Reed Sorenson won't verify driving No. 43 car, but respects its history

By SceneDaily Staff
Monday, January 12, 2009
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Reed Sorenson finished 32nd in the final 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

Todd Warshaw
Getty Images for NASCAR

Reed Sorenson says everyone will have to wait for a final announcement before he'll talk about driving the No. 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup entry made famous by Richard Petty, but he admits that it would be a pretty amazing car number to take over.

Sorenson is part of the alignment of drivers for the new team that will be formed by the planned merger between Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham Motorsports. While team Chief Executive Officer Tom Reddin has said that Sorenson will drive the No. 43 this season, the driver is hesitant to make that official. Still, he said that it would be quite a job to land.

"Well, it's kind of hit me all at once here," said Sorenson, who drove for Chip Ganassi Racing full time from 2006 through 2008. "It's going to be pretty awesome. Like I said, it's the only thing you could say about it. It's going to be cool. Richard was at the track the other day when we were testing, which was awesome to have him there. I think he's going to be around all year long. He's a real hands-on guy. He likes to know what's going on with the cars, with the drivers and everything like that.

"I think if you ask anybody that's grown up racing or anybody that's in racing if they would drive the No. 43 in the Cup series, I'm sure everybody would say yes. I'm excited about it. I think everybody on the team is, as well, whether it be the tire guy or the guy working up at the desk. I mean, it's an honor, I guess you could say, to represent the 43, the number, what it means.  Hopefully we can get it back into victory lane."

Sorenson says he's not too concerned about issues with sponsorship. The new group has primary sponsorship for two full-time Cup teams and limited sponsorship for the third. It also hopes to run a fourth car on a part-time basis. Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler have been announced as drivers for the organization this season, and it is likely that AJ Allmendinger could drive the fourth car on a part-time basis.

Sorenson believes that his team is set.

"I think everything's situated now," he said. "But I don't think I'm supposed to announce the sponsors yet. I think they want to do that. We have a pretty good lineup. They announced the Air Force already, which is actually a cool deal. Get to go up in an F-15 in a week or so. Looking forward to that. Then we got actually, I think, a total of five sponsors.

"It's going to be pretty cool. I think it's going to be fun representing all the sponsors we have for next year. I think everything's settled now. They had to get rid of some engine employees and things like that because we don't have the clients that they had.  Petty was leasing motors from them. So was Robby Gordon. They don't have that business anymore, so they had to lay off a few people, just like most race teams did this year. I think they're done with that.

"They've shuffled crew members around.  I think they're still looking for a crew chief maybe for the 19 car. I think everything is set on our team and Kasey's team. They've shuffled a lot of stuff around, moved a lot of people around. I guess they're just trying to find some new success. But I think everything's kind of starting to settle down, and everybody knows where they're going to be for next year."

Comments

20 responses to "Reed Sorenson won't verify driving No. 43 car, but respects its history". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Jack Keough said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 12:13 PM

    hey selina
    WHAT

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  2. 2
    john cooke said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 1:28 PM

    I think that if in fact Sorenson drives the 43 car this year he knows the importance of doing a super job.I think he will do a good job.

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  3. 3
    Ken Matthews said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 3:28 PM

    a lower tier team with a lower tier driver, what can we expect from that combination?
    I hope I'm wrong, but money does buy the best of everything.

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  4. 4
    Debi Watts said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    It's like awesome... it's totally cool.
    Here's a kid who really needs help with his PR work!

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  5. 5
    Howard Englishman said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    he needs more than PR work,l he needs to learn how to drive, he STINKS

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  6. 6
    Doc Wilson said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 5:43 PM

    I think he's a never was and a never will be.

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  7. 7
    Richard Clower said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    You're all just jealous. He's a 22 yr old millionaire and it just eats you guys up!!

    Go Reed Go!!!

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  8. 8
    Mr Galvan said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 6:26 PM

    Reed should be in the 10, and put aj the better driver, look what he did for the 10 last year in the 43!!

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  9. 9
    Janice Marler said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 6:28 PM

    Reed seems like a nice enough guy. He's too quiet for me and doesn't have much spark. I think that type of personality holds him back.

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  10. 10
    Richard Clower said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 6:41 PM

    Mr. Galvan, what exactly did AJ do for the 10 last year? He only had 5 races, can't really do much in 5 races. That car didn't even finish in the top 35. If it weren't for the mergers and teams shutting down the 10 would not even be guaranteed a spot in the 500 or the Shoot-outs.
    Janice, I agree with you about Reed's personality.

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  11. 11
    Anonymous said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 7:40 PM

    This kid is just a field filler.....can't drive worth a lick...

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  12. 12
    Andrew Briscoe said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 8:15 PM

    Richard, what did AJ do for the 10 team? How about giving the team a Top-15 in almost all of the 5 races he ran, when they had 1 such finish ALL YEAR? He brought the team back from the point of no return and got them into position so that they are now in the Top-35 in owner's points. it doesn't matter if the team was there when AJ was done with his 5 race stint: they're there now, aren't they? It doesn't matter if the team was 40th in owner's points when the season ended; it matters that the team is NOW locked into a race that pays over $250,000 to START. That's a good chunk of change. In the 5 races AJ ran in 2008, he outran Elliott Sadler every race he ran in GEM equipment in a team that didn't have a solid sponsor to start the year and was certainly being given equipment that was worse than either Sadler or Kahne. Let's compare the last 5 races for Allmendinger, Sadler, and Sorenson (a future teammate), shall we? Last 5 races for AJ had finishes of 15th, 14th, 26th, 16th, 11th. Sadler had finishes of 41st, 25th, 35th, 30th, 28th. Sorenson finished 35th, 39th, 37th, 31st, 31st. Averages? AJ had an average finish of 16.4; Sadler averaged 31.8 and Sorenson averaged 34.6. What did AJ do? How about wipe the floor with his teammate in subpar equipment by an average of over 15 positions, and beat who likely will be his future teammate by over 18 positions a race. Sadler's BEST finish in the last 5 races was 1 SPOT better than Allmendinger's WORST finish.

    I don't know about you, but if I had my choice of Reed, Elliot, or AJ, I think it's obvious who should get the job. If GEM were smart, the #43 would go to AJ with Reed being part time in the #10 (unless the sponsors they supposedly have lined up are just swooning over Reed). However, considering the moves that they have already made this year alone, I don't think they will make this move.

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  13. 13
    Pat Draper said:
    Jan 12, 2009 at 8:20 PM

    Reed is just to layed back you very seldom see him smile, but thats just the way he is. Matt Kenneth is a lot lot that very layed back. I think if Reed has some good coaching he could be a good driver. So lets not through him under the bus yet, give the millionair a chance, on chance.

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  14. 14
    Richard Clower said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    Well Andrew, you're an AJ lover and a Reed and Sadler hater. It's as simple as that.
    These guys are teammates now, they have to find a way to work together.
    Reed will prove his value in due time. Don't forget that he has spent his entire career in Ganassi cars, I think we all know that is 3rd tier equipment. And don't give me the Montoya win at Sonoma, he is a road course expert, he should win all of the road course races.
    We'll see how the AJ thing works out, I mean he struggled at Red Bull and was replaced, and he was driving for his career at GEM in those 5 races. Maybe he should have driven like that at Red Bull and he wouldn't find himself in this situation.
    I don't know JMO.

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  15. 15
    Richard Clower said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 3:53 PM

    Also Andrew, you can spin the stats anyway you want to suit your argument. compare DNQ's for each driver and Reed wins by a mile.
    Compare experience and Reed wins by a mile, compare laps led, laps completed, top tens, top fives, poles won and Reed wins by a mile, it's just numbers and you can spin them anyway you want to. If I were an owner and there was a ban on testing and we had to use the COT then I would take the 3 full years of Sprint cup and 1 full year of COT experience that Reed has, add in the fact that he's only 22. Having him full time makes more sense.

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  16. 16
    Howard Englishman said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    Oh and Reed is not even close to being a millionaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  17. 17
    Howard Englishman said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 4:46 PM

    Well the numbers speak for them selves. Out of 109 starts his average finish was 28th and he had 14 dnfs, That stinks in most teams books

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  18. 18
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 4:49 PM

    Leave it to the media to try and trip him up to open his mouth about verifying getting the seat in the 43 and who the sponsors are. What jerks! Also, I'm surprised he found a ride. I agree with #17 if those stats are right.

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  19. 19
    Richard Clower said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    Howard you reiterated my point. Reed has more experience in these cars than AJ. You have to get in the race in order to have a DNF. He was usually wrecked by someone else, he rarely makes a driving error that causes a wreck. And that leads to my next point, Reed needs to get more aggressive and stop running in the middle of the pack where all the wrecks occur.

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  20. 20
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Jan 13, 2009 at 9:21 PM

    Richard, I hate to say this, but your point that he is only 22 (#15) is just that. He is already a has been if someone doesn't pick him up with a good program. Hence, the MEGA TEAMS! OK, Terry Ruth, where are you to slap me!

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