HAMPTON, Ga. (March 9, 2008)-Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target Dodge team were plagued by a lack of grip Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Kobalt Tools 500. Toward the latter half of the race the team discovered a broken splitter to be the main culprit behind their loose-handling condition. The team fixed the splitter and got Sorenson back on track to finish the day in 31st place.

Sorenson lined up 25th to take the initial green flag on Sunday and then worked to gain as much ground as possible. Early into his run, Sorenson was complaining about a loose-handling car. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge called for air pressure adjustments to try to rectify the problem and the adjustments seemed to help initially. However, the lack of grip resurfaced later with a vengeance.

The Peachtree City native radioed his team around lap 180 of the 325-lap competition saying he had a very bad vibration. The team thought it had a bump-stop issue but quickly discovered a broken splitter to be the problem. The team then made the necessary repairs to the No. 41 Target Dodge and sent Sorenson back out to finish 31st.

Sorenson now stands 22nd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver ranks. He is 87 points out of the top 10.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next for the Food City 500 on Sunday, March 16. The race is set to go green at 2 p.m. ET and will air live on FOX and PRN radio.