R. Sorenson No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge Advance for Memphis Motorsports Park 10.28.06
Media Contact: Angie Copen, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, 704-662-9642, acopen@ganassi.com Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Discount Tire Dodge Memphis Motorsports Park - 10.28.06 To view the 2006 Discount Tire Media Guide, please visit www.discounttiremotorsports.com <http://www.discounttiremotorsports.com/> No. 41 Discount Tire Team Fast Facts: * Hamlin Back to Help: Kevin Hamlin-a Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) development driver-will lend a hand again this weekend, helping the No. 41 Discount Tire team with its race preparations for the NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park both Friday and Saturday. Hamlin will practice the No. 41 Dodge on Friday and qualify it on Saturday morning while Reed Sorenson is in Hampton, Ga., practicing and qualifying the No. 41 Target Dodge at Atlanta Motor Speedway to prepare for Sunday's NEXTEL Cup competition. Hamlin has already helped the Discount Tire team four other times this year-at Nashville Superspeedway, Kentucky Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and at the O'Reilly Raceway Park-piloting the CGRFS Busch Dodge during practice sessions to help the team get the car dialed in for Sorenson to qualify and race. Hamlin also made the qualifying run for the team at the Martinsville, Va. track in July and scored a ninth-place starting position. Before joining CGRFS, Hamlin-a Snohomish, Wash. native-grabbed consecutive championships in the NASCAR Northwest (NW) Series in 2001 and 2002. He became part of the CGRFS Development Driver program in 2005, and got his first NASCAR Busch Series start in the No. 4 Dodge at Pikes Peak in July of that same year. He finished 17th and went on to compete in 13 more Busch races that season. He started the 2006 season competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) for Bobby Hamilton Racing and finished 11th. His most recent Busch Series race was in the No. 4 Biagi DenBeste Racing Dodge at DIS this past July. Hamlin was running in fifth place and banking on at least a top-10 finish, when an empty gas tank turned his night upside down and ended with a 27th-place finish. To learn more about Hamlin, go to www.kevinhamlin.com <http://www.kevinhamlin.com/> . * Tight Deadline: Sorenson, along with a handful of other drivers, will not only be racing at the Memphis Motorsports Park this Saturday but will be racing to get there, as well. He will start his weekend in Hampton, Ga. on Friday, practicing and qualifying the No. 41 Target Dodge. He will then practice some more Saturday morning before jumping on a plane to fly to Memphis for Saturday's Busch race. He will miss Busch qualifying on Saturday to participate in Cup practice, so CGRFS development driver Kevin Hamlin will step in for the time trials. Sorenson is scheduled to touch down in Tennessee with just enough time to chopper over to the track for the pre-race festivities, before jumping into the car to go racing. After the Busch run on Saturday, Sorenson will then hop back on a plane to return to Georgia for Sunday's NEXTEL race. * Still Standing Strong: A couple of weeks ago, the No. 41 CGRFS Busch team's night didn't play out as planned at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Instead of a potential top-five finish, the team's Friday night run concluded on lap 95 when the car's right-front gave out and sent Sorenson slamming against the outside wall. Although the incident concluded their night in 38th place, Sorenson and team still maintained their top-10 status in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings, with the No. 41 crew holding onto its ninth-place spot in the owner ranks at 3,371 and Sorenson 10th in the driver standings with 3,286 points. * Sorenson's First Run with Montoya: Juan Pablo Montoya will make his NASCAR debut on in the NASCAR Busch Series race this weekend at Memphis, which will also mark Sorenson's first official run with his new teammate. Montoya will pilot the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge on Saturday, which will be his third stock car race since joining the organization. He competed in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Talladega Superspeedway October 6 and grabbed the outside pole on his way to finishing third. He also ran in the ARCA Series finale at Iowa Speedway on October 15. He started third and led 12 laps before making contact with another competitor that sent him behind the wall for repairs. He eventually finished 24th. Montoya tested a NEXTEL Cup car at Memphis earlier this month, and also participated in his first official NASCAR sanctioned test at Homestead-Miami Speedway last week. * On the Cup Side: Sorenson and the Target team's bad luck of the