Braun Racing to run some Sprint Cup races UPDATE 2 skips Atlanta: Nationwide Series team, Braun Racing announced they will enter five NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2010. Dollar General, which sponsors the team's #32 entry in the Nationwide Series, will serve as primary sponsor for five races throughout the 2010 season, including Daytona (February), Atlanta (March), Chicago (July), Indianapolis (July) and Charlotte (October). Reed Sorenson, who drives the #32 Dollar General Toyota on a limited basis in the Nationwide Series, has been named as the driver. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.(Braun Racing)(1-14-2010)
UPDATE: the team decided not to run Atlanta and will instead run at Texas in April.(3-2-2010)
UPDATE 2: The #32 Dollar General team will make its next attempt at Sprint Cup racing at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in April. Given the fact that NASCAR is doing away with the wing and returning to the spoiler on the NSCS car, team owner Todd Braun and crew chief, Trent Owens, both agreed that it made more sense to skip this weekend’s Atlanta race and focus on the changing technology. The open test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway (March 23-24) will give the new NSCS team the chance to test for the April, 18 event at TMS.(Braun Racing), see images of the car on my #32 Team Schemes page.(3-5-2010)

Braun Racing to run some Sprint Cup races: Nationwide Series team, Braun Racing announced they will enter five NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2010. Dollar General, which sponsors the team’s #32 entry in the Nationwide Series, will serve as primary sponsor for five races throughout the 2010 season, including Daytona (February), Atlanta (March), Chicago (July), Indianapolis (July) and Charlotte (October). Reed Sorenson, who drives the #32 Dollar General Toyota on a limited basis in the Nationwide Series, has been named as the driver.
Braun Racing was founded in 2002 by Winamac, Ind., native Todd Braun. A former driver, Braun first fielded a team in the ARCA Racing Series. In 2003, he expanded into the NASCAR Nationwide Series and has since grown his organization into a four-car operation. The largest independent team in the series, Braun Racing was handpicked four years ago by Toyota to help lead their entrance into the series. The team is proud to have claimed Toyota's first Nationwide Series pole on February 24, 2007 at California Speedway and their first win at O'Reilly Raceway Park on July 28, 2007. In 2009, Jason Leffler captured the fourth spot in the championship driver point standings and led the #38 team to an eighth-place finish in the championship owner’s point standings. Brian Vickers shared time with Reed Sorenson, David Reutimann, Jacques Villeneuve and Brian Ickler in the #32 entry and finished seventh in the championship owner point standings.
“Fielding a car in the Daytona 500 has been one of my lifelong dreams,” said Braun. “It is incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to realize that dream. I am so proud of every member of this organization. We’re stepping into the top tier of motorsports and it is a direct result of their hard work and the support of our outstanding marketing partners. It is very special to take this step with our good friends at Dollar General.”
Dollar General, which has participated in NASCAR team sponsorships since 2006, joined Braun Racing as a marketing partner in 2008, running a limited number of Nationwide Series races as a primary sponsor. In 2009, Dollar General returned as the full-time sponsor of the #32 entry and will continue to sponsor the Toyota Camry this season.
Dollar General Chairman and CEO, Rick Dreiling, agrees with Braun’s sentiments and looks forward to the Dollar General Racing team’s endeavors in NASCAR’s premier series. “This is an exciting and well-deserved opportunity for Braun, and we are proud to support the team as they enter a new level of racing,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “Their hard work and drive has prepared them for this new challenge and Dollar General looks forward to being a part of their success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.” Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.(Braun Racing)(1-14-2010)

Sorenson gets part-time Nationwide ride: Braun Racing announced the 2010 driver line-up for the #32 Dollar General Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Brian Vickers and Reed Sorenson will share time at the helm of the #32 Dollar General Toyota. Crew chief Trent Owens will return for his sixth year at Braun Racing to lead the Dollar General team. Vickers, 26, returns to Braun Racing for his fourth consecutive season. Sorenson joined Braun Racing in 2009, driving the #32 Dollar General entry at Gateway. His stellar performance earned his return to the seat at Phoenix International Raceway, in addition to three starts in the #10 Braun Racing Camry.(Braun Racing PR), Vickers will run at least 10 races and Sorenson will run 23, with two races (Montreal and Road America) to be determined.(1-7-2009)

