Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team entered the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway with high hopes of duplicating their performance from a week ago at Dover. The team had a contending car at Dover, and had the Target Dodge not run out of fuel with one lap remaining Sorenson for sure would’ve finished in the top five. Prior to the start of the Kansas event, the Target team felt they had a car equally as good if not better. Unfortunately no one will ever know because Sorenson was eliminated from the race on lap 18 after making heavy contact with the outside retaining wall in Turns 3 and 4.
After taking the initial green flag in ninth, Sorenson maintained position in the top 10 until pitting during the third caution on lap 16. Prior to the stop he radioed in that the car “felt good,” so crew chief Jimmy Elledge elected for a gas only stop. The Target team was pitted in the first stall entering pit road, so as Sorenson was exiting he collided with the No. 88 car that hadn’t made it to its pit box, resulting in some right front fender damage. After returning to pit road for repairs, Sorenson took the next green flag on lap 21 in 39th.
Shortly after the restart the front fender folded under because the bracing had been damaged during the pit road incident. As a result the Target Dodge became extremely tight. Sorenson was still able to race up to 33rd but made contact with the No. 88 car again on lap 34, this time on
the race track. Sorenson pitted during the caution that ensued for tires, fuel and a few adjustments to loosen up the chassis. The crew also pulled the fender out to help the front-end downforce.
Racing resumed on lap 38 with the Target Dodge scored in 37th. When the fifth caution came out, just eight laps later, Sorenson had raced up to 29th. Elledge opted to leave Sorenson out to regain track position, so after many of the competitors pitted Sorenson cycled out in ninth place.
The front fender damage continued to plague Sorenson and the No. 41 team. After the next restart, Sorenson wasn’t able to hold position in the top 10, but he began using the high line around the track and managed to remain in the top 15 until pitting under green on lap 79 for two tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Sorenson cycled out in 12th after the round of stops, and went on to hold position in the top 20 until the next caution on lap 104.
Reed's #41 races at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
(Getty Images)
The Target team used the caution period to re-enforce the front fender area, dropping them to 24th for the next green on lap 109. Soon after the restart, Sorenson made heavy contact with the inside retaining wall just behind Kurt Busch who spun coming out of Turn 2. The damage was too severe to fix and the Target team was eliminated from the event.
“To be honest with you I don’t know what happened,” said Sorenson as he surveyed the damage to his car. “As soon as they started wrecking, I went with them. I saw a bunch of smoke, got out of the throttle a little and the next thing I know I was headed towards the wall. It’s unfortunate because we had a really good car to start the
race out with. Once we had trouble on pit road during the first stop it just all went down hill from there.
“I don’t really know what happened with Dale,” Sorenson continued, referring to the lap 34 contact with Dale Jarrett. “I know I was trying to pass him, I went underneath him. Whether I came up on him or he came down on me I’m not sure. But if I came up on him, I’m definitely going to apologize to him. I’ve raced with him all year and never had any kind of problem with him. So I’ll just talk to him and hopefully it will be alright.”
Sorenson and the Target team fell one position to 25th in the overall standings. The team is 134 points out of 20th heading into the next event at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 22. Sorenson’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Casey Mears and David Stremme finished 12th and 15th respectively.
