as it was, I knew in my gut that I wanted it to be Jordan once again. He’s excited, he’s thankful, he’s appreciative, and quite frankly, did a good job. He’s already fitted for the car; the guys liked him and wanted to see him back.”

Reed enters the weekend sitting 10th in the Top Fuel standings, a ranking Vandergriff must maintain or improve upon if Reed wants a shot at the NHRA Countdown.

With a 168-point lead over the No. 11-ranked driver, Reed’s playoff eligibility status is all but certain, but there is an opportunity to potentially move as many as two positions, depending upon how the weekend plays out.

“Josh Hart (eighth) and Steve Torrence (ninth) have a 96 and 94-point lead on me,” Reed explained. “It’s tough, but it’s not impossible. But really, at the end of the day, as much as we want to make the most of the points next weekend, the reality is we’re racing because this is Indy, and I want to see this car and this team on the track at the sport’s biggest race.

“I could probably sit out and it wouldn’t really affect our playoff eligibility at this point, but no matter what, I have a Reed Trucking & Excavating car that represents me and my company, and I’m the kind of guy where, if we’ve got the car, the people, and the parts and pieces, we’re going racing and I’m not going to sit out. That’s not the way I operate. I want to win races whether I’m in the car or not, so we’re going to go to Indy, try our best, and the chips will fall where they fall.

“I dabbled with sitting out for maybe all of 12 seconds and decided against it. There really wasn’t a thought of not running the race. We may not run all five qualifying runs there; we may use Indy as a bit of a test session, it just depends, but either way we’ll be there, and we’ll be racing hard for the trophy.”

Prior to last weekend’s appearance at Brainerd, Vandergriff’s last competition run occurred during the 2019 NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. He competed in 11 events that season – his rookie year – including a runner-up finish at the Dallas event, before he was sidelined by funding issues.

Since his exit from the driver’s seat, Vandergriff continues to work towards a full-time driving role but has landed various other high-profile gigs, including appearing as part of the Bachelorette franchise and serving as a member of the NHRA on FOX broadcast team for the past two years.

“I’m extremely thankful to Shawn Reed for giving me the opportunity to go to back-to-back races in the Shawn Reed Racing Top Fuel dragster,” said Vandergriff, who earned the No. 3 qualifying position, reset his career-best speed multiple times, and scored a round-win on race day in Brainerd. “And not only that, but a chance at the U.S. Nationals, the ‘Big Go.’

“The best drag racers in the world come to this event with hopes of forever being introduced as a U.S. Nationals champion. This team is coming off a very strong weekend in Brainerd, and we will look to continue to build on that momentum in Indianapolis. It would be a dream come true to hold that Wally on Labor Day.”