Sorenson could end up at Braun Racing: Reed Sorenson won’t be part of the new Richard Petty Motorpsorts driving stable following the planned RPM-Yates Racing merger. He has driven for Braun Racing in the Nationwide Series, but no deal for next year has been announced. “Reed has a formal offer from a team now that would be a mixture of Cup and Nationwide,” said Sorenson's agent, Jeff Dickerson. “I feel really good about Reed and what he can do.”(SceneDaily)(11-27-2009)

Sorenson and Mears candidates for #09 ride in 2010: Casey Mears, currently running the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevy for Richard Childress is a leading candidate for the #09 Phoenix Racing ride in 2010. Reed Sorenson, out of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports ride after the 2009 season is also a candidate for the #09 ride.(FoxSports)(11-7-2009)

Where may some of the drivers looking end up in 2010? Those drivers looking for rides in 2010 — #07-Casey Mears, #96/71-Bobby Labonte, #43-Reed Sorenson and #12-David Stremme — qualified sixth, eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively at Martinsville. How their futures pan out could depend on the status of Jamie McMurray, who remains the top candidate for the #1 Earnhardt Ganassi ride. Mears could stay put in the #07 if sponsorship can be found. Labonte is a strong candidate for one of the two TRG [#71 team] Racing rides. Sorenson is the favorite for the vacancy at Braun Racing [Nationwide Series ride] and Stremme's name has been mentioned for the #34 Front Row Motorsports car[currently a Chevy] (where he would be reunited with crew chief Steven 'Bones' Lane) or in a Nationwide car with Rusty Wallace Inc.(FoxSports)(10-24-2009)

Back to Nationwide for Sorenson? ESPN reported during Nationwide Series qualifying that #43-Reed Sorenson is talking to Braun Racing about running the #32 Toyota a majority of the races next season in the Nationwide Series.(9-26-2009)

Braun Racing to compete in five Cup races in 2010: Team owner Todd Braun said his Braun Racing team will attempt five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races next year, including the season-opening Daytona 500. Braun, which fields three teams in the Nationwide Series [#10-, #32, & #38], entered a Cup car for two races in 2005. The team plans to run a Toyota in 2010 while determining plans for 2011. “We’re going to run some Cup races next year,” Braun said. “What it holds on our future, we don’t know. If I want to long-term survive in this sport, I’m going to have to go Cup racing at some point. I don’t think I can maintain forever being a Nationwide-only guy unless something happens in the series that I don’t see right now. I wish I could.” Braun said he was happy with his team in the Nationwide Series but could need to move to Cup to survive financially. The driver will be determined, though Braun said his current Nationwide driver, Jason Leffler, is a candidate. Other candidates, he said, could be Reed Sorenson, Bobby Labonte or Jamie McMurray, depending on available Cup rides next year. Braun said he has a sponsor for the five Cup races, though he didn’t name the company. He also prefers to hire a crew chief with experience working with the new model Cup car.(SceneDaily)(9-24-2009)

