Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge
SONY HD 500 – California Speedway Advance – 9/3/06
Target Team Fast Facts:
75th Win: Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz’ Rolex Sports Car series-leading fifth win at Infineon Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 26, marked Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.’s 75th win in motorsports (1990-2006)– a landmark achievement for team owner Chip Ganassi who started his first effort with Target stores in 1990 with the creation of a one-car IndyCar team. Wins by the numbers: 40 – CART; 13 – Grand American; 9 – IRL; 5 – NEXTEL Cup; 4 – Busch; 4 – ARCA.
2-Mile Momentum: Sorenson has some impressive statistics at the two-mile speedways that appear on the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series schedule (California and Michigan). In three Busch Series and one NEXTEL Cup Series starts at California, Sorenson has one top five and three top 15 finishes. His only finish outside of the top 15 was 21st in his NEXTEL Cup debut at the track in February. Sorenson scored his first career top five at California’s sister track, Michigan International Speedway, in June. He went on to back that up just two weeks ago with a seventh-place finish at Michigan in the Busch race and an eighth-place effort in the Cup race. His only finish outside of the top 10 at the track was 36th after experiencing engine problems in last year’s Busch race. Sorenson’s average finish on the 2-mile tracks in eight starts in either the NEXTEL Cup (3) or Busch Series (5) is 13.5.
Chassis: Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge and the Target Team have selected chassis #612 for this weekend’s NEXTEL Cup event at California. This is a new race car that will see competition for the first time this weekend.
Golden State Natives: Two members of the Target team hail from California. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge (Redding, Calif.) and shock specialist Roger Parkinson (San Diego). Prior to joining Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) in 2003, Elledge served as crew chief for Andy Petree Racing from 1999-2002. He made his first trip to Victory Lane with driver Bobby Hamilton at Talladega Superspeedway on Apr. 22, 2001.
-Parkinson has been building shocks since 1976 and began working in NASCAR full time in 1993. Prior to joining CGRFS in 2003 his NASCAR experience includes working for Bill Elliott Racing, Ohlins Racing Shocks and Andy Petree Racing.
At the Zone: Reed Sorenson will stop by Speed Zone Los Angeles at 17871 Castleton Street to meet area race fans and sign autographs. He will visit the Speed Zone facility from 6 to 8 p.m. PT Thursday, August 31. Upon his arrival, he will race 10 pre-determined fans on the slick track. Following the race, Sorenson will host an autograph session and special fan meet and greet. Limited autograph vouchers will be distributed at 4 p.m. PT. For more information on Sorenson’s Speed Zone visit, including driving directions to the park, visit www.speedzone.com.
NEXTEL Cup Points Report: Sorenson and the Target team fell one position to 22nd in the overall standings after their 36th-place finish in the last event at Bristol Motor Speedway. With a total of 2384 points, the team is 79 points out of 20th and 202 out of the top 15.
Rookie Round Up: Sorenson is currently third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 182 points. He trails leader Denny Hamlin by 62 points. Sorenson has captured rookie of the race honors in five of the 24 races run thus far in ’06 (Atlanta – 10th, Martinsville – 12th, Michigan – fifth, Chicagoland – seventh, Michigan 2 - eighth).
Busch Series Update: Sorenson dropped to 13th in the overall Busch Series driver standings after his 42nd-place finish in the last event at Bristol. He is only 85 points out of 10th place.
Reed Sorenson on California…
“We had a really good run going at California earlier this season but we had a pit road miscue that kept us from getting the finish that we were capable of. That was the second race of the season and we’re headed into the 25th. The Target team has come a long way since then, and the one and a half mile to two-mile tracks have been our strongest this season so we’re excited to be headed to California this weekend. We’re taking a new car this weekend, which is basically a new and improved version of our intermediate cars that have run well so far this season.”
