Reed Sorenson

The weekend started off on the right foot for Reed Sorenson and the Discount Tire Co crew. With no points from 2004 to lean on, the team had to rally together and put down a lap quick enough to make the field for the Busch Series' season opener at the Daytona International Speedway.

Sorenson however, wasn’t about to delay his Daytona debut and wheeled his No. 41 Dodge Charger to the fifth quickest time on the grid.

“This is the guy’s work, right here; qualifying is all them. I told them before I went out, there’s two places, here and Talladega, where it’s all you guys,” he said after his run.

“I can tell by drafting that it’s going to be pretty extreme and I

just want to survive. In qualifying there’s not that much pressure on the driver. I’m just excited to be here. Now that we made the race, I’m happy.”

With all 43 cars being impounded by NASCAR following the qualifying session, no work could be done on the 41 machine until after the green flag on Saturday.

Once the Hershey’s Take 5 300 was underway, Sorenson quickly jumped out and showcased his CGRwFS ride. With 10 laps on the board he was running comfortably in the third spot.

The first yellow flag of the day fell on lap 23 giving Sorenson his first opportunity to drop to pit road to the attention of his Brian Pattie led crew. After spring rubber and wedge adjustments Sorenson was back on track and ready to again battle the draft.

Riding along, the 19-year-old held his own around the 2.5-mile track before again seeing his crew on lap 68. The pitstop was smooth with a rear wedge adjustment, but as Sorenson pulled out to exit his pit the No. 49 of Steve Grissom cut down.

With no serious damage to his ride, the hard charging Georgia native shoved on and found himself in the second position by lap

97, trailing fellow Raybestos Rookie of The Year competitor Carl Edwards.

As the laps continued to click down Sorenson was on the tail of Daytona dominator Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and defending series champion Martin Truex, Jr. following another round of pitstops.

The young racer wanted nothing more but to lead his first laps at Daytona but with the urging of his crew, held his position and stayed to the bottom of the racetrack.

Crew chief Brian Pattie said after the race that coaching his driver to stay in line was the toughest part of his day.

“He definitely has to learn patience. He’s only going to get better from this point on. I told him that the first week I met him,” he said.

“He’s 19 and just hasn’t been on the circuit long enough to know. You just have to put yourself in position in the end. We put our chips in a row and had a good shot.”

With five laps remaining in the 300-mile event, the veteran Nextel Cup Series regulars began their assault for the top spot.

Driving for Richard Childress Racing, Kevin Harvick made the pass around Sorenson for position with three-wide racing quickly taking shape. The yellow flag flew on the last lap for a wreck on the frontstretch after the leaders took the white flag, ending the race under the yellow.

Sorenson held his low line and followed the leaders through to the finish and tallied a strong ninth place effort.

“I had a good time out there it was my first time being in a pack like that,” Sorenson said of his first Daytona run.

“I was upset I ended ninth. But then I looked at the scoreboard and saw everyone around me was all Cup guys.”

Those Cup guys, consisting of race winner Tony Stewart, second place Kevin Harvick and third place Dale Earnhardt, Jr., were awed by the young racer’s talent.

“I think he has a lot of car control, a lot of talent. He doesn’t do anything stupid. He did a good job today,” Earnhardt said of Sorenson.

And his team, led by Pattie, agrees.

“The way I look at it, we set a goal for the race and it was achieved."

Next up for Reed and the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Discount Tire Co. crew, a trip out west to the California Speedway.