SORENSON FINISHES 31ST AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target/Maxwell House Dodge battled for 400 miles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup event under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway Saturday night.  Sorenson took the checkered in 31st-place, one lap down from the race winner, Kyle Busch.  

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) qualifying was cancelled Friday afternoon when a thunderstorm hit the Chicagoland Speedway forcing the cars to line up based on Sprint Cup Owners points.   Sorenson rolled off 32nd for the Chicagoland 400.

When the green flag waved, Sorenson discovered immediately the handling of his Target Dodge was loose.  NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 35, which allowed Sorenson to enter pit road to make major adjustments to his Dodge.   The team continued to work on the issues but

provided little relief to Sorenson as the car grew difficult to handle with each lap. On lap 90, the 22-year-old fell one lap behind the race leader while running in the 30th position.

On lap 176, Sorenson finally received an opportunity to make more major adjustments when a caution flag was issued for debris. While under the yellow, crew chief Donnie Wingo called for four tires, fuel, a chassis and air pressure adjustments to help the No. 41 Dodge.  For the remaining laps, Sorenson and team battled a lack of grip in the rear of the car and continued to make several adjustments throughout the race.  The No. 41 Target Dodge crossed the finish-line 31st, one lap down from the winner.

The 31st-place finish kept Sorenson 32nd in the championship driver standings, with a post-Chicago total of 1496 points. The No. 41 entry is 32nd in the series' owner standings with 1545 points, 360 points out of the top 20.

The Sprint Cup Series will have next weekend off from competition, marking their last off-weekend for the remainder of the season. The action will resume at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard to kick off a 17-race run to close the 2008 season. Live coverage of the race will be broadcast on ESPN on July 27th beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. Radio coverage of the race will be simulcast live on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Network (IMS).

The Target Dodge. (Action Sports Photo)