In a day that saw a great deal of excitement, Reed Sorenson and the Dollar General team came ready for whatever was thrown at them Saturday afternoon at Dover International Speedway. Intermittent rain showers, which continued into the afternoon, cancelled Nationwide Series qualifying and the field was set according to the NASCAR rule book for the second week in a row. After turning in the 10th fastest time in Friday afternoon’s only practice session, Sorenson lined up in the 10th spot for the 5-Hour Energy 200. Not even an incident on pit road or a late-race accident could keep Sorenson from scoring his highest finish of the season. The third-place finish moved Sorenson into second-place in the driver point standings, just 10 points out of the lead.
From the drop of the green flag, Sorenson proved his Dollar General machine was fast. By the competition caution at lap 40, he had moved the brand new chassis into the fifth position. Crew chief Trent Owens called his driver down pit road for a slight air pressure and track bar adjustment, along with four tires and fuel. After a quick stop, Sorenson rejoined the field in fifth.
The caution flag was shown again on lap 86, and Sorenson was looking for just a bit more grip in his Dollar General Chevy. As he was pulling the No. 32 onto pit road, the two cars in front of him checked up quickly, causing Sorenson to hit the brakes, but not before making contact with the No. 18 car. This forced him to bring his Chevy down pit road twice to fix the right-front damage and he took the lap-100 restart in 20th. Out to prove his Dollar General machine was a force to be reckoned with, Sorenson took off toward the leaders. In just 39 laps and another fast pit stop, he was scored in the eighth spot, just as the field was shown the red flag for more rain.
Nearly 30 minutes later, the field was given the command to start engines once again and the race was back underway on lap 148. Continuing his quest toward the front, Sorenson cracked the top-five as the caution came out on lap 197 for a spin on the front stretch. It took two green-white-checkered attempts at a finish, but NASCAR’s decision to end the race in this way did not disappoint the patient fans. On the second attempt, Sorenson lined up in the fifth spot and the field completed the first lap, but as they were coming out of turn four to take the white flag, contact was made between the leaders sending the No. 33 car airborne and into the inside retaining wall. With the help of spotter Tony Hirschman, Sorenson clung to the outside wall and sailed around the incident to finish third, his third top-five and highest finish of the 2011 season.
“I can’t say enough about Trent [Owens, crew chief] and this Dollar General team,” Sorenson said after the race. “This is the best car we’ve had all season and it showed on the track. I love coming to Dover and it’s even more fun when we have a car as fast as this one. The guys did an amazing job on pit road today too. We never lost a spot. I hate that we had that little deal coming on to pit road in the middle of the race, but the car was just so fast that we were able to get back up through the field. This is great momentum for us as a team and I’m excited to get to Iowa next week and keep it going.”
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to the Midwest and Iowa Speedway for a Sunday afternoon race on May 22. The John Deere Dealers 250 will be broadcast live on ABC (2:00 p.m.) and MRN Radio affiliates (1:30 p.m.).
Reed Come Home Third Despite Damage
#32 Dollar General Chevrolet
