The Charlotte race weekend wasn’t what the Discount Tire Co. team had hoped for but looking ahead was the short track in Memphis. Last season the team’s 19-year-old driver Reed Sorenson started 15th and claimed a successful 10th place finish on the .75-mile oval.
This weekend Sorenson ventured to the Memphis Motorsports Park with veteran Nextel Cup crew chief Lee McCall taking the reigns for his first Busch Series start.
“We tested here and had a very good test. Reed’s real easy to communicate with and Brian (Pattie) has made this such a good race team,” McCall said.
After two practice sessions on Friday the Sorenson and
McCall combination showed they were a good pairing with strong lap times consistently in the top 10. But qualifying on Saturday left the No. 41 bunch 21st in the rundown.
The Discount Tire Co. Dodge however was strong and with 250 laps of racing ahead, McCall coached Sorenson under the pace laps to stay focused.
“Alright hotrod you’ve got a good car here. Click them off one at a time and we’ll see you in victory lane,” he said.
Just as planned Sorenson gained position and by the time the first round of pitstops shook down on lap 33 he entered the pits in the seventh position.
The 41 crew put down a solid stop but due to the extremely tight conditions on pit road a run-in was unavoidable leaving the red and white machine with fender damage, forcing Sorenson to pit again for repairs.
With the restart on lap 37 Sorenson was scored in the 37th spot.
“We have what we have. Let’s keep our head in the game and go here,” said spotter Lorin Ranier.
By the time the next caution fell on lap 56 Sorenson was scored in the 27th spot.
As the laps continued to click down and the halfway mark was reached, Sorenson continued his climb to the front. By the end of the race, the event had a record high 15 caution flags. And with each caution flag throughout the event up to lap 140, the savvy racer had to deal with finding ways around the slower lapped cars.
“If I can get around there lapped cars, I’ll be alright. They don’t stay in one lane. Some go high, some low,” he said.
Despite the challenging obstacles on track the DTC machine broke into the top 10 yet again on lap 156.
A caution flag fell 13 laps later allowing another pitstop. The over the wall crew laid down a stellar pitstop and gained two spots in the pits with their fast work. Different strategy lined the team up in 10th at the restart with two teams opting to stay on track. But within laps their older tires weren’t able to hold up and the two quickly drifted back in the field moving Sorenson rightfully into the eighth position.
Unfortunately, luck just wasn’t on Sorenson’s side for the second week in a row.
On lap 205 he was charging through turn 4 before being hit from behind.
“Going into 3 I was right behind Denny (Hamlin) and the next thing I know I was sideways,” Sorenson said.
A quick pitstop to fix the damage dropped the team to 23rd for the restart on lap 211.
Two laps later, it was trouble all over again. This time chaos broke out ahead of Sorenson but the field bunched up and he was caught up in someone else’s mess.
“We had a good car at the beginning. The 32 (of Jason Leffler) took us out on lap 205. Then we got in the back and it looks like David (Stremme) got into me. It’s unfortunate. We had a good car,” Sorenson said.
Although disappointed with the 33rd place finish the team will again regroup and next focus on the Texas Motor Speedway in two weeks. Texas will come after a much deserved off week for the Busch Series contingent and will also see the return of regular crew chief Brian Pattie.
As for Reed, he will return to his native Georgia next weekend and make his Nextel Cup Series debut in the No. 39 Discount Tire Co. Dodge. Lee McCall will return as the crew chief.
Sorenson and McCall tested the 1.54-mile track last week in preparation for the big day.
“We learned what not to do and what to do. You always want to come out of a test happy,” McCall said looking ahead.
"Reed gives good feedback. We'll put our heads together and debrief and hopefully have a good run for his hometown fans."
