Reed Sorenson pleased with move to Richard Petty Motorsports

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Richard Petty Motorsports' Reed Sorenson is 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after 11 races.

Jim Fluharty
NASCAR Scene

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Reed Sorenson’s move from Chip Ganassi Racing to Richard Petty Motorsports was supposed to jump-start his career.

After seasons of finishing 24th, 22nd and 32nd in the points at Ganassi, Sorenson is 23rd in points after 11 races at RPM.

So how does Sorenson feel about things? He’s happy for the most part.

“Whether I make a mistake or somebody on the team makes a mistake, we win and lose as a team, and that’s the first time I’ve felt that in a long time,” Sorenson said Tuesday prior to a fund-raiser for Paralyzed Veterans of America. “We all support each other, and that’s the main thing.

“You don’t ever want to say [these finishes] are OK because then you feel like you settled in for that. If you work hard all race and you finish 12th and you feel like that’s the best you can do that night and you didn’t do any worse, then that’s a good night in my book.”

Sorenson finished ninth in the Daytona 500 and had four consecutive finishes outside the top 20. He then has had finishes in the top 20 in five of the last six races. He was as low as 30th in points four races ago.

“We had a couple of things happen to us at the start of the season that hurt us,” Sorenson said. “In Atlanta, we cut a tire on lap 2, and I spun out at Vegas when we were running decent. The past month has been pretty good, not spectacular finishes but consistent, and that’s been with no mistakes during the race.

“In some of the races, we had a good car. In the other races, we finished where we could. We’ve done good, shown some speed at some of these places. The bigger tracks are probably our weak point right now, but when we go to the short tracks, I think we had a really good car, and the team did a good job. We just can’t make any mistakes, and that’s our goal for the next month or so.”

The 23-year-old Sorenson said he is enjoying himself more at RPM than he did at Ganassi.

“I feel like this team is probably the best team I’ve been with as far as a group of guys,” he said. “They work really hard and seem to gel really well together – whether it be the pit-crew guys or the mechanics that work on the car. I’m having fun. This is probably the most fun I’ve had racing in a while.”

In going from one Dodge team to another, Sorenson said there was a little bit of difference between the cars but not much, especially considering that NASCAR’s new car is similar among all manufacturers.

“The engines are about the same as far as the way they feel,” Sorenson said. “The car is a little bit different, but with this car of tomorrow, I think I would say it’s probably less of a change than if we were in the old car.

“They still have the same problems. These cars don’t want to turn anywhere you go, and I don’t think it matters what team you’re on. Everybody is dealing with that. It’s just how much you have to deal with it. Things are a little bit different in the way they do things, the way things are done in the shop and and the way things are done at the track, but I’ve gotten used to it pretty fast.”

Sorenson said the goal for the rest of the season is to finish better and try to make a steady climb in the points.

“Our goal is to definitely finish in the top 20, if not the top 16 or so,” Sorenson said. “We know we can do it.”