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Sorenson rises to NASCAR’s Busch series

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Former Peachtree City resident Reed Sorenson returned last weekend to Atlanta Motor Speedway, the track where he cut his teeth. Sorenson raced in the ASA race and the NASCAR Busch series race last weekend, turning some heads as a rising star in the sport.

Sorenson began his career racing in the Quarter Midget division where he won 250 checkered flags on the way to winning nine Southeastern Championships and one National Championship in 1997. He then moved on to Legends racing where he racked up 84 wins, 152 top five finishes and 166 top 10 finishes in just 183 starts. He was ASA Rookie of the Year last year and now is second in the ASA points standings with eight top 10 finishes and six top five finishes this year. In last week’s race, he was taken out in an early accident and finished in 21st place. Two weeks earlier, he captured his first ASA win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

In the NASCAR Busch series, Sorenson has one top 10 finish. In last Saturday’s race, he finished 29th. Sorenson led three times for 47 laps but an accident with Clint Bowyer forced him to the back and wrecked both his and Bowyer’s car.

Sorenson was excited to be back at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He knew that a lot of people he knew while racing as a youngster would be in the stands rooting him on.

“My family and friends will be here and I want to do well in front of them,” said Sorenson before qualifying last Friday.

Sorenson also reflected on the journey that took him from the Quarter Midget division to racing alongside stars of racing like Bill Elliot, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin.

“I started young and it’s taken my whole life to get here,” said Sorenson. “Now the job is to prove yourself over the next few years and show people how good you can run.”

Sorenson has had no problem doing that, winning fans among some of the elite racers of NASCAR, including Saturday’s winner, Kenseth, who remarked that Sorenson was one of the best he had seen in a long time.

In addition to racing ASA and NASCAR, Sorenson is also participated in ARCA races this year, nabbing his first ARCA win on June 19 at Michigan international Speedway and racing in his first restrictor plate race at Talladega Superspeedway, where he finished second, on Oct. 2. He is also attending the University of North Carolina - Charlotte on a part time basis but is unsure whether or not he will continue next year with 35 races and a lot of travel on the schedule.

His schedule often looks like this; testing for the Busch series on Monday and Tuesday with qualifying and racing lasting Thursday through Saturday. He will be very busy over the next few years but it will pay off if and when he makes it to the Nextel Cup series.

His next NASCAR Busch series race will be Nov. 13 at Darlington Raceway.