MOTORSPORTS
NO-WIN SITUATION NASCAR’S SOLUTION FOR A NATIONWIDE SERIES BOOST HAS CREATED THIS DOWNER: A POINTS LEADER WITH NO CHECKEREDS. By LaRue Cook IF REED SORENSON IS STILL SITTING ATOP THE Nationwide Series standings at season’s end, it will make stock car history. The 25-year-old pilot of the No. 32 Dollar General car for Turner Motorsports has gotten this far without winning a single race. No one has ever driven home a champion without a W. “I don’t feel weird about it at all,” says Sorenson, who is two points ahead of second-place Elliott Sadler heading
Nationwide Series leader Sorenson hasn’t won a race since July 2007.
to Michigan on June 18. “I want to win, sure, but we’re in a points battle. You have to be smart about every move you make.” Sadler, by the way, is also winless.
for the championship in Nationwide. And anyway, this isn’t as much about wins as about learning the cars and
pick-your-series era of NASCAR. “There is more emphasis
racing against guys as talented as Carl.”
on the Nationwide Series because now fans can focus on
Stenhouse Jr. has a point. Allowing up-and-comers to
regulars rather than Sprint Cup guys,” says NNS director
compete against the Cup leader can only improve their
Joe Balash, on the rule requiring drivers to choose the
chances to contend at the top level. It also helps raise the
one series in which their points count toward a title.
profile of young drivers looking for attention and
Problem is, just because Cup drivers like Carl Edwards
sponsors. Plus, a guy like Sorenson can hit the reset
and Kyle Busch aren’t collecting points for their NNS wins
button on a floundering career. Following a strong fourth-
anymore doesn’t mean they haven’t stopped collecting
place NNS finish in 2005, he got a Cup ride. Five seasons
checkereds. The two have snagged eight of the season’s
and only one NNS win later, he’s back where he started,
14 victories between them. Reigning Rookie of the Year
trying to prove he’s not done racing with the best.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier are the only full-time Nationwide drivers who have been victorious. “I can honestly say fans are paying attention,” says Stenhouse Jr., who earned his fist career win at Iowa on May 22 and is six points behind Sorenson, in third. “At autograph sessions, I hear people talk about the battle
“All that’s changed is we live for Saturdays and the Cup guys live for Sundays,” Sorenson says, “but we still see them every weekend. To me, it doesn’t feel like a minor league at all.” Especially if you can add Champ to your résumé along the way.
JASON SMITH/NASCAR/GETTY IMAGES
Drivers not hell-bent on getting there first? What in the name of Dale Earnhardt is going on? Blame the new