Even after a night of adversity, which included having to change a battery mid-race and being scored a lap-down, Reed Sorenson and the Dollar General team never gave up and secured their 13th top-10 finish of the season. Finishing eighth in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway, Sorenson regained the championship point lead by five points over second-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The finish was also Sorenson’s third consecutive top-10 at the 1.33-mile Nashville track.
Qualifying in some of the hottest conditions seen all season, Sorenson laid down a lap of 31.180 seconds to put the Dollar General Chevy 11th on the starting grid. From the drop of the green flag, Sorenson began picking off positions one by one. By lap 32, he had moved into the seventh position, but radioed to the crew that his car was getting tighter in the center of the corners the longer the run progressed. Shortly thereafter, Sorenson suddenly lost voltage in the car. Fearing it could be something serious, crew chief Trent Owens called his driver down pit road under green-flag conditions to change four tires and make sure the issue wasn’t terminal. It was determined to be the battery and Owens instructed his driver to switch to the back-up and turn off all of his fans to save power. Unfortunately, the green-flag pit stop put the Dollar General team down a lap.
Owens radioed to Sorenson and told him to do the best he could while the team patiently awaited a caution period. Fortunately, debris was spotted and the caution flag came out on lap 81. Sorenson was in 10th position, the first car scored one lap down. The team received the Lucky Dog, allowing them to get their lap back. But more importantly, it gave the team a chance to change the battery on the No. 32 Chevy. Racing resumed on lap 85 with Sorenson in the 12th position.
Still struggling with a tight-handling car, the team prepared to make wholesale changes to the Dollar General machine when the caution flag came out on lap 127. Making quick time of the work, the Dollar General team gained Sorenson two spots on pit road to restart ninth on lap 134. Sorenson continued racing in the top-10 through the remainder of the evening.
The final caution flag of the evening was waved on lap 176. Liking the last set of adjustments, the crew made another chassis adjustment for Sorenson, along with four fresh tires and fuel. Again, making quick time of the stop, the Dollar General crew gained Sorenson three spots to restart sixth on lap 182. Unfortunately, the tight-handling condition persisted through the remainder of the race and Sorenson had to relinquish two spots to take the checkered flag in the eighth position.
“I’m really proud of this team tonight,” Sorenson said after the race. “We had a really tight car most of the night and then had that issue with the battery, but these guys never gave up. It is really difficult to change a battery like that in the middle of the race, but this Dollar General team stepped up to the challenge. To be able to come out of here with a top-10 finish and the points lead is a really cool thing. Hopefully we’re on the upswing here with momentum and can take the points lead into Indianapolis next week and build on it.”
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the final time next weekend. The 30th Annual Kroger 200 will be held next Saturday night under the lights with the broadcast live on ESPN and MRN affiliates at 7:30 p.m.
Sorenson Fights Adversity for Top-10
Finish and Retakes Point Lead at Nashville
#32 Dollar General Chevrolet
