The Dollar General team had high hopes for a good finish in the Dollar General 300 on Saturday afternoon, especially after two very productive practice sessions on the day prior and a 12th-place qualifying effort Saturday morning. Reed Sorenson kept his Dollar General Chevy in the top-15 all afternoon, running as high as fourth at one time, and came away with a 10th-place finish. The top-10 was Sorenson’s second in as many weeks and he remains third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) championship standings, 47 points behind the leader.
By the first caution flag on lap seven, Sorenson had improved one position to 11th. He radioed back to the team that his car was good, but a little tight in traffic. As the leaders remained on track, Sorenson followed suit. He restarted in 11th on lap 10. Sorenson continued to experience a slightly tight condition and crew chief Trent Owens called his driver down pit road on lap 45 for the team’s first green-flag stop of the day. Unfortunately, as Sorenson pulled onto pit road, the caution flag came out for debris. After completing the slow drive down pit road, Sorenson was not penalized, but lost track position. He rejoined the pack and then came back down pit road for service with the rest of the field. He took the following restart in the 17th position.
Fortunately, Sorenson regained some of the lost track position on the ensuing green-flag run. When the caution came out again on lap 64, the Dollar General driver had moved up to the 13th position. Owens made the call to have Sorenson come down pit road for a quick two-tire pit stop. The Dollar General team made fast work of the stop, sending Sorenson out in the 10th position, gaining three spots. The two tires agreed with the Dollar General machine as Sorenson rocketed toward the front of the pack. By lap 73, he was scored in the fourth position. However, Sorenson radioed to his team a few laps later saying he had lost grip and, as a result, he began to lose track position over the next 30 laps.
When Sorenson came down pit road for his first of two green-flag pit stops of the afternoon, he was eighth in the running order. Owens prescribed a slight air pressure adjustment, and when the stops had cycled through, Sorenson was in the 10th spot. As the field continued to spread out over the second, long green-flag run, Sorenson remained in the 10th spot, even through the second green-flag stop on lap 163, where he went on to take the checkered flag.
“I was very encouraged by our practice sessions and qualifying effort this weekend in preparation for the Dollar General 300,” Sorenson said. “We had a really great Dollar General Chevy for this race and my team had some really good pit stops. We are continuing to put forth a good effort each week and we will be there to pick up points when the other championship competitors falter. It’s really all we can do as we try to make up the lost points in the championship hunt. We will take the off weekend and prepare for our trip to Dover in two weeks- a track we did extremely well at in the spring.”
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series takes one weekend off before heading to Dover International Speedway for the OneMain Financial 200. The 200-mile race will be held Saturday, October 1 at 3:30 p.m. and broadcast LIVE on ESPN2 and MRN affiliates.
Reed Takes Another Top 10
#32 Dollar General Chevrolet
