Looking for a Talladega Turn Around: Sorenson has three starts at Talladega Superspeedway (1 Nextel Cup, 2 Busch), with a career-best finish of 17th (Busch, Apr. ’06). He’s had impressive runs at the track, only to fall victim to accidents in two of his three races at the 2.66-mile restrictor-plate track. After wrecking on lap 18 last weekend in Kansas, Sorenson and the Target team are looking to get back on track with a strong performance this weekend.
Chassis: Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge and the No. 41 Target Team have selected chassis #604 for this weekend’s NEXTEL Cup event at Talladega. This is the same car the team used in the Apr. 30 race, where Sorenson raced up to as high as third place in the closing laps, prior to getting swept up in an accident with 15 laps remaining (finished 26th).
NEXTEL Cup Points Report: Sorenson and the No. 41 team dropped two positions to 23rd in the overall standings after cutting a tire early and finishing 43rd in the last event at Kansas. With a total of 2891 points, the team is only 56 points out of 20th.
Rookie Round Up: Sorenson is currently third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 191 points. He trails leader Denny Hamlin by 73 points and second place Clint Bowyer by 28. Sorenson has captured rookie of the race honors in five of the 29 races run thus far in ’06 (Atlanta – 10th, Martinsville – 12th, Michigan – fifth, Chicagoland – seventh, Michigan 2 - eighth).
Target VIG Night: On Tues., Oct. 3 Sorenson stopped by the new SuperTarget in Kannapolis, N.C., to shake hands and sign autographs for employees and other important guests to celebrate the store’s opening on Oct. 4. For more information about Target and SuperTarget stores please visit www.target.com.
Autograph Seekers Alert: Reed Sorenson and David Stremme will be signing autographs next Thurs., Oct. 12 from 10-11:30 am at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ Concord, N.C. location. Wristbands are required and can be picked up at the gift shop or can be reserved by calling 866.888.6388.
*Casey Mears and IRL driver Dan Wheldon will be on hand Fri., Oct. 13 from 11:30-1 pm to sign autographs.
Wristbands are required and can be picked up at the gift shop or can be reserved by calling 866.888.6388.
Busch Series Update: Sorenson moved up one position to ninth
in the overall Busch Series driver standings with his seventh-place
run at Kansas. He is 242 points out of eight with five races
remaining.
Reed Sorenson on Talladega…
“My goal for this weekend is to get through unscathed. We’ve
had really good cars in all three restrictor-plate races we’ve run
this year in the Target Dodge, but something has happened to
us in the final laps. We cut a tire in both Daytona races and got
caught up in a wreck at the first Talladega race. The thing is,
we were running in the lead pack each time. If we can make it
to the finish line without something happening I think the final result will be very respectable.
“Our restrictor-plate cars don’t always qualify well, but they are very competitive in the draft. Qualifying doesn’t really mean all that much at superspeedways, so we’re not too concerned with it. The most important thing is having a car that drafts well and is stable in the big pack. We’re taking the same car we ran in the last Talladega race. It drove comfortably and I was able to race up to the front with it. I expect it to be good this weekend.
“We had a tough go of it in Kansas last week, so it would be nice to get solid finish this weekend. We’re still shooting to finish 15th or better in the final point standings, but we definitely want to get inside of the top 20. That goal is easily attainable it we stay out of trouble and our cars keep performing the way they have.”
