Sorenson and Discount Tire Team Match Season-Best at ORP

“We tried to catch up to [Kevin] Harvick, but he clearly had the best car out there tonight,” Sorenson said after the race. “The Discount Tire Dodge was a great car, too. We were looking for a little more grip off the corner a good portion of the night, but the car was strong through the turns. It feels good to be adding another top five, especially when it is a third-consecutive top five. I know I didn’t get these finishes on my own either. The guys are putting me in great race cars and the pit crew is unstoppable. They pulled great stops tonight and helped us get another top five.”

Sorenson split his time between ORP and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) to compete in both the NASCAR Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Series events Saturday and Sunday. Kevin Hamlin, the CGRFS development driver, helped the team get the car rolling during the first Busch practice on Saturday

morning, and then Sorenson made it over to ORP just on time to run the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) Dodge during the final Busch Series practice of the day. By the conclusion of their pre-race preparations, the No. 41 car was the fourth fastest on the speed chart, lapping the .686-mile oval at 108.7 miles per hour in 22.7 seconds.

Sorenson then flew back to IMS for the final NEXTEL Cup practice of the weekend, and then turned around to fly back to qualify and race in the Kroger 200. Come qualifying time, the No. 41 Dodge was the 29th car to make its two laps around the short track and by the conclusion of the session the CGRFS Busch team settled into the eighth-starting position.

The green flag waved just before 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday to start the 23rd NASCAR Busch Series race of the year. Sorenson held on to a top-10 run all night long, breaking into the top five on lap 24. He told his team the car felt pretty good overall, but he did need more grip off the corner.

Crew chief Brian Pattie called his young driver to pit under the fifth caution of the night on lap 55. The over-the-wall pit crew went to work to give Sorenson four tires and fuel, along with a right-side air pressure adjustment to try to improve the car’s exit off the corners.

Racing resumed on lap 58 and just a little more than 25 laps later, the No. 41 was a top-five contender again. As lap 100, the half-way point of the race, lit up on the infield scoring tower the No. 41 lit up just below it in second place. Sorenson battled the No. 20 car, driven by Denny Hamlin, to hold on to the second-place position and it didn’t take long for him to put a stop to the back-and-forth struggle. On lap 107 of the 200-lap competition, Sorenson maneuvered back around Hamlin and drove away.

The No. 41 Discount Tire team went on to hold its second-place running position the rest of the race. The team even made a

four-tire stop on lap 132, with Sorenson entering pit road in second and exiting it just the same. The second-place finish was the driver and team’s third consecutive top-five and tied the team’s season-best finish of the year. They now both stand 11th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings. Sorenson is 97 points out of 10th in the driver ranks and the team is just 12 points away from 10th in the owner ranks.

The NASCAR Busch Series heads to Watkins Glen International this next Saturday, August 12, to run the Zippo 200. The race is scheduled to start at 2:10 p.m. ET and will broadcast live on NBC (TV) and MRN (Radio).