In Defense of Reed Sorenson

 In Defense of Reed Sorenson

By Brian H Cotnoir

Reed Sorenson spent 15 years as a driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. You, typically, don't spend 15 years in the Cup Series without winning races or spending a boat load of money, and yet Reed Sorenson made it happen.  Sorenson (to date) has made 346 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series (and another 200 career starts in the Grand National Series).  With the exception of his years driving for Chip Ganassi and Richard Petty, he didn't really carry any big-time sponsors, and his time in the Cup Series saw him finish in the Top 10 a grand total of 15 times, but I still maintain he is one of the most underappreciated Journeyman drivers of the past two decades.


Reed Sorenson kind of appeared in NASCAR out of nowhere.  A native of Georgia, Sorenson made his debut in the Midwestern ASA Series in 2002 at the age of 16.  He'd run full-time in the ASA Series the next two seasons where he racked up thirteen Top 5 finishes in those two seasons and scored one win at Lowes Motor Speedway.   Sorenson's time in ASA managed to attract attention from legendary car owner Chip Ganassi.   Sorenson won his second start in ARCA at Michigan International Speedway.  That same year he'd also make 4 starts for Ganassi in the Grand National Series where he finished 4th at the final round at Homestead.

Sorenson would run full-time in the Grand National Series in 2005 and 2006, finishing 4th in in the final points standings in 2005 and 10th during the 2006 season.  He won two races during his Rookie Season, but his second season he lost some of his momentum because he also made his full-time Cup Series debut with Chip Ganassi Racing in the #41 Target Dodge.  Sorenson didn't have the same success as other "Busch Whackers" of the time such as Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick.  Between 2006-2008 while running in both the Cup Series and the Grand National Series he scored 3 wins in the Grand National Series, but as far as the Cup Series he struggled; only scoring 5 career Top 5's and never finishing inside the Top 20 in the final points standings.  This lack of success in the Cup Series cannot be placed on Sorenson' himself.  Between 2003-2009 Ganassi ran three full-time entries in the Cup Series and scored only one win at Sonoma with Juan Pablo Montoya during the 2008 season!   Ganassi would wind up having to merge his team's operation with another mighty team struggling to find wins, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.  This was a time where several NASCAR Cup Series teams would wind up merging due to the hardships of the 2008 Financial Recession. 

Sorenson would make the jump to Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009 to pilot the famous #43.  Sorenson's best finish at RPM would wind up being a 9th place finish in the Daytona 500.  Sorenson would only run one-more full-time season in the Cup Series, in 2014 with the struggling Tommy Baldwin Racing team.  He'd also make a return to the Grand National Series where he'd return to Victory Lane in a chaotic finish at Road America.   Sorenson was competing 3rd in the Points when he was dropped by his team Turner Motorsports with five races to go in the season.   Sorenson did manage to get a ride to finish the season with MacDonald Motorsports, but the lack of power behind his team led Sorenson to drop to 5th in the final points standings.

Reed Sorenson's career has had a Series of ups & downs, but he has had a pretty decent career.   Sorenson has drove for 17 different teams in the NASCAR Cup Series....you don't last that long without any major financial backing unless you've got some real talent.   Due to unfortunate timing, and a lack of major sponsors, Sorenson doesn't nearly get as much praise or credit as he deserves. Last season was the first time since 2004 where Sorenson did not make at least one start in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he served as a spotter for NASCAR Grand National Series driver Josh Williams.  

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