There were two multi-car wrecks with less than a dozen laps on the board in the Busch Series’ Dover 200 race on Saturday. Luckily for car owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates, their skilled driver Reed Sorenson was nowhere near them. After putting down a stellar third place qualifying run on Friday Reed lined the No. 41 Discount Tire Co. Dodge in the third position on the grid and held strong throughout for a successful fourth place showing.
Running the second and final event of the season at the Dover International Speedway, Sorenson and fill-in crew chief Jimmy Elledge trekked to the Delaware track with one goal in mind, to tame the “Monster Mile.”
In fact, a strong finish was expected after Sorenson and regular crew chief Brian Pattie prevailed in the spring event by finishing second.
“The high banking and speed - I love to race here, I really enjoy this place,” Reed said.
The Dover schedule stretched over the course of three days. It began on Thursday with two practice sessions for the Discount Tire team. The first outing left them 17th on the time sheet before minor tweaks on Reed’s hotrod jolted them into second following the final session.
Qualifying on Friday proved just as fruitful for Sorenson as he hammered down for the third spot in time trials. And finally, race day came on Saturday.
The green flag didn’t stay out for long after a 14-car wreck broke out only two laps into the event. The red flag was displayed for 19 minutes for track cleanup.
Once Reed and his competition retook the green, only one more quick caution flag slowed them down up through the first round of pitstops. But getting to that point – it was a little a little stressful for the 41 gang.
With just over 70 laps on the board Reed relayed his concern over the radio that the temperatures under the hood were gauging well over the 240-degree mark due to a minor piece of debris across the grill of the No. 41 Dodge.
Sitting atop the pitbox, Jimmy Elledge however quickly calmed his driver with the quip that pitstops were approaching.
And thankfully, within 20 laps Reed got the sigh of relief he needed after being called to pitroad behind leader Ryan Newman. The pit crew sprang into action changing four tires, removing any debris off the grill, and making a quick adjustment to remedy a tight condition in the Discount Tire Dodge.
The team maintained the third spot after getting back on track.
The second round of stops came on lap 122. Still running a little tight, Reed asked for another minor tweak to his Discount Tire ride.
Untunately, after getting back on track and up to speed, it took only laps for Reed to inform Elledge that the change may have been a bit much.
“This car is really loose,” he said.
The slippery 41 gave Sorenson a handful as he flexed his muscle behind the wheel for the duration. But it wasn’t enough to set the 19-year-old hot shoe back. He ended the 200-lapper valiantly in the fourth spot.
“It was a good day. We were in the top three most of the day. We lost a couple of spots there at the end,” Sorenson said.
“In the middle of the race we were as good as (Martin) Truex, but maybe not as good as the 39 (of race winner Ryan Newman).”
Next up for Reed’s Discount Tire Co. contingent, an off week before taking a trip to the Kansas Speedway on October 8th.
Reed races with JJ Yeley on Saturday at Dover. (Pete Richards Photo)
