After starting 26th, Reed Sorenson positioned his Target Dodge in the high groove at Daytona International Speedway(DIS) and proceeded to draft his way to the front. When the first caution came out on lap three, Sorenson had already gained four positions on the field. Once racing resumed, Sorenson continued to overtake positions in the draft, locked to the rear bumper of his teammate David Stremme, who also had a really fast race car.
On lap 15, however, Sorenson’s run came to a screeching halt when he was collected in a multi-car accident that began when the second-place runner, Tony Stewart, took out his teammate and leader Denny Hamlin. While slowing to avoid the spinning cars Sorenson was hit hard and the Target Dodge sustained heavy damage on the right side and front. Sorenson immediately drove to the garage for lengthy repairs. The crew replaced practically the entire front end of the car and sent Sorenson back into competition on lap 70. He went on to finish the event 42nd.
Qualifying for the 160-lap Pepsi 400 at DIS was rained out on Friday, but approximately 35 of 53 teams made their attempt before the bottom dropped out. Sorenson had made his run and was sitting comfortably in sixth position, proving he had a fast car for Saturday’s event.
The Target team dropped to 29th in the overall standings after the completion of the DIS event. Sorenson and crew are 115 out of 25th position and 240 outside of the top 20.
There were eight caution flags for a total of 30 laps. The average speed was 138.983 mph and the time of race was 2 hrs, 52 mins and 41 secs. The margin of victory was 0.005 seconds.
Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team will head to Chicagoland Speedway next for the USG Sheetrock 400 on July 15. The 265-lap event is set to go green at 3 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on TNT, MRN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128.
REED SORENSON: “There’s not much I can say about this one. I really hate it for the guys. We had a good race car here and didn’t even get a chance to show it. I was slowing up out there and just started getting hit. To be honest I’m not really sure what happened, but the car got torn up pretty bad and the guys spent a good part of the race fixing it. I just appreciated everyone’s hard work and hopefully we’ll get this thing turned around soon.”
Reed got to meet Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani (left) and actor Kevin James (right) during prerace at Daytona. (Getty Images)
