SORENSON GETS COLLECTED IN ACCIDENT, FINISHES 33RD AT BRISTOL

This past Busch Series race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) is definitely one that Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Memorex team would soon like to forget. After being involved in a hard crash during practice on Friday morning, the team was forced to pull out the back up for the remainder of the day. Sorenson was able to qualify the car in eighth place for Friday night’s race, but outside of that it was an extremely rough day for driver and crew.

During the opening laps of the Food City 250, Sorenson radioed in that the car was really loose on corner entry. He went on to battle the condition, while sliding back in the field, until pitting during the second caution period on lap 51. The crew made air pressure adjustments and sent Sorenson back into competition in 24th.

Racing resumed on lap 56. Soon into the next run Sorenson let crew chief Brad Parrott know the car was still loose entering the corners and tight in the center and on exit. He pitted again during the next fourth caution on lap 99 for tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments.

Sorenson took the next green flag on lap 105 in 30th. Just 27 laps latter he was caught up trying to avoid an accident that happened just in front of him. Sorenson slowed down and it appeared he was going to make it through unscathed. Unfortunately, a few competitors behind him didn’t see the accident as quickly and he took a pretty substantial hit from behind. The crew repaired the damaged car the best they could and sent Sorenson back into competition a few laps down to the leader.

Shortly after the next green-flag run Sorenson spun the car out and made considerable contact with the outside retaining wall. He pitted again for repairs and went on to finish the race and salvage the best finish he could (33rd). His teammate David Stremme finished 15th.

The No. 41 team now stands 17th in the overall Busch Series owner points, with a current tally of 2,641. The team is 63 points outside of the top 15 and 200 points out of the top 10.

The No. 41 team heads to California Speedway next for the Camping World 300 on September 1. The race is set to begin at 10 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard

Reed Sorenson: “There’s not a whole lot to say about this one. It was just a tough day all the way around. I’m proud of the guys though because our primary car was awesome and they did a good job getting the backup ready for the race. We struggled a little with the handling, but I think we would’ve been ok with some adjustments. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to prove that. The race wasn’t a total loss though, because we learned some things tonight we can use for the future.”