Reed Sorenson set to make last start for Richard Petty Motorsports at Homestead
Reed Sorenson will make his final start for Richard Petty Motorsports in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Reed Sorenson will make his final NASCAR Sprint Cup start for Richard Petty Motorsports in Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the occasion will be bittersweet.
Sorenson joined the organization at the beginning of the year but has known since at least September that he wouldn’t return to RPM in 2010.
An impending merger with Yates Racing and lack of sponsorship for Sorenson’s No. 43 car left the 23-year-old without a ride at RPM next season.
And as of now, Sorenson hasn’t landed a ride elsewhere.
“I want to thank the Richard Petty Motorsports organization for giving me the chance to race the No. 43 Dodge this year,” Sorenson said. “I did the best I could and tried to represent the number and company in a way that would make [team co-owner] [Richard] Petty and our sponsors proud.
“I learned a lot this year. The opportunity to work with people like Richard Petty and [long-time Petty employee] Dale Inman is something that I’ll never forget.”
In 35 starts for RPM, Sorenson has just one top-10 – a ninth in the season-opening Daytona 500 – and has led only five laps.
The Peachtree City, Ga., native is 28th in the Sprint Cup standings with one DNF.
Sorenson’s up-and-down 2009 included having a new crew chief assigned to his team when Sammy Johns moved over from teammate AJ Allmendinger’s team to call the shots for Sorenson before the August race at Michigan International Speedway.
Since Johns assumed his current role, the two have a best finish of 16th in 13 starts together
“I also want to thank all of the people that I’ve worked with this year,” said Sorenson, who moved to the organization this season after three years at Chip Ganassi Racing. “I know that everyone put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into getting us to the race track every week.
“I wish we could send them off with a win. They are all first-class people, and I look forward to, hopefully, working with some of those people again in the future wherever that takes us.”
Petty expressed appreciation for Sorenson’s contributions to the organization.
“Reed is a good guy, and I wish him nothing but the best in the future,” he said. “He went out of his way to represent the No. 43, the sponsors and everyone involved in our company the right way.
“We appreciate everything he has done.”
