Driver of the No. 41 Discount Tire. Co. Dodge, Reed Sorenson, was ready for the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Disappointing runs due to circumstance plagued the Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates team in recent weeks but a test on the 1.5-mile Lowe’s facility gave Sorenson plenty of confidence to guide his team back to championship form.
Practice and qualifying for Saturday night’s CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 were held on Friday. Under the heat of the sun track temperatures were high with the air temp rising over 80 degrees.
Sorenson strapped in and held solid times throughout practice. He backed up his effort in the No. 41 in qualifying by speeding his Dodge into the sixth position.
“We unloaded just like we tested. We didn’t do any qualifying
runs when we tested. This is our race setup. Basically, all you do is tape it up, bolt on some new tires and pump the air pressures up and hope you run a good lap,” Sorenson said.
Last season Sorenson ran an ARCA RE/MAX Series event at LMS but officials recently ground the racing surface in hopes of inviting better side by side racing and quicker speeds.
Unsure of what was ahead for the 300-miler, crew chief Brian Pattie coached his driver to stay focus, keep all of the fenders intact and gun for a solid top five.
With less than 10 laps on the board Sorenson’s Dodge was gunning hard but the cars of Paul Menard and Brian Vickers refused to relent their position.
“They’re holding me up,” the 19-year-old radioed to his crew
Within laps he made the move on the inside to pass Menard before announcing a loose condition in his machine.
The laps slowly began to click off and after two quick caution periods Sorenson was maintaining the sixth spot.
Pit strategy played a major role in the outcome Saturday night but Pattie held to the 41 team’s original plan with normal four-tire pitstops and minor adjustments. Restarts dropped Sorenson back slightly due to the pit calls made by other teams. Some chose two tires, while others chose to take on fuel only.
As halfway inched closer Sorenson’s stellar machine battled lap after lap with Kevin Harvick. Once clearing him on lap 96, Elliott Sadler was next in sight.
Sailing around the 1.5-mile track the 100-lap mark passed with Sorenson running in sixth and climbing.
On lap 117 the big picture came into view as Clint Bowyer, leading Sorenson in the point standings for the second position, spun, bringing out the seventh yellow flag of the night.
Sorenson dropped down to the attention of the awaiting Discount Tire Co. crew for four fresh tires. Sorenson, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman, were the only cars to take on four tires under the stop. The savvy Sorenson took the green with 80 to go in the sixth position.
Just after the restart current points leader Carl Edwards smacked the wall and was forced to pit under green.
With both Edwards and Bowyer having troubles, the door was wide open for the Georgia native to gain serious ground in the standings.
Reed leads a pack of racecars during the race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night. (Getty Images Photos)
The #41 team pits the DTC car on Saturday.
“Just be smart,” Pattie reminded his driver.
Sorenson kept his head in the game and passed cars cleanly charging to the second position by lap 130.
Another round of stops mixed the field up yet again with more pitstop tactics coming into play.
Sorenson never relented and on lap 163 he was flying his Charger in the seventh position, clicking off positions as fast as he was laps.
Less than 40 laps remained and all Sorenson had to do was guide his machine to a solid finish.
Once completing all 300-miles, he did just that with a successful fifth place showing.
“We took four tires and those other guys took two. I guess we had like 55 laps to go or so and we had the pressures pretty low because I was hoping that we were going to run some green flag laps there,” Sorenson said of his night.
With the Discount Tire Co. ride running so well at LMS, the team gained serious ground in the points chase with both Edwards and Bowyer dropping out of the top 30 in the final rundown.
“It was a good day for us after the past four weeks. We needed to get back in the rhythm of where we should be so that was a good run for us,” Sorenson said.
“It’s definitely nice to try to gain some points. We were so far behind there it’s definitely nice to get a little gain there.”
Sorenson now trails Bowyer for the second spot by just three markers. Overall, he trails Edwards by 174.
Next week Reed will lead his team along with Brian Pattie on the “Monster Mile,” in Dover, Delaware.
Two weeks ago the team tested the fierce concrete track.
Reed races Kyle Busch at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night. (Getty Images Photos)
