Rookie Sorenson Puts On Veteran Display En Route to 11th-Place Finish

Barring a minor brush with the wall, or a “Darlington Stripe” if you will, Reed Sorenson had a fairly uneventful evening at Darlington Raceway, which can be a large feat at the track deemed “too tough to tame.” Sorenson and the Target team started the 367-lap event in 16th, and after correcting a loose condition that plagued their run during the first half of the event, Sorenson was able to take the checkered flag in 11th place More importantly, the strong performance propelled the team two positions to 24th in the overall standings.

After taking the initial green flag, Sorenson was able to race up to 12th place before the first of six cautions on lap 27. He radioed in that the Target Dodge was loose entering the corner, but good in the center of the corner and on exit so crew chief Jimmy Elledge called him on to pit road for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. The over-the-wall crew readily performed the service and sent Sorenson back on track in 10th.

The 43-car field was unleashed again on lap 30, but during the next run Sorenson dropped back to 20th before another caution flag waved on lap 68.

“I’ve got no forward bite now Jimmy and the car is pretty loose all over,” commented Sorenson while pacing the 1.366-mile speedway.

He brought the No. 41 Dodge onto pit road for tires, fuel and more adjustments and exited in 22nd. Racing resumed on lap 73 and conditions stayed green until lap 94. Sorenson told Elledge the changes “definitely helped,” so he pitted once again positioned in 21st for more of the same adjustments that were made during the previous stop. The crew clicked off a quick four-tire stop and sent Sorenson back into competition in 18th.

The Target Dodge became tight during the next run of the race, and at one point Sorenson made some contact with the outside retaining wall. The downside was the team lost track position making repairs during the next pit stop on lap 149, the plus was they were zeroing in on the handling and had a good indication of what changes to make to the chassis.

Sorenson took the green on lap 154 in 28th, but in no time he was back inside the top 20 and gaining on the top 10. When the fifth caution flag unfurled on lap 210, Sorenson radioed in that the car was the best it had been all evening. As a result Elledge called him in for tires, fuel and no changes whatsoever. The 20-year old driver mounted an impressive charge during the remaining laps of the event, making one green-flag pit stop and racing from 18th to 11th before the conclusion of the event.

“I’m really happy with tonight’s run, especially being a rookie at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit, if not the toughest. The car was pretty loose early on, but we kept adjusting on it and got it close at the end. That car was really good on the longer runs, and that played to our advantage because there were quite a few of them, especially towards the end of the race.

“I got into the wall at one point, but I think half the field did too. The right-front fender got knocked in a little, but the guys did a great job making repairs and getting us back out. The car was decent after that and I just got everything out of it that I could. I was really hoping to get into the top 10, but we came up a little short. Overall it was a great effort put forth by the Target team and I’m looking forward to heading into Charlotte. It was also nice to get a good finish for my mom on the eve of Mother’s Day."

The Target team now sits 24th in the overall standings heading into the next points awarded event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 28. The team is 46 points out of 20th, 128 out of 15th and 242 out of the top 10. Sorenson’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Casey Mears and David Stremme finished 17th and 25th respectively. Sorenson currently sits fifth in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 93 points and he is only 26 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.