It was a very uncharacteristic race at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) on Saturday evening, with the first caution flag not flying until lap 125. Towards the end of the race the caution flags came more frequently, but normally there are plenty throughout a 500-lap race at the .533-mile speedway. The lack thereof could be attributed to the new racing surface, which has created multiple racing grooves on a track that used to be known for single file, knock’em out of the way racing. Whatever the case it was an exciting race, but one in which the car needed to be handling well in order for a team to maintain position on the lead lap.
For Reed Sorenson and the Target team, the race started out very good. Sorenson raced from his 29th-place starting position up to 25th before the first caution period. He radioed to crew chief Jimmy Elledge the car was tight in the center but good on entry during the first run so he pitted for tires and air pressure adjustments and returned to competition in 23rd.
The second green-flag run of the race that lasted until lap 211 saw much of the same for Sorenson and crew. The car was still a bit tight but developed a slight loose condition as well, probably a result of Sorenson having to turn the wheel too much. He pitted again for tires and adjustments and exited pit road in 20th.
The next run of the race hurt the Target team’s charge to the front considerably. Soon into the run Sorenson commented the car was “terrible” and as a result he dropped outside of the top 25 and lost a lap to the leaders.
Pit strategy came into play as the race pressed on, with most of the competitors ducking onto pit road under green conditions for their next round of stops. Elledge left Sorenson out as long as possible and luckily a caution came out on lap 369 with Sorenson in fifth place and back on the lead lap. After pitting under the caution, the Target team cycled out in 13th and with a whole new perspective.
Sorenson continued to battle the tight-handling condition for the remainder of the race. It got better with each pit stop for adjustments but was enough of a hindrance to keep Sorenson from racing into the top 10. He took the checkered flag in 15th.
The Target team remained 26th in the overall point standings at the conclusion of the BMS event. The team is just 55 points out of 22nd and 176 out of the top 20.
The Target team made a total of five pit stops. There were nine caution flags for a total of 61 laps, the average speed was 89.006 mph and the time of race was 2 hrs, 59 mins and 39 secs.
The NEXTEL Cup Series heads to California Speedway next for the Sharpe AQUOS 500 on Sept. 2. The race is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128.
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard
REED SORENSON: “It ended up being a good race for us. The car was pretty good in the beginning and not bad at the end. It was horrible during the middle of the race and of course that was one of the longest green-flag runs we had. I don’t know if it was a bad set of tires or what, but the car would just not turn at all. We lost a lap during that run, but Jimmy (Elledge) made a great call to stay out as long as we could during a round of green-flag stops and luckily we caught the caution. Overall, it was a pretty good race and probably one of our better performances with the car of tomorrow (CoT). Hopefully, this is a sign that we’re starting to get a grip on our CoT program.”
Reed's Target team got him out fast at Bristol and helped him get his top-15 finish. (Getty Images)
