Reed Sorenson: “We Have a Shot To Win”

By

-

February 18, 2013

Reed Sorenson began his NASCAR career with Ganassi Racing in the No. 41 Dodge in 2005. He was immediately a force to be reckoned with, scoring his first victory at Nashville Speedway from the pole and crossing the finish line 14 seconds over the competition. He went to victory lane once again at Gateway and lead the standings by 51 points and finished the season fourth overall.

Beginning a full-time schedule in the Cup series and double duty in the Nationwide series in 2006, Reed completed the season 10th in Nationwide standings and earned five top-10 finishes in Cup. In his rookie Cup season, he became the youngest pole winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the age of 21.

His career went from the best of highs to the worst of lows when Sorenson was released from driving duties at Turner Motorsports in October 2011. After taking Turner Motorsports to victory lane and to third place in the championship standings, this came as a shock to the NASCAR world. Turner gave no excuse for the release.

Now at the age of 27, Sorenson finds himself racing full-time in the Nationwide series once again with The Motorsports Group, much to the excitement of his fan base. “I came in and he told me his plan as far as trying to make his race team better and trying to improve his race team with his engine program that he’s started up – he’s hoping that’s a step forward compared to last year and what he had. You know, he kind of filled me in on – this is the year where he’s going to try and put everything he possibly can into the race team and making it better. I felt pretty encouraged about that and we just talked a few more times and said alright let’s do it.”

Formerly known as Key Motorsports, TMG currently fields the #40, 42, 46 and 47 entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Curtis Key is approaching his 20th anniversary as a team owner in NASCAR’s top three divisions.

“I hope this year will be the best that this team has ever ran”, Sorenson said when I asked about his expectations for the 2013 season. “I hope that I can bring, as a driver, more experience than they’ve (TMG) had in the past. We know what we’re up against; we’re not a Cup team, as you can see. I mean you’re here, this is a small operation with a handful of people and we all know that – anybody from me, to Curtis, to the guys working down there(in the shop), we know what we’re up against.”

Unlike most teams, TMG was not able to test their cars in the off season or at Daytona in January. Despite the odds against them, Sorenson is up for the challenge and has a positive outlook.

“Going into Daytona, the way the racing is there, I feel like we have a shot to win. I love racing there and I’m going there to win. After Daytona, we kind of have to see where we’re at and see what we need to work on. Our expectations, I guess, to put it in a simple form, is to go out there and run well and figure out where we need to get better and do that.”

The No. 40 is going into Daytona on the right foot with a primary sponsor of E-Swisher for the DRIVE4COPD300. Instead of smoke, e-Swisher electronic cigarettes emit a vapor that evaporates in seconds, with only a faint scent that doesn’t linger. The e-cigarettes are infused with high-quality nicotine, giving you the full satisfaction of a regular cigarette.

“We’re excited about them, they’ve never been in the sport, it’s a new product,” said Sorenson. “Their excited about their new product and telling people what it is. They will be at the race, so that’s exciting. I’ve been a part of bringing a new sponsor into the sport in the past (with Discount Tire) and they’re still in the sport, so hopefully this is a relationship that can last and we can build on it in the future and I’m excited about them. When you have a new sponsor coming in your kind of want to show them all about NASCAR and what it’s about and how they can get their monies worth out of it. We’ll do the best job we can to show them a good time and show them NASCAR is a place they need to be.”

Going into the restrictor-plate track of Daytona, Sorenson has one top-five and three top-10 finishes with zero DNF’s.

To keep up with Reed and his No. 40 TMG team, be sure to follow him on Twitter @ReedSorenson7 and @TMG_team40.

Breaking Barriers and Blazing Trails; Danica Rockets to 500 Pole

By

SM Staff

-

February 18, 2013

patrick_pole_daytona500_yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Back in January, at pre-season testing at Daytona, Danica Patrick showed she had a fast race car. The question that remained was could she back up what she ran at the pre- season test? On a sun splashed Sunday afternoon at the Daytona International Speedway she answered that question in historical fashion.

Going out 8th in the qualifying order, Patrick rocketed around the 2.5 mile speedway at a speed of 196.434 MPH. The 2nd fastest restrictor plate lap in speedway history. Only Jeff Gordon proved to be any kind of threat to Patrick and history, just missing the pole by .033 seconds. Patrick’s pole winning lap was the first by a woman in NASCAR’s premier series.

In the grand scheme of the spectrum what does this moment mean for NASCAR and Motor Sports in general? Whether you want to admit it or not it means everything. On Sunday afternoon when the field takes the green flag for the Daytona 500. Millions will be glued to their TV sets and many of those will be viewers that have never watched a single lap of a NASCAR race. Why, you ask. It is because a female will lead the field to the green flag in the biggest of the year on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

An even bigger question is now what are the expectations for Patrick heading into the Daytona 500? For many it could be now that she has won the pole she must deliver in the race. But that is not the case here. Patrick has already exceeded the expectations placed upon her heading into speed weeks at Daytona. Now it is just about achieving goals one small step at a time. That means leading laps and scoring solid finishes. Winning races,top 5’s, and top 10’s will come as for right now it is all about confidence while still adjusting to stock cars from the open wheel ranks. Maybe this pole at Daytona isn’t such a big surprise after all. After all she has led laps on Indy Car’s biggest stage the Indianapolis 500. A race she very nearly won in 2005.

