EARLY-RACE INCIDENT PUTS A KINK IN DISCOUNT TIRE TEAM’S COMEBACK AT NHIS

After coming back from an early-race incident that relegated them outside the top 15, Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Discount Tire team were running in sixth place as they approached the last quarter of the race, thinking they had beat the odds and overcome their biggest hurdle of the day. Unfortunately, the damage their car sustained from the earlier accident did more harm than they initially realized and literally put a kink in their quest for a top-five finish. It once again sent them sailing back through the pack, and with not much time to recover the team had to reluctantly call it a day in 17th place.

“We had a great car and game plan coming into the race today, and the guys on this Discount Tire team did their job. We had great stops and thought we had overcome that earlier setback, but apparently the car wasn’t taking on fuel during that last stop. So we had to keep pitting to try to get it filled up,” Sorenson said. “The good thing about all of this is the guys at Ganassi are putting out some great race cars and we’re all excited about what is yet to come this year. We’ll put this weekend behind us and just look ahead to next week.”

Leading into the mid-afternoon race on Saturday, Sorenson and the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) team spent most of Friday practicing inside the top 10 and then finished the day with the second-fastest car on the track, posting a 29.8-second lap time at 127.8 miles per

hour. The No. 41 CGRFS team then topped off its race preparations with a seventh-place starting position to take the green for the New England 200.

Sorenson held on to his top-10 position the first 30 laps of the race, and then turned it into a top-five stand as he moved up to fifth place on lap 31. He and the Discount Tire team continued to hold their top-five run for 60 laps, pitting once—on lap 57—for four tires and fuel, and to make a slight air pressure adjustment to try to tighten up their car.

As the field was approaching the halfway point of the 200-lap competition, Sorenson was working to improve his fourth-place running position. Just as it seemed he was going to prevail, the No. 41 Dodge was crammed out of a three-wide run and left spinning on the track as another car slammed into its left side.

Sorenson immediately brought his car to pit road for repairs and the No. 41 over-the-wall crew went to work. They hammered at the left-front and left-rear fenders to clear the tire housing and topped the stop off with four tires. Racing was back to green on lap 95 with the Discount Tire Dodge in 18th place.

The team didn’t let the setback interfere with their determination to bring home a strong finish. Sorenson started working his way back up through the field and just 32 laps after falling outside the top 10, he was back inside of it and working his way up to the top-five runners. He moved up to sixth place just as the seventh caution of the race was called on lap 146.

At first the team celebrated the good timing of the yellow as it was within their fuel window, meaning they could pit and then be good to go for the remainder of the show. Crew chief Brian Pattie called his driver to the pits and the team went to work on lap 147. They took four tires and fuel, and then sent Sorenson back on track. However, just as he was leaving pit road Pattie called over the radio telling him to return to the pits.

The team’s third pit stop wasn’t quite the charm that it was originally thought to be, as the crew members realized the early-race incident came back to haunt them. They discovered the car wasn’t taking in fuel as fast as it usually does, and the reason was there was a kink in the fuel hose that was pinched by the damaged sheet metal. The car could still take on fuel, but not in the usual 14 seconds. Knowing the car needed more fuel and would run out before the end of the race the team had no other choice but to call Sorenson back to the pits.

The yellow-flag condition continued long enough to allow the team to pit multiple times to try to get fuel in the car without going a lap down. As the field was coming into turn three to restart on lap 150, Sorenson exited pit road and worked to catch up with the back of pack. Not being able to pick up enough momentum coming off pit road, the front runners were immediately on his heels and passed the No. 41 Dodge putting it one lap down.

Sorenson worked to move into the “Lucky Dog” position and succeeded, but the race continued to go green the remainder of the day with the No. 41 CGRFS car crossing the finish line in 17th place.

Sorenson now stands 16th in the Busch Series driver standings with 1,918 points. He is just 33 points out of 15th and 222 outside the top 10. The team stands 19th in the owner standings with a running tally of 2,003. It is 72 out of 15th and 137 points outside the top 10.

The Discount Tire team will be racing a little closer to home next Saturday, July 22, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. The Goody’s 250 NASCAR Busch Series race is scheduled to start at 3:35 p.m. ET and will broadcast live on NBC (TV) and MRN (Radio).