DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2008) – The first 150 laps of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 were nothing to write home about, but the final 50 circuits were full of action packed, side-by-side racing, including six of the seven caution periods that took place. Reed Sorenson stuck the nose of his No. 41 Dodge right in the middle of the furious racing to the checkered flag to bring home a fifth-place finish in “The Great American Race,” capping off an incredible Speedweeks for the 22-year old driver (fifth-place finish in Budweiser Shootout and second-place finish in Gatorade 150).

Sorenson took the initial green flag in fifth place and settled into the top 15 for the early going of the 200-lap race. His main concern was saving the tires and not making any unnecessary moves that might take him out of contention. Sorenson and crew knew they had a good car for the race but also knew they needed to be around at the end to capitalize on it.

The Target team pitted twice during the first 100 circuits around the 2.5-mile track for tires, fuel and minor air pressure adjustments. Sorenson’s main handling issues throughout the race were a tight condition in the low lane and loose up high, especially when driving over the bumps on the surface.

Racing picked up considerably as the event drew closer to a conclusion and after a final pit stop for tires and a slight air pressure adjustment with 25 laps remaining, Sorenson was ready to show his hand. He stuffed his Target Dodge right in the mix for the remainder of the event and hooked up with fellow Dodge drivers and eventual winner and runner-up finishers Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, respectively, to give Dodge three top-five finishes in the biggest race of the season.

Sorenson and crew start the season off fifth in the overall standings, Sorenson’s career-highest position thus far in his Sprint Cup career. The Target team made six pit stops during the event, three during green-flag conditions and once for two tires only. Sorenson led twice for a total of five laps. There were seven caution flags for a total of 23 laps and the time of race was 3 hrs, 16 mins and 30 secs.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to California Speedway next for the Auto Club 500 on Feb. 24. The race is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on FOX, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128.

CGRFS DRIVER QUOTEBOARD:

Reed Sorenson: : “The first half of the race was so hot and slick. You could see everyone out here separating. We took the conservative side on tires. We just tried to keep an eye on the leaders – if we could still see them, we were happy. We knew there were going to be cautions at the end. We just took care of the tires, took care of the car and went after it.

“It was pretty fun there. We had a lot more grip. We got two or three wide and pushed each other really hard and there happened to be about four Dodges lined up at the end. Everybody on the team has done a great job since we got here and I think that says a lot about what we can do this year.”