Reed Sorenson vacated the seat of his usual No. 32 Dollar General Chevrolet this weekend to jump back behind the wheel of the No. 30 Rexall Chevy. Having raced the Rexall Chevrolet twice already this season, Sorenson was ready to contend for the win at Michigan International Speedway (MIS). After a very exciting event that had Sorenson battling inside the top-10 for a majority of the afternoon, he experienced a late-race tight-handling condition in his Impala and took the checkered flag in the 11th spot. Sorenson will return to the seat of the No. 30 at Kentucky Speedway.

Race day in Michigan’s Irish Hills began under sunny skies with the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) driver’s hitting the track for Saturday morning’s qualifying session. Laying down a lap quick enough to roll off from the 15th position, Sorenson was ready to battle his way to the front of the pack upon the drop of the green flag. With track conditions the hottest they had been all weekend, the Rexall team knew the surface of MIS was going to be slicker and faster than it had been in the previous day’s practice sessions. The green-flag dropped for 125 laps of racing and Sorenson immediately went to work racing his way inside the top-10. As expected with the hot track conditions, he reported his Rexall Chevy was loose, especially on the top of the race track.

By lap 30, the field began making green-flag pit stops. Crew chief Stewart Cooper called for Sorenson to come into the pits on lap 35 for four

tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, with Sorenson reporting a free-in tight-off condition in his Impala. Unfortunately, Sorenson clipped the pit road commitment cone on entrance and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty, relegating him to the 24th position, one lap down to the leaders. When the caution flag was displayed a short time later, Cooper called his driver to pit road once again for four tires and fuel.

Restarting 24th, Sorenson was in the ‘lucky dog’ position on lap 55 when the caution flag was displayed once again. Reporting the car was “really good!” Sorenson came to pit road for four tires and fuel with no adjustments. Back on the lead lap, he was up to the 12th spot on lap 75 when he began reporting a loose-handling condition. On lap 95, Cooper radioed to Sorenson that he would come to pit road under green-flag conditions in five laps, where the Rexall crew could make adjustments to his loose-handling Chevy. Just two laps later, many team’s began hitting pit road earlier than scheduled. In an effort to stay on the leaders pit strategy, Cooper called for Sorenson to come in early. In a stroke of good luck, just before he peeled off the track the yellow flag was displayed, catching most of the field a lap down to those who had yet to make it to pit road. Scored in the sixth position, Sorenson pitted under the yellow-flag conditions for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. As the jack man dropped the jack and Sorenson pulled away, the team realized they did not get the Rexall Chevy filled with fuel and it was determined he could only make it one lap over the scheduled 125, with the math showing he would run out of fuel in the event of a green-white-checkered finish. After much discussion over the radio, Cooper made the call to return to pit road for the remaining fuel, as Sorenson is running for valuable championship points and could not afford to run out of fuel.

Taking the event’s final restart in the 11th position, Sorenson was involved in a fierce battle for position in the closing laps of the event. Making it up to the eighth spot, Sorenson reported a tight-handling condition in his Chevy. The battle for position came down to the white-flag lap, with Sorenson crossing the finish line in the 11th spot. After Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250, Sorenson is third in the battle for the championship, a mere four points behind the leader.

“I am disappointed in the result we got today because it does not represent the car we had. The Rexall Chevy was great all day. We experience some loose and tight conditions at times, but overall the car Stewart Cooper and the No. 30 team put together was really good. The bright side is we are still solidly in the hunt for championship, only four points out of first. We’ll head to Road America and hopefully gain those points back and leave once again with the lead.”  

Next Stop:  The NASCAR Nationwide Series teams will visit the first of three road courses on the schedule next weekend, for the second annual stop at Elkhart Lake’s Road America. 15-time AMA champion, Ricky Carmichael will make his debut in the No. 30 Monster Energy Impala in the Bucyrus 200. The Saturday afternoon race will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN and on MRN Radio affiliates. LIVE coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. EST with the green flag scheduled to drop at 5:00 p.m.

Reed In the Top 15 at Richmond

#32 Dollar General Chevrolet