Saturday Sprint Cup notebook

Notebook: Sorenson hoping for more Red Bull

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 10, 2010)

JOLIET , Ill. —Reed Sorenson’s three-race deal with Red Bull Racing was set to expire with Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, but the interim driver of the No. 83 Toyota believes there will be more Sprint Cup racing with the team in his immediate future.

“I think they’re working on that right now,” Sorenson told Sporting News on Saturday.

Sorenson is the third driver to take the wheel of the No. 83 Camry after Brian Vickers was diagnosed with blood clots and sidelined for the rest of the season in mid-May. Casey Mears raced four times for the Red Bull team, with German Touring Car driver Mattias Ekstrom taking over the car for the road-course event June 20 at Sonoma.

A week later, Sorenson drove the No. 83 for the first time at New Hampshire, finishing 24th. In his second trip July 3 at Daytona, he drove a backup car to an eighth-place finish in the Coke Zero 400.

Sorenson hopes to race the car July 25 at Indianapolis , where he holds the record as youngest pole winner in the history of the storied track—either in open-wheel cars or stock cars. Sorenson, then 21, won his only Cup pole in July 2007 at the Brickyard. He finished fifth in the Allstate 400 that weekend.

“I think that’s what the plan is,” Sorenson said of his Indy prospects. “I don’t think it’s official yet, but it could be soon—I mean, next week.”

Sorenson broke into full-time Cup racing with owner Chip Ganassi in 2006 and drove for that organization for three years before joining Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2009 season. Sorenson was the odd man out in a merger that combined Yates Racing and RPM late last year.

This season, he has done most of his racing in the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 32 Toyota for Braun Racing. In 13 events, Sorenson has posted 10 top-10 finishes. In his Nationwide and Cup runs, Sorenson is constantly auditioning.

“I think any time you get in a car—whether it’s a truck, Nationwide or Cup car—you feel pressure,” he said. “Obviously, you want to run good, no matter what you’re doing. When you’re trying to get back to the Sprint Cup level, it means you’re always auditioning, no matter what car you’re in.

“This Red Bull deal is something that, two months ago, obviously, you didn’t know it would happen, and I’m excited to be part of it, and I’m trying to make the most of it.”

After Indianapolis comes the second event of the season at Pocono, followed by the road-course race at Watkins Glen. Ekstrom, who finished 21st at Sonoma , is not available because of a conflict with his German Touring Car schedule.

BABY NAME WATCH CONTINUES

If Jimmie Johnson and wife Chandra have decided on a name for their daughter, born Wednesday, they haven’t revealed it.

“I don’t know if the nurses (in the hospital) are just being nice or what, but they say it’s pretty common to have parents in there that don’t come in with a name,” Johnson said. “Although I look in the nursery, and there are all these little yellow stickers on all the children with first names. And ours is one of the very few in there without one.

“So, wherever I look, the pressure is kind of there. But we’re just taking our time. We’ll have one here before long, I’m sure.”

The consensus choice in the garage is a name suggested by Darrell Waltrip and many others—Victoria Lane Johnson.

GLASS HALF EMPTY

Matt Kenseth was brutally honest Friday when he took questions about the Roush Fenway organization’s performance—or lack thereof—so far this year. As Kenseth pointed out, only Kasey Kahne, who drives the No. 9 Ford for Roush affiliate RPM, has shown much speed this season.

“If you ask me today, I don’t feel like we are making gains—I feel like we are going backwards,” said Kenseth, who is seventh in points but winless since Feb. 2009. “I think the No. 9 has run better, but the rest of us haven’t improved very much, to be honest. Everybody else probably says we are improving, but I don’t see it.”