Sorenson Finishes 24th at Texas Motor Speedway

Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team arrived to Texas Motor Speedway with a pretty impressive practice run Friday at the 1.5-mile speedway, as they put down a 187 mph lap in 28.9 seconds.  The lap time listed the team as the 13th-fastest car by the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) first practice.  Unfortunately, the team’s pre-race preparations seemed to be sidelined when their qualifying run was derailed as the Target Dodge brushed the outside wall before even making its first trial lap on Friday.  From there, the team’s weekend seemed to take a turn on them as they battled an extreme loose condition a good portion of their run Sunday to finish the 334-lap competition in 24th place.

The team’s contact with the outside wall during qualifying was repairable so there was not a need to pull out the backup, but it also placed them 42nd on the starting grid with a lot of ground to make up as the initial green flag waved Sunday afternoon.  Sorenson and team didn’t waste any time as they advanced the No. 41 Target Dodge up inside the top 30 by lap 70 of the 334-lap race.

Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge called for multiple adjustments on pit road to address the extremely loose Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates

(CGRFS) Dodge, including a combination of air pressure, spring rubber, track bar and wedge adjustments.  It was around lap 175 Sorenson told his team the track bar adjustments really helped the loose handling he was experiencing on the back end of his car but the air pressure didn’t help.

The day continued to play out with the team constantly tweaking its car to try to help it get a better grip on the track.  By race end the No. 41 was scored in 24th place, two laps off the lead lap.  Only 10 cars finished on the lead lap Sunday as the loose-handling condition plagued a good portion of the 43-car field.  It was also a day filled with long green-flag runs.  Only six yellow flags waved throughout the race for a total of 27 laps ran under caution.  The total race time was 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Sorenson now stands 27th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver ranks.  He is 267 points out of 12th place – the final cut-off position for the Chase.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway next Saturday, April 12, to race under the lights.  The night race is set to go green at 8:30 p.m. ET and will broadcast live on FOX (TV) and MRN (Radio).

REED SORENSON (POST-QUALIFYING):  "The Target Dodge was really good through three and four.  I was trying to run a 28.28 and didn't quite make it.  It just got really tight in the center and was tight all the way off.  I got out of the gas real loose and ended up in the wall."

REED SORENSON (POST-RACE):  “Our No. 41 Target Dodge Charger was pretty good on some of the long green runs.  We struggled a bit at the start of each run, but I think a lot of people did.  I just wish we could have started the day a little faster because as the race went on, we seemed to find what the car liked.  I just want to thank all the guys on the team and back at the shop for their hard work.  Wish we could’ve gotten a stronger finish so hopefully next week will be a lot better.”