Reed Sorenson experienced a clean race for about 298 of 300 laps at New Hampshire International Speedway. While running in the top 15 with the white flag in sight, Sorenson attempted to make a clean pass on the outside of the No. 7 car driven by Robby Gordon. Not looking to play fairly, Gordon drove Sorenson into the outside retaining wall, ultimately costing the Target team valuable positions prior to the checkered flag and significantly damaging the No. 41 Dodge. Sorenson finished the Sylvania 300 17th.
Leading into the race, many “in-the–know” (or in the garage) were predicting the No. 41 Target team to be a contender. Although Sorenson qualified 31st for the race, he was sixth and second overall in the final two practice sessions.
The track temperature was much hotter on Sunday than it had been all weekend, causing the surface to be greasier and affecting most of the cars. Sorenson’s main chassis issue in the opening laps was “no front grip” in the center of the corner and exiting. Still, he was able to race from 31st for 20th before the second caution on lap 28. He brought the Target Dodge onto pit road for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help the car rotate.
Sorenson took the next green flag on lap 33 in 20th. In just a handful of laps he cracked into the top 15 and when the third caution flag flew on lap 80 Sorenson was scored in 12th place. He commented that the tires where “chattering” and he still needed more front grip, so he pitted again for tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.
Racing resumed on lap 85 with the Target Dodge in 12th. On lap 114 Sorenson overtook 10th position but shortly thereafter radioed in that the motor seemed to be laboring. After an extended green-flag run Sorenson brought the Target Dodge onto pit road under green for tires and slight air pressure adjustments. Sorenson cycled out in 10th after the round of stops.
During the final 100 laps of the race, Sorenson told crew chief Jimmy Elledge the car was handling well but he couldn’t complete passes and would lose ground down the straightaway. Sorenson maintained position in the top 15 and appeared to be headed for a finish there until the altercation with Gordon.
“I’m not sure what Robby’s problem was,” said Sorenson after the race. “He was driving like a maniac in the final laps, but I made a clean pass on the outside and then he just drove me into the fence. That killed our momentum and costs us some spots at the end. I should’ve known better.
“Other than that we had an okay day. The car had no front grip early, but Jimmy and the guys adjusted on it and got it pretty good towards the end of the race. I felt like we had a top-five car after practice yesterday, but track position means a lot here and we started out behind the curve. We had a competitive car today and this team continues to move in the right direction.”
Sorenson and the Target team maintained 22nd in the point standings. The team is 67 points out of 20th and 193 out of 15th heading into the next event at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 24. Sorenson’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates David Stremme and Casey Mears finished 20th and 21st respectively.
