Sorenson Second in First of Two Gatorade Duels

Picking up right where he left off on Saturday evening (finished fifth in Budweiser Shootout), Reed Sorenson drove his No. 41 Target Dodge from an 18th-place starting position to a second-place finish in the first of two Gatorade Duels, which determine the starting line up for the Daytona 500.  After taking the initial green flag Sorenson quickly moved into the top 10 by lap 2.  The first of two cautions came out on lap 3 and once racing resumed on lap five Sorenson wasted no time cracking into the top five. 

Reed wasright on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s tail at the conclusion of their Gatorade Dual.   (NASCAR/Getty Images Photo)

The third-year NASCAR Sprint Cup driver never fell outside of the top five for the remainder of the 60 lap event.  He methodically worked his way through the field and took over the lead on lap 12 for a couple of circuits around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.  The field pitted for a round of green flag stops on lap 32 and cycled out a few laps later with the No. 41 in fifth-place.  Sorenson continued to jockey for position and when the final caution flag flew on lap 55 he was scored in second place.  Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge elected to keep the No. 41 Target Dodge on track, sacrificing new tires for valuable track position.  The call paid off as Sorenson took the green flag in second and pushed eventual winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the checkered flag.

Sorenson will start fifth for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 as a result of his second-place effort in the Gatorade Duel.  The first two starting positions were set by speed during time trials on Sunday.  

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard

REED SORENSON:  “What a great run for this Target team.  My car was best on the top so that is where I had to be in the closing laps of the race.  It was a lot slicker out there than it was during the Shootout on Saturday night.  The cars really started to slip around after about 20 laps, but our car handled really well throughout the run.  I’m really excited about that headed into the 500 on Sunday.  We’ve got a really good car, we just need to keep the fenders on it and put ourselves in position at the end.  We’ve had a strong Speedweeks so far and we just need to keep it going.  It would be great to start the season off with a solid finish in the 500.”