Reed Earns Top-15 Finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway
Reed Sorenson earned his fourth top-15 finish of the season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night when he drove his Target Dodge to a 15th-place finish during the Bank of America 500.
Sorenson started the 334-lap event from the 30th position after the field was set based on the NASCAR rulebook due to a rainout of Friday's qualifying session. The Sprint Cup Series competitors received only two practices for the weekend due to Friday's washout.
In the opening laps of the race, Sorenson radioed to crew chief Donnie Wingo his car was loose especially around other cars. The handling issues were severe enough to prohibit the forward progress of the Target Dodge and Sorenson slipped to the 40th position by
lap 15. By lap 33 Sorenson fell one lap down to the leaders. Relief came on lap 43 when the caution flag waved for the first time of the night. Crew Chief Donnie Wingo called for major adjustments on the No. 41 Dodge to aid Sorenson with the car’s handling.
Shortly after the restart, the Target team received NASCAR’s free pass back onto the lead lap when the caution flag waved on lap 63. By lap 120, the team fell a lap down again while in 30th-place. The team received another lucky break when the caution waved on lap 205. Sorenson restarted on the lead lap in 24th position. Thirty laps later the field started a green-flag pit cycle. Wingo kept Sorenson on the track for as long as possible. The Target team took the lead on lap 261. The strategy paid off on lap 265 when the caution flag waved. Racing resumed on lap 268 with only 16 cars on the lead lap. Sorenson continued to race amongst the leader, crossing the finish line 15th.
The No. 41 CGRFS team climbed one spot in the NSCS Owner point standings. With 2,871 points, the No. 41 trails 25th-place Travis Kvapil by 323 points. Next up for the NSCS is a return visit to Martinsville Speedway. The TUMS QuikPak 500 will broadcast live on the ABC Television Network beginning at 1 p.m. EDT on October 19th. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will simulcast coverage on its radio affiliates.
