Reed Sorenson earned his first top-five and third top-10 finish in just five starts in the NASCAR Busch Series on Saturday. Sorenson drove the No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge to a fourth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the final race of the 2004 season.
Sorenson qualified seventh for the 200-lap race and was already in the top five when the first of 12 cautions waved on lap two. Racing resumed on lap six and Sorenson passed the No. 5 car to take over the third position. He battled side-by-side with fellow Chip Ganassi Racing driver Casey Mears for two laps before passing him on lap 19 for second place. He told crew chief Brian Pattie the Discount Tire Dodge was a little tight and needed an adjustment on the team’s first pit stop.
The caution flag waved for the second time on lap 31 and Sorenson brought the No. 41 Dodge down pit road for service on lap 32. The Discount Tire team made a slight air pressure adjustment to the left side tires, changed all four tires and added fuel. When racing resumed on lap 35, Sorenson was still sitting in second.
Sorenson continued to run behind the leader and told Pattie that the car was great in turns 3 and 4, but the leader had a better line in 1 and 2. The Discount Tire team adjusted on the car during a caution flag on lap 69. Racing resumed on lap 73 with the No. 41 Dodge in fourth. Sorenson passed the No. 55 car on lap 76 and former NEXTEL Cup champion Matt Kenseth on lap 77. When the caution waved on lap 78, Sorenson was back in second.
Racing resumed on lap 83 and Sorenson maintained the second spot until green-flag pit stops began on lap 135. He brought the No. 41 Dodge down pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 140. When the yellow flag came out on lap 159, two cars had yet to pit and the Discount Tire Dodge was in fifth, one of only 11 cars on the lead lap. Pattie called Sorenson down pit road to put on the team’s final set of tires and make a trackbar adjustment for the remaining 35 laps.
The green flag waved on lap 165 and Sorenson passed Kenseth for fourth. While he attempted to catch and pass the front runners, caution flags plagued the final 20 laps. The caution flag waved for the final time on lap 197 and set up a green-white-checker situation. NASCAR dropped the green flag on lap 201 and Sorenson held on to earn his first career top-five finish.
“The Discount Tire Dodge was awesome today,” said Sorenson. “We were a top-two car, but without many green-flag laps at the end it was hard to get momentum to pass anyone else. We came in here hoping to get a top 10 and got a top five. I’m excited about next season with this team and can’t wait to get started.”
The Discount Tire team will spend the off season preparing cars for Sorenson’s run at the rookie of the year title and a top-10 finish in the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series standings.
