After a complete washout on Sunday and a total overhaul of the setup, Reed Sorenson took it relatively easy in the opening laps of the Autism Speaks 400 to see how the car would react to the changes made and a race track with no rubber left on it from the previous days of practice and racing. Diagnosis…TIGHT!!! Sorenson started the 400-lap race in 28th and after nine laps he radioed in that he had no front grip whatsoever in the corners. After multiple pits stops for many changes, the Target Dodge got slightly better, but the crew was never quite able to put a finger on the tight condition that plagued them for the entire event. Sorenson went on to finish the race in 27th.
On lap 138, Sorenson lost a lap to the leader and soon thereafter radioed in that the car had a terrible vibration. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge threw everything at the car but the kitchen sink in hopes that it would turn better on corner exit. The car became loose on corner entry, but never gained the front grip Sorenson needed in order to run with the leaders. On the longer runs the Target Dodge would not fall off on the lap times as fast as others, allowing Sorenson to pick up a few positions, but he would battle to hold off the competition in the opening laps of a green flag run. Ultimately the car needed more grip in the front end, which is something the Target team is feverishly working to find with the Car of Tomorrow (CoT).
The Target team now stands 25th in the overall NEXTEL Cup Series ranks. The team sits 114 points out of 20th position and 282 out of 12th – the final transfer position for the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
There were seven cautions for a total of 35 laps. The Target team pitted five times, once under green flag conditions. The time of race was 3 hrs. 21 mins. and 45 secs.
Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team head to Pocono Raceway next for the Pocono 500 on June 10. The race is set to go green at 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT, MRN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128 (LIVE, 1:30 pm ET).
REED SORENSON: “We had a tough go of it today. We’re just not where we need to be with our CoT program yet. I know everyone is working hard on it, and eventually we’ll find it, but we still have a lot of work to do. We just lacked front grip, which has been our problem each time we’ve run these cars. We’ll keep testing and trying new things until we get it figured out.”
