Reed Sorenson had a well balanced race car that was fast in the corners at Michigan International Speedway (MIS). Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to capitalize on the good handling car because he lacked speed on the straightaways. The Target Dodge experienced a lack of power throughout the race, which can be detrimental at a track like Michigan with relatively flat corners and long straightaways. Sorenson could make passes on other competitors in the corners like they were sitting still, but all the momentum was lost once he exited the corners.
Crew chief Jimmy Elledge went as far as electing to change the carburetor on the Target Dodge during the second caution period on lap 87 in hopes of remedying the power problems. The team’s efforts were futile as Sorenson went on to take the checkered flag in 38th, three laps down to the leaders.
The Target team fell one position to 26th in the overall point standings at the conclusion of the MIS event. The team is just six points out of 25th and 218 out of the top 20.
The Target team made a total of six pit stops during the 203-lap race. There were eight caution flags for a total of 37 laps, the average speed was 117.012 mph and the time of race was 3 hrs, 28 mins and 11 secs.
The NEXTEL Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next for the Sharpie 500 on August 25. The race is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128.
Reed Sorenson Quotes:
“The car was really good today, but we just couldn’t get down the straighaways. We’re not sure what the problem was, but the car lacked a lot of power all day. I could pass guys pretty easily in the corners and then they would just pull me down the straights. They’ll take it back to the shop and figure out what the problem was. We had a good car, we just couldn’t capitalize on it. That’s kind of how our luck has been this year.”
