Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Memorex Dodge Team Facts:
Seeing Double? This weekend some fans may think they are seeing double as not one, but two Memorex Dodges will compete in Saturday night’s NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) Camping World 300. Reed Sorenson will make his second appearance in the No. 41 Memorex Dodge while his teammate and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) development driver Kevin Hamlin climbs back behind the wheel of the No. 42 Dodge which will carry the purple colors of Memorex, too. In addition to adorning both Busch cars, Memorex will occupy the upper-rear quarter panels of the No. 41 Target Dodge on Sunday, as well, in place of the normal Target Bullseyes. Memorex, the leading brand of optical media at U.S. retail and a portfolio brand of Imation Corp., is headquartered in Cerritos, Calif., not too far from California Speedway.
Just One More Before the Big Debut: CGRFS development driver Bryan Clauson will make another run in the ARCA RE/MAX Series this Friday, August 31, at Gateway International Raceway before making his NBS debut next Friday, September 7, in the No. 41 Memorex Dodge at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). Clauson has recorded four ARCA starts so far this year, collecting two runner-up finishes, a fifth-place finish and a 14th-place finish in the Memorex Dodge. His NBS schedule will start at RIR and then he will compete in the remaining six NBS races after Dover. Clauson, who just turned 18 this past June, has been racing since he was five-years old. During his relatively short career to date, Clauson has tallied multiple championships, wins, rookie of the year honors, podium finishes and has been the youngest driver to achieve and receive some of the most prestigious awards in USAC Midget and Sprint Car racing history, including the 2002 HARF First Year Driver Award; 2004 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Wildcard Award; and the 2006 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year. Memorex announced in January it had signed an agreement with CGRFS to serve as primary sponsor of the No. 41 Memorex Dodge starting this August. Memorex has been riding as an associate sponsor on the No. 41 Wrigley’s Dodge since February, but took center hood for the first time in NASCAR competition this past Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). Clauson’s ARCA run at Gateway will be broadcast LIVE at 9 p.m. ET Friday on SPEED (TV).
Sorenson Gets an “A” at Cali: Sorenson gets a 97% when it comes to completing laps in his Busch Series car at California Speedway. Out of 750 laps of Busch Series competition he’s entered, Sorenson has completed all but 24. When it comes to Busch racing, he tallied one top-five, one top-10, three top-15 and four top-20 finishes. Out of five Busch Series starts, two have been inside the top five.
No Time like the First Time: Sorenson’s first race at California Speedway, in February 2005, resulted in a fourth-place start and fifth-place finish in the Stater Bros. 300. It was Sorenson’s rookie year as a Busch Series driver for CGRFS and to date still the best start and finish the young racer has at the Fontana area track.
Californians On Board: The No. 41 Memorex Team has not just one, but three racers who hail from the West Coast. Front-tire changer Scott Ward is originally from Clearlake, rear mechanic Steve Dietrich is from Nipomo, and general mechanic Dan Bormann is from Shingle Springs.
Standings Update: The No. 41 Memorex team now stands 17th in the overall NBS owner ranks. The team is 63 points outside of the top 15 and 200 points out of the top 10.
Chassis: The No. 41 Busch team is bringing chassis #654 to race in this weekend’s Camping World 300. The same chassis was entered in a total of six NASCAR Busch races in 2006. The most memorable run was at Chicagoland in July when Casey Mears drove the chassis to his first NASCAR victory. Juan Pablo Montoya also raced the same chassis to a 14th-place finish in the last Busch race of the 2006 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Altogether, chassis #654 collected one win, three top-five and five top-15 finishes last year. It was most recently entered at Dover International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway this past June. Montoya raced from a 24th-place starting position to a 14th-place finish at Dover in early June and then Kevin Hamlin scored a 21st-place finish (started 29th) at Kentucky in the same car June 16.
In the World of Open Wheel: Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon wrangled away the championship points lead from Dario Franchitti this past weekend at Infineon Raceway, winning Sunday’s Motorola Indy 300 race. The victory at Infineon marked the Target team’s 16th IndyCar series win, Dixon’s 10th IndyCar win, and his fourth of the year which is his career best total in a season to date. It also completes Dixon’s domination of road courses this season after earlier wins at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. With just two IndyCar races remaining in the 2007 season, Dixon regained the IndyCar championship lead by four points (560 points) over Franchitti (556 points) who finished third in Sunday’s race. Dixon’s teammate Dan Wheldon finished seventh, and remains fourth in the standings with a total of 414 points.
When to Watch: The NBS Camping World 300 is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. ET Saturday, September 1, and will broadcast live on ESPN2, MRN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128. Qualifying for the 150-lap competition is scheduled to start at 8:10 p.m. ET Friday, August 31, and will be tape delayed on SPEED (TV) starting at 11 p.m. ET Friday night.