month continued at Martinsville Speedway this past Sunday, after brake failure on lap 288 sidetracked their entire run and sent them into the garage for repairs. The Target driver and team were scored with a 35th-place finish. They maintained their 25th position in the overall NEXTEL Cup standings and are 148 points out of 20th heading into the next event at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Sunday, October 29. Sorenson also maintained his third-place position in the 2006 NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. * Chassis: The No. 41 Discount Tire team is bringing chassis #452 to Tennessee this weekend. The chassis has turned out to be the team's best car this season. It has been entered in five other races this year with its current 2006 stats equaling four top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes. The chassis most recently carried Sorenson and team across the finish line in fifth place at Richmond International Raceway this past September. In addition, Sorenson drove the car to two fourth-place finishes back-to-back in July at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Gateway International in St. Louis, Mo. In August, Sorenson wheeled it to a second-place finish at the O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind. The only time the chassis finished outside the top five was at RIR in May when the team practiced, qualified and raced inside the top 10 all day and night. Unfortunately, a late hit from another car on lap 229 sent the No. 41 CGRFS Dodge slamming into the outside wall and out of the race the remainder of the night (finishing 36th). Reed comments about returning to the Memphis Motorsports Park to go Busch racing on Saturday: "We kind of had the same luck at Memphis last year that we've been experiencing almost all year long this season. There were a record 15-caution flags, and when you have that many incidents on a shorter track it is almost inevitable you will get caught up in some of it and we did. We recovered from the early setback but the second blow did us in and ended our day. "I am going to be spending most of my time at Atlanta Motor Speedway, so I have Kevin Hamlin helping out again this weekend. He's been a huge asset this past year in getting our cars dialed in and ready to run come race time. I am very thankful for his efforts this season. There are also going to be two Ganassi Busch cars at Memphis, with Montoya coming out there, as well. So, that is only going to help my guys and everyone else in getting ready to run on Saturday. Montoya is still learning but it is just nice for everyone to have another team to toss ideas back and forth. If my car is running a little too tight and his car isn't, then they can compare setups and just help everyone out. Brian [Pattie] also chose to bring probably the best car out of our shop, so hopefully we can capitalize on that, as well. Chassis #452 has been a great car for us on the shorter tracks, especially this second leg of the schedule. So, hopefully it will get us that win we've been hunting for all season. We had a great September, but October hasn't favored my Busch or Cup teams, but we'll work to regroup during these final four races and try to get a win. We ran well at Texas in the spring and very well at Phoenix so hopefully we can build on those previous runs there and then close it out on a positive note at Homestead." Reed Sorenson Memphis Motorsports Park NASCAR Busch Series Stats (.75-mile tri-oval in Memphis, Tenn.) Date Race Start Finish Laps Completed Total Laps Status Winnings 10.22.05 Sam's Town 250 21 33 212 254 Accident $25,650 10.23.04 He Dared to Rock 250 for St. Jude 15 10 255 255 Running $20,985 Total/Average: 2/18 2/21.5 467 509 $46,635 Track Summary: 2 Starts 0 Wins 0 Top 5s 1 Top 10 0 Poles No. 41 CGRFS 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 8 2 $32,775 11th/170 March 25 Bristol 18 27 $21,850 21st/82 Aug. 12 Watkins Glen 35 28 $15,130 11th/79 April 8 Texas 2 13 $23,750 19th/124 Aug. 19 Michigan 34 7 $19,035 9th/151 April 15 Nashville 4 19 $14,150 19th/111 Aug. 25 Bristol 2 42 $19,915 13th/37 April 21 Phoenix 5 2 $55,900 14th/175 Sept. 2 California 17 19 $22,700 12th/106 April 29 Talladega 13 17 $20,000 16th/112 Sept. 8 Richmond 9 5 $21,300 10th/155 May 5 Richmond 9 36 $14,215 16th/55 Sept. 23 Dover 22 6 $18,925 9th/150 May 12 Darlington 23 23 $14,700 17th/94 Sept. 30 Kansas 4 7 $29,600 9th/151 May 27 Charlotte 22 21 $16,050 16th/100 Oct. 13 Charlotte 38 38 $14,445 9th/49 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 31 0 5 12 0 3,371 $776,148 *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 30 0 5 12 0 31 3,286 $758,948 Reed Sorenson NASCAR Busch Series Career Totals Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Laps Led Money 70 2 18 34 2 482 $2,167,870 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.