Reed Sorenson will have unique viewpoint at Watkins Glen
Editor's note: Throughout the year, FOXSports.com will have different Braun Racing drivers, crew chiefs and crew members with us to explain what's going on around Braun Racing and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Welcome to the Braun Racing blog on FOXSports.com. I’m Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota. The month of July has been a busy one for me and the Dollar General team, especially these last two weekends with traveling between racetracks!
The last time it was my turn to blog here, we were heading to Chicagoland Speedway and the Dollar General 300. That week I was the Nationwide Insurance Driver of the Week. We did a lot of cool things with Nationwide. I did a live chat on NASCAR.com and met with fans at the Joliet Race Fan Festival.
They had a great turnout in Joliet. Thanks to everyone who came out! Our weekend on track at Chicagoland Speedway was decent and we ended up with an eighth-place finish.
The following weekend we headed off to Gateway International Raceway. Now, that was an interesting race for sure. Wow, was it hot there! Especially for a very long, one-day show.
We worked hard to get the car dialed in during the two practices but just really struggled to get grip in Turns 3 and 4.We qualified 13th for the race and expected the car’s handling to tighten up as the sun went down.
We faced our biggest challenge after the first pit stop. I had a loose wheel and had to come back in under green. Fortunately, the rest of the race played out well and we ended up back up front towards the end. When some cars came to pit road for one last stop, we were out of tires so we restarted second.
I only fell to third and then there were a bunch of cautions at the end and a green-white-checker finish. The real excitement was as we raced for the checkered flag and the No. 60 of Carl Edwards and the No. 22 of Brad Keselowski got into each other.
My spotter had already warned me that it looked like there might be something coming, so he told me to be ready to stay low. I did and we ended up with a second-place finish.
The next weekend at Indianapolis was very busy and really, really hot. I flew on a helicopter from the big track (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) to O’Reilly Raceway Park for Nationwide Series final practice. After that, it was back to the big track for Cup practice. When we finished up there, I hurried up and changed into my Dollar General firesuit and flew back to ORP for Nationwide Series qualifying.
I could tell that the heat was starting to get to me a little bit so after I qualified the Dollar General car I headed back to my Braun Racing teammate, Brian Scott’s, motor home for some dinner and a little time in the air conditioning.
Once the race began, the car started out tight in the center so we made some adjustments on the first pit stop. Unfortunately, the changes made the car’s handling really loose. The next pit stop, (crew chief) Trent Owens had the crew take the wedge adjustment out and made a small air pressure adjustment on the left rear. We found what we needed with that one.
The handling was much better after that. The race there was a lot of fun! It is your typical Saturday night, short-track racing. There was one lap where I got hit on my left rear and almost got sideways! We ended up finishing fifth, but it was a good points night. The No. 32 team moved back up to fifth in the owner’s championship point standings.
Another cool thing that weekend for Braun Racing and Dollar General was that Jacques Villeneuve qualified the No. 32 Dollar General car into the Brickyard 400. That is a very big deal for those guys. It’s a tough race to make and that was the first Cup car built in-house at Braun Racing. Congrats out to Trent (he was crew chief on both cars that weekend) and to the whole team.
This past weekend, the Nationwide Series was at Iowa Speedway. It was a standalone race with the Cup series in Pocono. We coordinated travel between the two tracks so that Keselowski and I would make the final practice session on Friday.
Unfortunately, both practices were rained out on Friday. It was raining when we got on the plane to fly to Newton, Iowa, and we had hoped it would clear up. About 20 minute before we got there, we used the plane’s phone to call for an update and they told us that it was officially cancelled.
We turned around and headed back to Pennsylvania. Practice was rescheduled for Saturday morning, but I was in Pocono. My teammate, Jason Leffler, jumped in the car and ran a few laps to shake it down. After Cup practice, I hopped on another plane and flew back to Iowa. It was close and we made it just before qualifying was set to start. The Newton airport is right next to the racetrack, so we had a caravan of golf carts racing from there to the frontstretch.
Paul Menard and I jumped off and ran to sign in at the Nationwide Series truck and then booked it to the cars. He went out third for qualifying and I went out sixth. Neither of us had ever raced there and didn’t have any laps in the cars, so we honestly didn’t know what to expect.
The hot temperatures made the track really slick and the Dollar General Toyota’s handling was loose as it exited the turns. We ended up qualifying 27th, but I could tell the car would be fast in the race. When the race started, we moved toward the front pretty fast. I made it up to 12th but my brakes were starting to feel like they were overheating and going out. I tried to use them as little as possible the last couple of laps, but it was too late.
The right front tire blew and the car went straight into the outside wall in turn two. It hit hard and there was a good bit of flames. I was able to get out of the car quickly and was fine. Unfortunately, the car was destroyed and our day was over. We ended up finishing 36th. It’s too bad because that was a good car!
I have a weekend off from driving since Jacques Villeneuve will be in the Dollar General Toyota at Watkins Glen International. He’s a great road-course driver, so hopefully he can get the team a great finish. I’m going to head up to New York as well and help out with spotting. The team had a super run at Road America with Jacques, so they should have a good shot at the win.
Thank you for following me and the Braun Racing team on FOXSports.com and have a great weekend!
