TEAMWORK AND PERSEVERANCE LAND SORENSON
AND THE DOLLAR GENERAL TEAM IN TOP-FIVE AT DAYTONA
Even though he had to start from the rear of the field, Reed Sorenson and the No. 32 Dollar General team made a statement with a top-five finish in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Sorenson ran in the top-15 for the majority of the afternoon but finished fifth with a solid push from Turner Motorsports teammate Jason Leffler in the closing laps. It was Sorenson’s first top-five and career-best finish at Daytona International Speedway.
The No. 32 car was forced to the rear of the field to start the 120-lap event because of small repairs made to a radiator hose prior to the race. However, by lap 11, Sorenson had driven the Dollar General Chevy into the top-10. Under the first caution on lap 15, crew chief Trent Owens called his driver down pit road for a fuel only stop. Sorenson left pit road in 20th after an extended stop due to a fuel intake issue.
As two- and three-car breakaway tandems proved to be the fastest way around the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Sorenson found his teammates, Leffler and Kasey Kahne, to see which combination worked the best for the final laps. Throughout the middle of the event, Sorenson and Leffler would take turns leading and pushing, allowing their engines to cool off and not overheat.
Under a lap-55 caution, the Dollar General team made its only chassis adjustment of the day, along with adding fuel before restarting17th. Sorenson continued to work the draft, spending time swapping leader and follower roles with the No. 6 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, as the tandem ran in the top-10.
Sorenson was scored in the sixth spot when the field received the final caution flag on lap 105. Owens called his driver down pit road for four fresh tires and after a short red-flag period for debris clean-up, Sorenson restarted in the eighth position for the six lap shoot out to the finish. Leffler quickly hooked up to the back of the No. 32 Dollar General machine and the two pushed their way toward the leaders. After some very close racing and narrowly missing a spinning No. 20 car on the white-flag lap, Sorenson took the checkers in fifth.
“This was a really great way to start the season,” Sorenson said after the race. “It was awesome to have a finish like this with all the Dollar General folks here. I can’t thank my teammate Jason [Leffler] enough for giving me that push there at the end to finish the race. I think today gave all of us at Turner Motorsports a lot of confidence and momentum heading into Phoenix.”
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series teams heads to Phoenix International Raceway next weekend for the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200. The Saturday afternoon race will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN2 and on MRN Radio affiliates. Coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. EST with the green flag scheduled to drop at approximately 5:45 p.m.
Reed Sorenson Finishes Fifth at Daytona
#32 Dollar General Chevrolet
