In what can only be described as a wild finish in the first road course race of the season, Reed Sorenson and the Dollar General team emerged victorious for the driver’s first and team’s second win of the 2011 season.  Leading only a fraction of the final lap of the extended 57-lap event, Sorenson beat the odds, having enough fuel to go the distance in a nail-biting finish.  The win catapulted Sorenson back into the lead in the driver championship standings and put Turner Motorsports atop the owner point standings. 

Sorenson qualified 12th for the scheduled 50-lap event and from the drop of the green flag, the team was confident in their car and chances for a good finish after two strong practice sessions the day before.  The team saw a bit of trouble early when the No. 6 car dove in too far under Sorenson deep in the 14-turn road course, spinning the two cars out.  Sorenson quickly got going again, but lost a great deal of track position as he had been running in the 10th spot.  Crew chief Trent Owens assured his driver they had a long way to go and would work their pit strategy to the team’s advantage. 

When the caution came out on lap six, Sorenson was running 20th and brought his Dollar General machine down pit road for four tires and fuel.  After a quick stop, he rejoined the field in the 18th spot.  Sorenson continued to pick off positions patiently and by the team’s first green-flag stop on lap 18, they had moved into the 11th spot.  Sorenson liked the balance of his car, so only a slight air pressure adjustment was called for, in addition to four tires and fuel.  When the stops cycled through, Sorenson was 23rd. 

As differing pit strategies were played out through the field, Sorenson continued to work his way forward, running as high as third by the mid-point in the race.  When Owens called his driver down pit road one final time under green-flag conditions on lap 35, Sorenson was running in the fourth position.  The team made another slight air pressure adjustment and packed the Dollar General Chevy full of fuel.  As others were exercising their own pit strategies, the field continued to cycle through the green-flag pit stops.  Sorenson was patiently running off laps at the 4.048-mile track and hoping the race would stay under green-flag conditions to the end.  Unfortunately, the caution flag was shown on lap 46 with Sorenson running in the eighth spot. 

After two long caution laps, the field took the first of three green-white-checkered restarts with Sorenson running eighth.  The No. 22 car made an aggressive move directly in front of the Dollar General car, running two other competitors off the track which brought out the caution flag.  At this point, Owens told his driver to conserve fuel, as it looked as though they were going to need every drop. 

Sorenson was fifth as the field took the second green-white-checkered restart and competitors made it slightly farther through the course than the first attempt before the full-course caution was shown a short time later.  Sorenson had maneuvered up to the third spot and teammate Justin Allgaier had taken the lead. 

The field took the final green-white-checkered attempt on lap 55 and made it through all 14 turns to take the white flag.  Sorenson had moved into second, directly behind his teammate.  Just after the pair made it through the first two turns, the caution flag was shown to the field, thus freezing the field and ending the race.  All Sorenson needed to do was make it back to the start-finish line, maintaining a caution-flag pace of 45 miles per hour, in order to claim his finish.  Suddenly, Allgaier’s pace slowed as he ran out of gas.  Worried that he might meet the same fate as he inherited the lead, Sorenson did all he could to conserve fuel in order to make it back to the checkered flag.  With his crew cheering wildly, he made it through the remaining turns with enough left to turn a few “donuts” in front of the flag stand after taking the checkered flag.  The win marked Sorenson’s first since 2007 and his first-ever win on a road course. 

While there were questions in the closing minutes of the race broadcast as to who the winner was, NASCAR clarified very clearly that Sorenson had claimed the victory.  The No. 7 made a pass on the No. 32 after the caution flag was shown for the final time, with driver Ron Fellows believing Sorenson had run out of fuel. 

“We had such a strong Dollar General car today and Trent (Owens) made the right calls on pit road for us to come away with this win,” Sorenson said after the race.  “I knew it was going to be close on gas for all of us, but we had a good car all day.  This is the last place I thought I could win, but we will take it for sure.  I just want to thank Dollar General for their continued support of me and this Turner Motorsports team.  It’s awesome to be able to go to Daytona next week with the points lead and have all this momentum on our side.”

Next Stop:  The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads back to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the Subway Jalapeno 250 on July 1.  The Friday night race will air on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST with coverage on MRN affiliates also at 7:30 p.m.   

Sorenson Wins In First-Ever Start

at Road America

#32 Dollar General Chevrolet