Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge
AMD at The Glen – Watkins Glen International Advance – 8/13/06
Target Team Fast Facts:
New Addition: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced last Friday John Fernandez, former Director of Dodge Motorsports, accepted a new position with the organization to serve as Managing Director of its Concord racing operation. Fernandez will manage all aspects of the organization’s racing operation in North Carolina, including overseeing all four teams, as well as the engine, fabrication and paint shops. His move to CGRFS follows a long career with the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, where he served for 35 years. Fernandez is also an experienced racer himself, competing in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in which he claimed four championship titles. Fernandez earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1972 and MBA in 1977 at the University of Detroit. He is originally from Gloversville, N.Y.
Road Course Results: Sorenson has one road course start in NEXTEL Cup Series competition, which came at Infineon Raceway on June 25. He started the event 41st and took the checkered flag in 29th. Sorenson has three road course starts in Busch Series competition, two at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City (14th and 36th) and one at Watkins Glen (41st). He suffered from engine problems in both finishes outside of the top 15.
Chassis: Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge and the Target Team have selected chassis #410 for this weekend’s NEXTEL Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. This is the same car the team used earlier this season at Infineon Raceway (29th-place finish).
Native New Yorker: Alex Yonchuk, rear tire carrier and shop mechanic for the Target team, hails from Syracuse, N.Y. Yonchuk moved to N.C. in 1998 and previously worked for Bill Davis Racing and MB2 Motorsports prior to joining Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in 2004.
NEXTEL Cup Points Report: Sorenson and the Target team maintained 23rd in the overall standings after their 30th-place finish in the last event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With a total of 2005 points, the team is 68 points out of 20th and 224 out of the top 15.
Rookie Round Up: Sorenson is currently third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 169 points. He trails leader Denny Hamlin by 59 points. Sorenson has captured rookie of the race honors in four of the 21 races run thus far in ’06 (Atlanta – 10th, Martinsville – 12th, Michigan – fifth, Chicagoland – seventh).
Busch Series Update: Sorenson moved up two positions to 11th in the overall Busch Series driver standings after his runner-up finish in the last event at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. His total of 2,408 points places him 97 out of the top 10.
Reed Sorenson on Watkins Glen…
“I don’t have a ton of road course racing experience, but I do enjoy it. We had to overcome quite a few obstacles at Infineon, but the end result was respectable considering I had never seen the place prior to race weekend. I’ve got a race under my belt at Watkins Glen in the Busch car so at least I’ll be familiar with the track when we get there Friday morning. It’s a companion Busch and Cup weekend, so the extra seat time should benefit both programs.
“We had a rough go of it last weekend at Indy and it would be nice to bounce back with a good run this weekend. After Watkins Glen, there are a few tracks coming up where we ran really strong earlier in the season. I’m really looking forward to these races because I feel like the Target team is headed for a big turn around and some great things lie ahead.”
