FONTANA, Calif. (February 25, 2008)-Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team must have felt a hint of Déjà vu at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California as Sorenson was collected in an early-race accident on lap 21 that sent him to the garage for repairs (in 2007 Sorenson was caught up in an accident on lap seven). This time, however, the Target team was able to repair the car and send Sorenson back into competition to gain positions and valuable championship points. Sorenson went on to finish 37th.
Driving a No. 41 Dodge carrying a special Energizer® e2® Lithium paint scheme, Sorenson took the initial green flag in 23rd. The field was set by last year’s owners points because rain washed out qualifying, and for the most part everything else that was scheduled to take place over the weekend. Sorenson settled into position during the opening laps of the race getting a feel for the questionable track conditions. The heavy rains over the weekend created numerous water leakage areas on the track, and in an effort to get the race in NASCAR started the event in hopes the heat from the cars would mend the problem areas. Unfortunately, a couple of accidents ensued as a result of the track “weeping” and the Target team fell victim in one of them.
Sorenson and crew dropped to 17th in the overall standings at the conclusion of the California race. The team is just 41 points out of 12th (the final cutoff position for the Chase) and 123 out of first place. There were 12 caution flags for a total of 44 laps, the time of race was 3 hrs, 46 mins and 4 secs and the average speed was 132.704 MPH
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next for the UAW-Dodge 400 on March 2. 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 QUOTEBOARD:
REED SORENSON: "This is the second year in a row we've been caught up in accident early at California. I hate it for the guys at Energizer and everyone on the team. We’ve been here a long time, waiting out a lot of weather and this is definitely a big disappointment.
“The car was pretty good, about a top 15 car or so and I think we would’ve been able to dial it in a little better. We would’ve been okay had we not gotten in the wreck, but those are the breaks. We’ll just move on to Vegas and hopefully rebound with a solid finish there.”
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