Gateway 250

Saturday, July 21 Gateway Int'l. Raceway St. Louis, MO

Reed Sorenson celebrates in Victory Lane... Sorenson Breaks Major Drought with Gateway Win
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

MADISON, Ill. (July 21, 2007) -- In a war of attrition Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway, Reed Sorenson broke a 60-race NASCAR Busch Series winless drought in beating Scott Wimmer to checkered flag in the NASCAR Busch Series 250.

Sorenson, who won his last race in the series at Gateway in 2005, passed David Reutimann for the lead after a restart on Lap 159 and kept his No. 41 Dodge out front the rest of the way, despite a caution that fell on Lap 178 when points leader Carl Edwards backed into the outside wall.

Sorenson finished 2.064 seconds in front of Wimmer, who got by Reutimann for second place in the closing laps. Reutimann held on to third, followed by Jason Leffler and David Ragan. Edwards (who drove like a madman after his wreck), Kevin Hamlin, Ron Hornaday Jr., J.J. Yeley and Todd Bodine completed the top 10.

"It's been a long time since we won, and we knew we had a good shot coming in here," Sorenson said. "Everybody on the team was real excited about coming in here, and the car was just dominant all night.

"I'm just real proud of everybody. We knew we had a good car after practice -- we didn't know it was going to be this good, though."

Aside from a caution of Lap 6 for Steve Wallace's crash, the race was incident-free until NASCAR called a caution for debris on Lap 92. From that point on, the NASCAR Busch Seiries 250 became a demolition derby, as seven cautions followed in the last 101 laps.

The action started on Lap 99, when Tim McCreadie's No. 21 Chevy broke loose, causing Mike Bliss to check up behind him. Landon Cassill, making his series debut, got into Bliss who, in turn, was collected by Kyle Krisiloff.

"I don't know who's driving the 24 -- he looks like a 10-year-old out there," Bliss said of the 18-year-old Cassill. "He waved me by, then he ran into me."

Cassill, who has been touted as a future star at Hendrick Motorsports, had a different perspective.

"I was down on the yellow line as far as I could go, where I was supposed to be," he said. "I don't know whether he checked up or he came down the track."

Kenny Wallace, the crowd favorite from nearby St. Louis, also was eliminated in that melee, causing the garrulous driver to say in disappointment, "I'm at a loss for words."

Ten laps later, Cassill wrecked in tandem with Travis Kittelson in Turn 3, and Brad Keselowski also got a piece of the crash. Five more cautions followed before Sorenson streaked across the finish line and headed for victory lane.

Complete race results and point standings in the Event Stats section below...


Reed Sorenson en route to victory...

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Reed Sorenson won the Gateway 250, his third victory in 88 NASCAR Busch Series races.
• This is Sorenson's first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 14 races in 2007.
• This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in three races at Gateway International Raceway. His previous best finish here was first in 2005.
• This is the second NASCAR Busch Series win for car owner Chip Ganassi in 2007.
• This is the second victory for Dodge in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2007.
• Carl Edwards retained the lead in the NASCAR Busch Series championship points, leading David Reutimann by 852 points.

Broadcast Times

Qualifying: Saturday, July 21 (ESPN2, TSN-HD at 5:30 p.m/AT, 4:30 p.m./ET

Race: Saturday, July 21 (ESPN2/TSN-HD at 9 p.m./AT, 8 p.m./ET)

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

Entry List

First Practice

Rookie Practice

Final Practice

Qualifying Order

Qualifying Results

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Gateway 250
The Place: Gateway International Raceway
The Date: July 21, 2007
The Time: 9:30 p.m./AT, 8:30 p.m./ET
TV: ESPN2 & TSN-HD, 9 p.m./AT, 8 p.m./ET
Track Layout: 1.25-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,532,287
2006 Winner: Carl Edwards
2006 Pole: Denny Hamlin
Schedule: Fri.: 6 – 7:00 p.m. – Practice; Rookie Practice; 7:15 – 7:45 p.m. – Final Practice 8 – 9:00 p.m. (one hour, time permitting). Sat.: 3:35 p.m. – Qualifying (Impound).
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Green Flag Notes

• Gateway International Raceway hasn’t had a repeat winner since two-time series champion Kevin Harvick won consecutive races in 2000-01. Likewise, there hasn’t been a manufacturer to repeat at Gateway since Ford in 2002-03. Over the last three races at Gateway, three different manufacturers have gone to Victory Lane. That could bode well for Toyota, currently in fourth place but rising in the Bill France Performance Cup standings. Toyota has yet to win in NASCAR Busch Series competition this season, but has fared well this season on tracks just over one mile in length. Toyota is only three points behind third-place Dodge, the 2005 winner Reed Sorenson. First-place Chevrolet last won at Gateway in 2004 but comes to the track with momentum having won one week ago at Chicagoland with Harvick behind the wheel. Ford, in second place in the standings, has defending race winner Carl Edwards in the fold to go for back-to-back victories.
• Germain Racing Makes Series Jump: On the heels of its 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Toyota’s first NASCAR national series title, Germain Racing looks to make its debut in the NASCAR Busch Series this weekend at Gateway. Todd Bodine, the 2006 Craftsman Truck champion and long-time NASCAR Busch Series competitor, will drive the No. 03 Germain Racing Toyota in its inaugural venture. Bodine won in the Truck Series at Gateway last year and likes the opportunity to make the team’s NASCAR Busch Series debut there. “We’ve been working on putting together a Busch program for a long time,” said Bodine. “I’m glad we’re getting on track with our first Busch Series race at a place where we’ve had success as a team, and I’ve had success as a driver.” Bodine has 316 NASCAR Busch Series career starts, with 157 top-10 and 89 top-five finishes. He has 15 victories and seven pole awards. In his “regular” job, driving the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota for Germain Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Bodine is third in the standings with one win and one pole this season.
• Cassill Debuts For Hendrick: Continuing with the NASCAR Busch Series debut theme, a new face will be on the scene at Gateway as 18-year-old Landon Cassill, a driver for Hendrick Motorsports, is scheduled to drive the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet. Cassill, who turned 18 on July 7, recently moved to Charlotte from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after graduating with honors from Jefferson High School. Cassill has competed in the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series and in ARCA events leading up to his anticipated debut in the NASCAR Busch Series.
• Coleman Returns: It’s been a long wait in his mind, but Brad Coleman (No. 18 Carino’s Chevrolet) returns to the NASCAR Busch Series following a three-race layoff. The 19-year-old Coleman, who has a pole and three top-10 finsihes in his last four races – including consecutive top fives at Kentucky and The Milwaukee Mile – is scheduled to run the next six races for owner Joe Gibbs, marking Coleman’s longest starting string of the season. In the interim, the Houston, Texas native has been working out to gain strength and traveling to the race track to gain knowledge. He’s also spent countless hours on a simulator to prepare for the upcoming six tracks. The layoff might be more of a good thing than Coleman thinks – the last time he returned from a break – earlier this year with a six-week absence – he posted his career-best finish (second) at Kentucky.
• Edwards’ Adventure: It’s well-known that NASCAR Busch Series standings leader Carl Edwards enjoys working out and that bicycling is one of his favorite fitness elements. But even Edwards acknowledges that his latest endeavor – riding his bike from his home in Columbia to Gateway International Raceway – is a first. Edwards will utilize the buddy system, riding with friends over what he believes will be a two-day trip. He also plans to race against his younger brother, Kenny, on Sunday at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., on Carl Edwards Night at the track in NASCAR Whelen

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.