superspeedway car, but it ran like one during the next segment of the race. Sorenson was able to pick his way through the draft with each passing lap, and when the second caution flag flew on lap 38 he had driven his way into the top 10. Sorenson pitted the car for tires, fuel and slight air pressure adjustment to free up the car.
Racing resumed on lap 42 with the Target Dodge positioned in 13th. Shortly into the next run Sorenson radioed to his spotter Lorin Ranier the car was best in the middle line of the draft and that was where he was going to try and position himself. Sorenson was able to maintain position in the top 15 until the halfway point of the race.
Bad Luck Plagues Target Team at Talladega
Rookie Reed Sorenson put on a veteran display in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Unfortunately, all of the hard work put forth by driver and team was negated when Sorenson was swept up in an accident while running in the top 15 with just 15 laps remaining in the 188-lap event. Prior to the incident, Sorenson was a contender for potentially the win, but definitely a top-10 finish as he climbed as high as third in the closing laps.
Sorenson took the initial green flag in 41st, but it only took the 20-year old eight laps to race into the top 20. On the next lap, havoc broke out on the track as a multi-car accident erupted just in front of the No. 41. Sorenson was able to drive through the melee pointed in the right direction, but the car sustained significant right-side damage by a car that was turned down the track and into the door panel of the Target Dodge. Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge orchestrated an impressive and relatively quick repair job conducted by the Target crew and afterwards Sorenson returned to competition in 31st, ready for the next green flag on lap 14.
The Target Dodge certainly didn’t look like a sleek,
The #41 Target Dodge (Getty Images Photos)
On lap 104 of the race, bad luck struck the Target team again when the No. 41 Dodge struck a tire carcass from another car, folding in the left-front fender and valance. Again, the Target team did a stellar job of making repairs and keeping Sorenson on the lead lap. After the body work, Sorenson returned to the track in 29th for another green-flag run that started on lap 114.
In just a handful of laps, Sorenson was back inside of the top 10 and he went on to position himself in sixth just prior to the seventh caution on lap 165. Since the Target team had just pitted, Elledge elected to have Sorenson remain on track, placing him in third for the next green flag on lap 169.
“My car hasn’t been the best on restarts today, but I’ll do the best I can,” said Sorenson just before the green flag unfurled.
As expected a few cars got around him immediately after the green flag flew, and then he was kicked out of the draft and dropped back to 20th on lap 171. Based on how he had been able to maneuver his way through the field all day, Sorenson wasn’t worried at all. Once settled back in line he began making his move towards the front. On lap 173, however, it all came to a halt when the Target Dodge found its way into the middle of another large crash that was started by some aggressive driving. Sorenson limped the car onto pit road and eventually into the garage for a 26th-place finish.
“I have no idea what happened out there, I guess I’ll have to watch the replay,” said a dejected Sorenson at the conclusion of the event. “It’s unfortunate because we had another great car today and don’t have the finish to show for it. We had all kinds of obstacles thrown at us today, but the guys did a great job on pit road and we were able to recover from everything that happened. I guess some guys felt like it was time to get aggressive because we were getting close to the end. Hopefully, our luck will change next weekend at Richmond.”
The Target Team maintained 24th position in the overall standings at the conclusion of the Talladega race. They are 140 points out of 15th and 237 out of the top 10 heading into the next event at Richmond International Raceway on May 6. Sorenson currently sits fifth in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 75 points. He is only 16 points behind leader Clint Bowyer. Sorenson’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Casey Mears and David Stremme finished 20th and 33rd respectively.