Sorenson currently racing for FREE: When Richard Petty Motorsports announced last week a merger with Yates Racing, most considered #43-Reed Sorenson the big loser, since it appeared he was left out of the 2010 driver lineup as a result. He in fact wasn't. He was already gone by that point. Multiple RPM sources confirmed to ESPN.com that team executives approached Sorenson during the summer with a pair of options: (1) Race the remainder of the season for no salary; or (2) take a buyout and go away. Conflicted, frustrated, shocked and confused, Sorenson chose the former. In NASCAR, out of sight is out of mind. And out of mind is out of work. "The decision I made was to keep racing. The reason I did that is I thought it would help me find a job next year," Sorenson said. "And any race car driver that has the choice to sit at home or race is probably going to choose to race, unless they're at the end of their career. I'm 23 years old. I want to have a long future in the sport. I didn't figure sitting at home was a good option to do that." Sorenson would not divulge specifics of his agreement with RPM but did say he was never given a true reason for the development. "They didn't really have much justification for it," he said. "They basically just said, 'This is the deal we have, but you've done nothing wrong. We feel bad.' But it sucked. I don't really get it. It never made sense when it was going down, and it doesn't make sense now. I definitely didn't envision them coming to me halfway through this year and saying this. I felt like I was moving to a team where I could make a home and work with new teammates and maybe be there for five years or whatever it might be. I didn't even get halfway through the year, and this comes up. Then I was told I haven't done anything wrong at the same time. So that's the most sickening thing about it."
Sorenson's agent, Jeff Dickerson from Mooresville, N.C.-based Motorsports Management, also would neither confirm nor deny that Sorenson was given an ultimatum. He did agree, though, that when he speaks with other team owners and managers about Sorenson's future, the driver's level of desire to compete is often broached. "If people knew the sacrifices he has made to stay on the racetrack, they wouldn't ask that question anymore," Dickerson said. "He's been a great teammate both on and off the track. He stood up for the guys that work on these cars and their families and refuses to let that team be shut down. People think a guy that drafts with you is a good teammate. I think Reed rewrote that definition in this situation."
Asked for comment for this story, RPM spokesman Drew Brown wrote in an e-mail that "it wouldn't be fair to comment on internal matters relating to Reed's contract. I will say that all of us have had a blast with Reed this season and wish he could be part of us next season, but it's a numbers game." Sorenson will use the final 10 races of the season as an audition for 2010. There are few Sprint Cup rides available, so the hope for Sorenson is a part-time Cup program to supplement a full-time Nationwide ride. "If I have to run full-time Nationwide and part-time Cup to wait until the economy gets better and I get a good full-time ride again, then that would be the best-case scenario," he said. "I just want to race. I don't want to sit around and wait."(in part from ESPN.com)(9-18-2009)

Sorenson discusses Petty-Yates merger: Thursday, September 10, 2009 on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, host Dave Moody spoke with #43 RPM Dodge driver Reed Sorenson after the announcement that Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing have signed a letter of intent to merge for the 2010 season and race a four car team in Fords:
Host, Dave Moody: “When did you first learn of this?”
Reed Sorenson: “Well, to be honest with you, I’ve heard rumors and things like that and whatnot of something going on with a merger but as far as knowing exactly what’s going on, I haven’t really paid too much attention to it. I’ve just been working with my team and when I’ve been to the shop this week I really didn’t talk to anybody in upper management or anything. I was hanging out with my guys and working with my crew chief there so I didn’t know when this was going to happen or what they were working on but obviously it came along this week.”
Moody: “So in terms of actually having a face-to-face conversation or even a telephone conversation with somebody in upper management to tell you that you’re not apparently a part of the plan for next year, have you or have you not had that conversation as of yet?”
Sorenson: “Well, not really pertaining to this I haven’t got any conversation but there have been some conversations in the past few weeks just discussing next year and I’ve kind of known for a few weeks now that I’m looking for a job next year. I think everything for the rest of this year is set as far as what our plans are and what our goals are but as far as next year for me as a driver, just looking to the future and looking for a ride.”
“This is a tough time to not only get a ride but get a good ride. And that’s probably the toughest thing about it is trying to put yourself in a position where you can get yourself in a car where you can see yourself having a future at. That’s the toughest thing right now. I’m only 23 years old and I thought this was going to be a place where I could get down with a team and start a long future but obviously that hasn’t worked out. The sponsors I’ve worked with this year have been great and we’ve had zero problems with them. All the sponsors, they’ve wanted to work with me again next year so I don’t think that’s a problem. I just think it’s the circumstances of the economy and what everybody’s having to do to get through it.”
“At the end of the day it is a business but I think the most depressing thing about it is I like everybody that I work with including my teammates and all the guys at the shop. So that’s probably the most depressing thing about it all is just not being able to set up long term goals with the guys at the shop and [not] being able to work with them again next year. You know, our cars have gotten a lot better throughout the year and it would be awesome to go through the offseason and build something up to start next year but that’s not going to happen.”
Moody: “Are there any irons in the fire for you for 2010 as of right now?” Sorenson: “Still working on it, man. As we talked about, it’s not a good time to be looking for a ride, especially a good one. The one good thing I have is that I am young and I’m going to work my butt off the rest of this year to try and find a job and just keep doing the best I can. That’s all you can do. Just like I said, the sad thing is just everything was going really well here with all the team members and with all the sponsors so that’s probably just the worst thing about it all is just how well everything was going and now it’s all coming to an end.”
“SIRIUS Speedway” airs every weekday (3-7 pm ET) exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio 128.(SIRIUS XM Radio)(9-11-2009)