Saturday brought a day packed with qualifying early in the morning with the race tapped for a late afternoon start time. Sporty Sorenson sped his No. 41 Charger around the one-mile track solidly making the field in the 15th position.
Unfortunately, his car just wasn’t as strong as it had practiced once in race trim. After just 10 laps were on the board he radioed to the head wrench turner Pattie that the car was extremely loose.
Once it was time for a round of pitstops on lap 51 under a yellow flag, the Discount Tire Co. crew sprang into action with a fast acting pit stop including some minor adjustments to help the handling of the machine. The flawless stop pushed Sorenson up a few spots on the scoring tower and into the top 10.
200 laps made the race complete and as halfway inched closer the No. 41 was maintaining position just outside of the top 10.
The wheels of the Discount Tire Co. Dodge Charger were spinning as fast as they could on Saturday at the New Hampshire International Speedway. With driver Reed Sorenson in the seat the team tallied a steady 14th place finish in the Busch Series’ New England 200 after battling a tough handling racecar throughout the day.
Friday was a practice only day for the Busch teams with Sorenson and crew chief Brian Pattie pulling together to post laps strong enough for 10th on the speed chart of the 45 cars that made time.
“The car’s good,” Sorenson said, resting in the No. 41 team hauler after the session. “I think we have a pretty good car. We have a good chance at a top 10.”
Another round of stops fell under a caution period for debris on lap 83. Some of the leaders rolled the dice and stayed on track while Sorenson was among the other half that decided to visit their crews.
“The car just wouldn’t turn smooth enough. It felt like I was riding on the right rear. We took two tires there trying to get it evened out,” Sorenson said.
As the laps clicked down the race was slowed for a red flag period followed by a green-white-checkered finish in the closing laps.
Another round of stops fell under a caution period for debris on lap 83. Some of the leaders rolled the dice and stayed on track while Sorenson was among the other half that decided to visit their crews.
“The car just wouldn’t turn smooth enough. It felt like I was riding on the right rear. We took two tires there trying to get it evened out,” Sorenson said.
As the laps clicked down the race was slowed for a red flag period followed by a green-white-checkered finish in the closing laps.
The abundance of caution flags, 13 in all with three falling within the final 25 laps, were what hurt the team’s shot at a higher showing.
“We were running really loose on the restarts there. After four or five laps it gradually got a little better,” Sorenson said.
“The longer we went the better it felt. It was just so hard to pass. It was the best it’d been all day there at the end.”
So what’s on tap for the Discount Tire gang? The following three weeks will have a similar feel for Sorenson and his fellow Busch competitors. All of the tracks, along with this past weekend’s effort at NHIS, are approximately one mile in length and fairly flat.
First up, a trip to the Rocky Mountains and the Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado. Following that, St. Louis and Indianapolis before hitting the second road course on the 2005 schedule in Watkins Glen.
“I made my Busch debut at IRP last year so that will be cool to go back there,” Sorenson said as he looks ahead.
“I like these types of tracks.”
