Reed Sorenson
| Reed Sorenson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards | 2003 American Speed Association (ASA) Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team | 41 - Chip Ganassi Racing | ||||||
| 2006 position | 24th | ||||||
| Best finish | 24th - 2006 (NEXTEL Cup) | ||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 2006 position | 10th | ||||||
| Best finish | 4th - 2005 (Busch Series) | ||||||
| First race | 2004 Kroger 200 Presented by Tom Raper RVs (IRP) | ||||||
| First win | 2005 Pepsi 300 (Nashville) | ||||||
| Last win | 2005 Wallace Family Tribute 250 (Gateway) | ||||||
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Bradley Reed Sorenson (born February 5, 1986 in Peachtree City, Georgia) is a NASCAR driver who currently drives the #41 Target Dodge Charger in the NEXTEL Cup and the #41 Wrigley's Dodge in the Busch Series for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
Youth
Sorenson's career started at age six when he began racing quarter-midgets. He won the national championship in 1997. He moved up to Legends cars the following year, winning 13 out of 25 races, southeastern championships and breaking track records in the process. 1999 would turn out to be a better year as he won 30 out of the 50 races he competed in. He raced in Legends for the next two years and won 84 events.
American Speed Association
In 2002, Sorenson begin racing in the American Speed Association (ASA), finishing in the top-ten seven out of his eight starts. He became a full-time driver in 2003 and won the highly coveted ASA Rookie of the Year award at age 17. He caught his big break by signing a driver development contract with Chip Ganassi Racing, in addition to graduating from Woodward Academy.
ARCA
In 2004, he won his first ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway, and ran in NASCAR Busch Series events for Chip Ganassi Racing. In five races, Sorenson had 3 top ten finishes, including placing 4th at Homestead, and looked promising for 2005, when he would be running the entire Busch schedule.
NASCAR
2005 season
Sorenson's momentum continued over into the next season, as he won his first Busch Series race at Nashville Superspeedway in dominating fashion, cruising to victory by more than 14 seconds after starting on the pole and leading 197 out of 225 laps. After the 15th race (Federated Auto Parts 300) he was leading the points race by 51 points. Soon, the good finishes began to pay dividends for Sorenson. On August 11, 2005, two sources, on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press Sorenson would replace Casey Mears in the #41 Target Dodge for the 2006 NEXTEL Cup season. [1] This was later confirmed. At the time, Sorenson was coming off another win at Gateway International Raceway and a 3rd-place finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
However, controversy would strike the team two weeks later at Bristol. NASCAR determined that Sorenson's crew chief, Brian Pattie, had applied illegal substances to the #41's tires. [2] Eventually, Pattie was suspended for two months and Sorenson was docked 50 points. This hurt Sorenson's image among other drivers, who were given the impression his good season had been the result of cheating. Nevertheless, Chip Ganassi's NEXTEL Cup plans for him went unchanged, and after the incident Sorenson had five top ten finishes in the final nine races. He finished 4th in the points standings, 484 points behind repeat-champion Martin Truex, Jr..
Sorenson began his NEXTEL Cup career in the 2005 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, racing as #39 in a temporary car. He was involved in a crash and finished 41st. He also ran in the Ford 400, where he finished the race in 28th. Along with running the entire 2006 NEXTEL Cup season, Sorenson would also continue to drive the #41 Discount Tire Co. Dodge in the Busch Series.
2006 season
In his first race as a NEXTEL Cup regular, Sorenson finished 29th in the Daytona 500. He had better luck in the Busch Series equivalent, finishing 9th. Reed's best finish in the 2006 Nextel Cup season was a 5th place effort at Michigan International Speedway.
Reed finished 24th in the 2006 points Nextel Cup standings. He was the fourth highest finisher among the 2006 ROTY candidate with 198 points. He also was able to hold onto 10th place in the Busch Series standings.
2007 Season
Sorenson will continue his driving duties for the #41 Target Dodge in the Nextel Cup Series. However, he will share the #41 Busch Series ride with fellow Cup teammate David Stremme.The #41 Busch car will also sport a new sponsor, Wrigley's.
In the start of the 2007 season, Sorenson started 25th in the season opener for the NASCAR Busch Series, Orbitz 300. After a disappointing collison with Kasey Kahne, his night ended, and he came home 38th. In his second Daytona 500, Reed marched his way to front after starting 33rd, and finished 13th, beating his former best finish of 29th at Daytona.