R. Sorenson No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge Advance for the Kroger 200 at ORP 08.05.06
Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children - O'Reilly Raceway Park - 08.05.06 To view the 2006 Discount Tire Media Guide, please visit www.discounttiremotorsports.com <http://www.discounttiremotorsports.com/> No. 41 Discount Tire Team Fast Facts: * The Game Plan: Reed Sorenson will only have to shuffle once between Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and the O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) this weekend, as he competes in both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races. He will start off the weekend practicing and qualifying the No. 41 Target Dodge at IMS Friday and Saturday. Then, after he finishes his final NEXTEL Cup practice late Saturday afternoon, he will chopper over to ORP to qualify and race the No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge in the Kroger 200. * Hamlin's Help: On Saturday, while Sorenson is over at IMS practicing and qualifying the No. 41 Target Dodge, Kevin Hamlin-a Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) development driver-will help the No. 41 Discount Tire team during both morning practice sessions to get its car set up and ready for Sorenson to run in both the qualifying session and race later that day. Hamlin has helped the team during other non-companion events this year, including Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and Kentucky Speedway (Sparta, Ky.). He also helped at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he qualified the No. 41 Dodge in the ninth-place starting position for the Goody's 250. * Indy was Sorenson's First: Sorenson made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at O'Reilly Raceway Park in August 2004, driving for CGRFS. Sorenson's first run was a solid one indeed, as he grabbed a third-place starting position and then topped it off with a respectable 13th-place finish. * ORP Suits Sorenson: Sorenson has had some impressive runs at ORP. He scored his career-second Busch Series pole at ORP last season, which made him the only other rookie to win a pole position at ORP (the first was Jason Leffler). Sorenson then topped it off by grabbing the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors with a third-place finish. Before that, he also raced at the Indianapolis short track in the American Speed Association (ASA) series scoring a top-10 start and finish (started seventh, finished sixth) in July 2004, and then as mentioned above made his Busch Series debut that following August (started third, finished 13th). Altogether he has recorded three-career starts at ORP with his current tally equaling one pole, one top-five finish, two top-10 finishes and three top-15 finishes. * Meet Sorenson in Indy: Sorenson will stop by the Discount Tire store located at 2642 E. Main Street, Plainfield, Ind., to meet area race fans and sign autographs from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, August 3. After that, he will head for down town Indianapolis to Monument Circle to sign autographs during the Dodge Racers on the Circle event from 7 to 7:30 p.m. The Dodge event will kick off at 5:30 p.m. with Sorenson's teammates David Stremme signing from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and Casey Mears from 6:30 to 7 p.m. For more information go to www.wibc.com/station/dodgeracers2006.aspx <http://www.wibc.com/station/dodgeracers2006.aspx> . * Not Too Far From Home: Tim Coffey, the No. 41 Discount Tire team transport driver, called Greenwood, Ind. home before pursuing a career in NASCAR five years ago. Coffey first started his racing career in Indy car, before a holiday vacation to North Carolina landed him his first job in NASCAR. Coffey not only transports more than one million dollars worth of equipment every weekend, but he also serves as the team chef. He is a graduate of Southport High School, and the majority of his family still resides in the Indianapolis area. * Where They Are Now: Sorenson still stands 13th in the Busch Series driver standings with a total of 2,238 points. He is now just 164 points out of 10th. The team stands 11th in the owner standings with a running tally of 2,323. It is 79 points outside the top 10. * On the Cup Side: The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series had this past weekend off, which marked the series' last off-weekend before embarking on a 16-consecutive-week stretch that will conclude with the final race of the 2006 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., on November 19. Heading into this weekend's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sorenson and the No. 41 Target Team's last run was at Pocono Raceway where they finished 26th after battling handling woes at the Pennsylvania track. Sorenson and team dropped one position to 23rd in the standings at the conclusion of the Pocono event. They are only 53 points out of 20th and 203 out of 15th. * Rookie Rundown: Sorenson is still third in the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 168 points. He trails leader Denny Hamlin by 55 points. Sorenson has captured rookie of the race honors in four of the 20 races run thus far in '06 , including Atlanta (finished 10th), Martinsville (finished 12th), Michigan (finished fifth), and Chicagoland (finished seventh). * Third Time Could be The Charm: Pattie and the No. 41 Discount Tire team are going racing with chassis #452 for the third week in a row this Saturday. The chassis was run just