Driving the same car he scored his career-best finish with at Atlanta Motor Speedway the week prior, Reed Sorenson was poised to place inside of the top five for the second-consecutive week at Texas Motor Speedway.
After starting 31st, Sorenson and the Target team charged up to as high as seventh place by lap 50 of the 334-lap race. Battling a car that started the race out tight on corner exit, crew chief Jimmy Elledge elected for some minor air pressure and slight wedge adjustments to get the car dialed in.
The Target Dodge sustained some front-end damage during the first round of pit stops, but nothing a few pieces of Bearbond (tape) couldn’t fix. Sorenson had to sacrifice track position in order to repair the problem, but after some varying pit strategy the Target Dodge was inside of the top 10 and maintaining position with ease.
On lap 145 of the race, the No. 38 broke loose just in front of Sorenson after a restart. Sorenson in turn went around in an effort to avoid the spinning car and the Target Dodge made substantial contact with the retaining wall, ultimately ending the team’s day. Sorenson was scored with a 40th-place finish at the conclusion of the event.
The Target team maintained 22nd position in the overall NEXTEL Cup Series driver standings. The team now stands 198 points outside of the top 20 with two events remaining.
There were 12 caution flags for a total of 52 laps, the average speed was 131.219 mph and the time of race was 3 hrs, 49 mins and 05 secs.
The NEXTEL Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway next for the 35th of 36 races. The Checker Auto Parts 500 is set to go green at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 11, and will air on ABC, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128.