On Sunday afternoon at Daytona where Patrick finishes the Daytona 500 won’t be the big story. The big story has already been written. Patrick’s run with history during qualifying now could possibly set the stage for other women in the sport such as Johanna Long and Jennifer Jo Cobb to get opportunities with top race teams. Danica is proving that women can compete in a world that has always been dominated by men. Whether she wins the Daytona 500 or not is irrelevant this weekend. What truly matters is the barriers that held women in Motor Sports back are now being broken. Look for the ladies of NASCAR to now become major players in the sport and blaze trails for others to follow. NASCAR is no longer a game for just the boys. The girls are showing that they are more than capable of not only competing with the boys but beating them as well. The Daytona 500 just took on a whole new significance with just one lap on Sunday afternoon.

Miguel Paludo NCWTS Preview: Daytona International Speedway

By

SM Archive

-

February 18, 2013

Turner Scott Motorsports NCWTS Previews: Daytona International Speedway

By

SM Archive

-

February 18, 2013

HOORAHS & WAZZUPS: SPRINT UNLIMITED EDITION

By

SM Staff

-

February 18, 2013

The Sprint Unlimited: it was an invitational event for NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers who won Coors Light poles on qualifying day in 2012 plus past race champions. At the end of this 75 laps free for all was major bragging rights and a check for $200,000 for the winner.

During the course of this evening we watched an alleged “Lame Duck” walk all over the competition. We witnessed the big wreck in the race that every driver in the race warned us about. We witnessed the democratic process in action while fans voted on key aspects of the race format including which outfit Miss Sprint Cup was going to wear. We also witnessed the potential of just how good NASCAR’s new race car was going to be. Most of all, when the green flag waved in the air to start the Sprint Unlimited, it meant that NASCAR racing was back. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

HOORAH. Kevin Harvick clearly reminded us of how good of a wheel man he really is. He led 40 of the 75 laps on the way to winning the Sprint Unlimited for the third time in his career. His Budweiser-Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was strong all night. At the end of the event Harvick displayed some masterful blocking to keep the presence of Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart at bay en route to the checkers.

WAZZUP. In an effort to perform the traditional victory lane burn out, The engine in Harvick’s Chevrolet stalled and simply would not restart. He had to be pushed to victory lane by a speedway tow truck.

HOORAH. Team owner Richard Childress, realizing the car was powerless, ran all the way to the edge of the speedway to congratulate his driver and yelled “that was awesome!” Harvick replied: “sorry, I think I broke the motor.” Childress, still with a big grin on his face, yelled “I know and I don’t care!”

WAZZUP. Can we please stop all of this lame duck talk regarding Kevin Harvick? Okay, we all know that he’s leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of this year to join Stewart-Haas Racing. That’s how he got the lame duck monicer. Did anyone really believe that this driver would give anything less than his standard 110 percent effort to his #29 RCR team? He certainly proved that point in victory lane after winning the Sprint Unlimited.

WAZZUP. The first segment of the Sprint Unlimited made it to lap 15 when the predicted “big one” melee presented itself. Tony Stewart moved down the track and clipped the front nose of Marcos Ambrose’s Ford. Both drivers were able to get their cars under control again but, unfortunately, there was an accordion effect behind them that wadded up the race cars driven by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr who eventually made it back into the race.

HOORAH. Tony Stewart immediately came over his radio and took full responsibility for the wreck. After the race, during a live television interview, he again accepted responsibility and made it very clear that this incident was not the fault of his spotter.

HOORAH. Sensing that a “big one” in a NASCAR exhibition race was inevitable, Dale Earnhardt Jr, during the parade laps, got on his radio to his crew and warned them the car may get wadded up. “I hope you guys ain’t too attached to this thing,” Earnhardt said.

HOORAH. For the first time ever, the fans had a total say so regarding the format of the Sprint Unlimited. Fans were allowed to voted on the race segments and chose three runs of 30, 25 and 20 laps. They voted on the line up format and the winner was to use the 2012 scheduled qualifying dates and results. The fans were also in favor of a mandatory four tire stop at the end of the first segment and zero driver eliminations following the first 30 laps. They also voted on the fire suits to be worn by the trio of Miss Sprint Cup ladies during the race. By the way fans, nice job on the fire suits.

HOORAH. The Sprint Unlimited was the first on track test for NASCAR’s new Gen-6 race car under bonafide racing conditions. The general consensus from many of the drivers after the race was a thumbs up for the way the cars performed on the track.

HOORAH. Seconds before the green flag fell on the Sprint Unlimited, former NASCAR champion, and member of the Fox broadcast team, Darell Waltrip yelled “BOOGITY, BOOGITY,

BOOGITY LET’S GO RACING BOYS.” That Waltrip tradition officially launched the return of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.