Once again, the 600-mile competition at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS) came down to survival and gas mileage. Fortunately, Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team capitalized on both Sunday night at the Concord, N.C., area track as they turned a 36th-place starting position into a fourth-place finish that not only elevated the team inside the top 25 of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup (NNCS) championship points standings, but also marked Sorenson’s career-best finish in his young NEXTEL Cup career.
The top-five finale was not an easy accomplishment for the No. 41 driver and crew by any means. In fact, two major hurdles were presented right off the bat Sunday as two colossal wrecks collected almost 20 cars total in the first 70 laps of the 400-lap competition. A combination of Target team spotter Lorin Ranier’s good directions and Sorenson’s fast reflexes helped the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) Dodge avoid both incidents.
Another obstacle presented itself nearing lap 122, when Sorenson radioed his team he thought he had a tire going down. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge called the 21-year-old racer to pit road for a quick four-tire, green-flag stop. It was a safe move by the team, but unfortunately a yellow flag waved less than 20 laps later that put the No. 41 team one lap down to the leaders.
Now running in 28th place, the Target team’s next objective was focused on getting back on the lead lap. A little more than 100 laps later the team did just that. However, Sorenson was not only back on the lead lap, he was also a top-15 contender—running in 13th place as racing resumed on lap 256.
From that point on, the No. 41 red and white Dodge proceeded to maintain a 13th-place running position or better, breaking inside the top 10 on lap 275. As the field came around to complete the 380th circuit of the night, the CGRFS pit crew watched its young driver work his way inside the top five and then proceed to the fourth-place finale. Sorenson’s teammates David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya finished 17th and 28th respectively.
The fourth-place finish marks Sorenson’s second top five in his young NNCS career and his best finish to date. The No. 41 CGRFS team gained five positions in the NEXTEL Cup championship standings, where they are now listed in 24th place just 111 points outside the top 20, and just 288 away from the cutoff for the current Chase for the NEXTEL Cup contenders.
Next up for Sorenson and the Target team is the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway Sunday, June 3. The race will be broadcast on FOX, MRN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128 (LIVE, 1 p.m. ET).
Reed Sorenson Quotes on Lowe's:
“One of the few buddies I have out here won the race, so I’m pretty pumped up I had a good run and my boy won, so I’m pretty excited right now. We took a little gamble right there at the end. We’d run in the top 10 all day. We might not have had a fourth-place car, but we had a 10th-place car. The last four laps I wasn’t even going full throttle, maybe half throttle trying to save a little fuel, and as soon as I crossed the line it ran out. We got lucky, but the numbers came out right. I was very worried about the fuel lasting. When we first started they said we were two laps short. It was going to be close, but I’m pretty happy we made it.
“We need a boost. We needed to win, but this is close enough right now. It was a good run. We had a top 10 all day, so we’ll take fourth. Luck finally fell our way a little bit.”
