Sorenson Wins Busch Gateway 250

MADISON, Ill. (AP) _ Reed Sorenson has found a formula and a track that serve him well. <br/><br/>Four races after switching crew chiefs and 61 after earning his previous Busch Series victory, Sorenson

Sunday, July 22nd 2007, 2:28 pm

By: News On 6

MADISON, Ill. (AP) _ Reed Sorenson has found a formula and a track that serve him well.

Four races after switching crew chiefs and 61 after earning his previous Busch Series victory, Sorenson avoided the pitfalls of a caution-filled Busch Gateway 250 on Saturday night. His previous victory came at the same track nearly two years ago to the date.

``(My car) was dominant all night,'' he said. ``It was as good as the car I had when I won here earlier.''

Sorenson, who hadn't led any part of a race this season before Saturday, passed David Reutimann on lap 159 moments after the eighth yellow flag was lifted. He survived the race's ninth and final caution with a strong restart to distance himself from Reutimann, who eventually finished third.

Scott Wimmer earned his first pole position in 136 races earlier in the day and led the first 53 laps before a right flat tire forced him into the pits. He stayed near the front of the pack most of the race and finished second. Jason Leffler and David Ragan rounded out the top five.

Sorenson finished fourth in 2006 and won the race at Gateway as a rookie in 2005. He challenged his newly acquired crew chief Brad Parrott to continue the strong showings at the track heading into this year's race.

``It's been a long couple of years in the Busch Series,'' he said. ``We felt last year we let ourselves down and this year we've been letting ourselves down. But the couple of weekends we've been pretty consistent.''

The No. 41 car had two top 10 finishes before finishing 15th last week in Chicago in the first three races under Parrott. He was the crew chief for Juan Montoya, Sorenson's Chip Ganassi teammate, when Montoya won his first NASCAR Busch race earlier in the season.

``I knew Reed Sorenson could do it,'' Parrott said. ``It took him 61 races to get back here and I promise you it won't take him 61 more before he goes back.''

The race saw one caution through the first 90 laps before finishing with nine, five off the track record of 14. Of the 44 cars that started the race, only 26 finished and 14 of those were on the lead lap as Sorenson crossed the line. The yellow flag was out for 43 of the 200 laps.

``It looked like it might be a one- or two-caution race,'' Wimmer said. ``It was difficult. I had cars point me to the inside, then they'd go to the inside. We had a tough time getting lapped cars to run bottom all night long.''

Sorenson, who had the second fastest qualifying time, led 93 laps. The victory marked his third overall, including a victory at Nashville in 2005.

``We knew we had a good car in practice,'' Sorenson said. ``I don't know if we thought it was going to be that good.''

Last year's winner Carl Edwards led for seven laps and looked as if he might win the race for a second consecutive season. He took the lead on lap 118 and subsequent cautions would have allowed him to stay on the track through the remainder of the race. But he rubbed against the wall late and finished sixth.