this past weekend at Gateway International Raceway (in Madison, Ill.) and the week before at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team finished fourth at both tracks and is hoping to step it up a bit to score its first victory of the year this weekend. ORP will not be new to the chassis either, as it is the same car the team brought to the Indianapolis track last year to take the pole, along with a third-place finish. Sorenson comments on returning to the O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP): "I am looking forward to returning to Indy this year. One main reason is I know we have the car to win at ORP. It is the same car we raced at the track last year, when we sat on the pole and went on to finish third. It also is running a pretty good streak right now. We ran it the last couple of weeks, and have scored top-five finishes every time, so I'm hoping we can improve on that just a bit to grab our first win this weekend. "The track is pretty special to me and always will be because that is where I had my first start in the Busch car back in 2004, and for a first run we had a pretty good day. We started third and finished with a top 15, so for a first run it was good. Last year was a positive run, too. It seems like we just keep getting better and better each time we go there, so hopefully we can seal the deal this Saturday. A win this Saturday would be really special for us, one being the fact Chip's [Ganassi, team owner] history in Indy and just the history of motor sports altogether that the whole Indianapolis area possesses." Reed Sorenson O'Reilly Raceway Park NASCAR Busch Series Stats (.686-mile oval in Indianapolis, Ind.) Date Race Start Finish Laps Completed Total Laps Status Winnings 08.06.05 Kroger 200 1 3 204 204 Running $41,533 08.07.04 Kroger 200 3 13 200 200 Running $11,955 Total/Average: 2/2 2/8 404 404 $53,488 Track Summary: 2 Starts 0 Wins 1 Top 5 1 Top 10 1 Pole No. 41 Discount Tire Team 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Results Date Race Start Finish Winnings Rank/Pts. Date Race Start Finish Winnings Rank/Pts. Feb. 18 Daytona 13 9 $60,900 9th/138 July 8 Chicago 4 8 $28,750 18th/142 Feb. 25 California 35 11 $33,275 8th/130 July 15 Loudon 7 17 $16,025 19th/112 March 5 Mexico 25 36 $44,640 17th/55 July 22 Martinsville **9 4 $36,825 16th/160 March 11 Las Vegas 27 10 $42,708 13th/134 July 29 St. Louis 14 4 $31,775 11th/160 March 18 Atlanta 28 42 $17,505 18th/37 Aug. 5 Indianapolis March 25 Bristol 18 27 $21,850 21st/82 Aug. 12 Watkins Glen April 8 Texas 2 13 $23,750 19th/124 Aug. 19 Michigan April 15 Nashville 4 19 $14,150 19th/111 Aug. 25 Bristol April 21 Phoenix 5 2 $55,900 14th/175 Sept. 2 California April 29 Talladega 13 17 $20,000 16th/112 Sept. 8 Richmond May 5 Richmond 9 36 $14,215 16th/55 Sept. 23 Dover May 12 Darlington 23 23 $14,700 17th/94 Sept. 30 Kansas May 27 Charlotte 22 21 $16,050 16th/100 Oct. 13 Charlotte June 3 Dover 16 10 $18,975 15th/134 Oct. 28 Memphis June 10 Nashville 36 23 $16,275 13th/94 Nov. 4 Texas June 17 Kentucky 3 39 $17,370 16th/46 Nov. 11 Phoenix *June 24 *Milwaukee *11 *26 *$17,200 *20th/85 Nov. 19 Homestead June 30 Daytona 6 40 $19,485 21st/43 Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Pts. Total Winnings 22 0 3 7 0 2,323 $582,323 *Indicates when David Stremme drove the No. 41 **Indicates when Kevin Hamlin qualified the No. 41 Reed Sorenson 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Totals Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Laps Led Pts. Total Money 21 0 3 7 0 17 2,238 $565,123 Reed Sorenson NASCAR Busch Series Career Totals Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Laps Led Money 61 2 16 29 2 468 $1,974,045 Reed Sorenson Highlights First Busch Series Start (Indianapolis, Aug. 7, 2004) First Busch Series Win (Nashville, March 26, 2005) First Busch Series Pole (Nashville, March 26, 2005) First NEXTEL Cup Series Start (Atlanta, Oct. 30, 2005) First ARCA win (Michigan, June 2004) 2003 ASA Rookie of the Year 1998-2002 Legends Cars: 84 wins, 152 top fives and 166 top-10 finishes in 183 starts 1997 Quarter Midgets National Champion No. 41 Discount Tire Crew: Name Crew position Hometown Name Crew position Hometown Brian Pattie Crew Chief Zephyrhills, Fla. Ryan Quann Catch Can Man Richmond, Va. Tony Glover Team Manager Kingsport, Tenn. Adam Cooke Shock Specialist Zephyrhills, Fla. Lorin Ranier Spotter Prestonburg, Ken. Dan Chivari Swing Mechanic Erie, Pa. Trevor Lysne Front Tire Changer Fergus Falls, Minn. Bruce Jones Rear Mechanic Lakeland, Fla. Adam Mosher Front Tire Carrier Fort Mill, S.C. Brian Taylor Front Mechanic Cuthbert, Ga. Daryl Lockyer Rear Tire Changer Los Angeles, Calif. Tim O'Brien Engineer Lebanon, Ohio Doug Riepe Rear Tire Carrier Danbury, Conn. Todd Hamm Engine Tuner Kutztown, Pa. Shaun Peet Jack Man Nanaimo, B.C Brandon Stafford Tire Specialist Taylorsville, N.C. Tim Coffey Gas Man/Transport Driver Greenwood, Ind. Shane Bourgeois Pit Support Peachtree City, Ga. Angela Copen Media Relations Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 8500 Westmoreland Drive Concord, NC 28027 Office: (704) 662-9642 ext 1121 Fax: (704) 663-0848 acopen@ganassi.com www.chipganassiracing.com ***Notice of Confidential Communication*** This email may contain confidential or legally protected information that is intended strictly for the use of the individual or entity named in this message. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or reliance upon the information contained in this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately.