Solid Weekend for Sorenson and the Target Team Results in Top-10 Finish

 

CONCORD, N.C. (June 30, 2008) – Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target Team had a solid weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a sixth-place finish after heavy rain ended the race early on Sunday afternoon. Sorenson’s second top-10 finish of the season moved him to 31^st in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver point standings.

The weekend started out strong for the Target team as Sorenson was marked sixth after first practice. After 23 cars had run in Friday's qualifying session for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Sorenson was sitting on the pole via his best lap of the day in his No. 41 Dodge, 29.565 seconds. However, rain stopped the session for over an hour and when the remaining cars cycled through, Sorenson and the team found themselves sixth for the start of the race.

Saturday would be no different for the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) teams. All three CGRFS teams occupied the top three fastest times in second practice. Sorenson was marked as third for both the second and final practice sessions.

The Target Dodge started the 301-lap event sixth and continued to race in the top 10 for the first 60 laps. During green-flag stops on lap 70, Crew Chief Donnie Wingo called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Throughout several cautions, the team continued to work on the car to provide more rear grip on the Target Dodge. During the final caution of the event on lap 280, Wingo elected to stay out since rain was lingering in the nearby area. The call proved to be a good one when the race was declared official on lap 284 due to rain.

Sorenson climbed four spots in the NSCS Owner point standings. With 1,378 points, the No. 41 trails 25^th-place Jamie McMurray by 278 points and is only 16 points out of the top 30.

Next week Sorenson and the Target Team return to Florida as the Series travels to Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Live television coverage of the Coke Zero 400 will be broadcast on the TNT network beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide simultaneous radio coverage of the race beginning at 7:15 p.m.

Chip Ganassi Racing Teams

With nine wins already in 2008, the team continues to add to its tally of 98 trips to victory lane. Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with a new sponsor, Target. Today, his teams include two IRL IndyCars, and along with Felix Sabates he has three cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, two entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Daytona Prototype in the world of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series racing. Ganassi’s IndyCar teams have amassed five Championships and 61 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have 12 wins and two Rookie-of-the-Year titles; and the Grand American team has won two Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championships and are the three-time defending Champions of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Chip Ganassi Racing operates out of state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis, Ind., and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Pa.

For more information log onto http://www.chipganassiracing.com/