Motorsports

Ganassi expected to put Sorenson in 4th Cup car

By wire services
Published August 12, 2005

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Reed Sorenson, a hotshot 19-year-old Busch series driver, will run a full Nextel Cup schedule next season in a fourth team for Chip Ganassi Racing, the Associated Press reported.

A formal announcement to introduce the driver of the No. 41 Dodge was scheduled for today at Watkins Glen International.

Casey Mears, meanwhile, will remain with Ganassi in a different car. The car number has not been determined, but the sponsor will be mortgage lender Home123. Mears had an option in his contract for 2006 that the team picked up, removing him from the free-agent market.

"I came from open wheel stuff with no experience at all, and Chip gave me a first year," Mears said. "We suffered through that, the whole team did, and they've stuck by me the last couple years.

"I always wanted to stay here with Chip and turn this team into a winner."

Ganassi's planned 2006 lineup - Jamie McMurray, Mears, Sorenson and David Stremme - will have two rookies, and all four drivers are under 30 years old with just one Nextel Cup win among them. McMurray scored the last victory for the team in 2002 when he was filling in for an injured Sterling Marlin.

Marlin is being let go at the end of the season and replaced by Stremme, 28, who has risen through Ganassi's driver development program and is eighth in the Busch series standings.

Sorenson is also a part of Ganassi's development program and has taken off since moving to the Busch series this season. He has two win and is in a tight battle for the series championship, standing third, 104 points behind defending series champion Martin Truex Jr.

In addition to his move to Nextel Cup next season, Sorenson will continue to race the No. 41 in the Busch series.

Meantime, McMurray has signed to drive the No. 6 Ford for Roush Racing in 2007 and, by announcing it so early, had hoped to get Ganassi to let him leave early. The car owner has been heavily scrutinized for refusing to do so, with garage insiders wondering why he wouldn't just speed up Sorenson's career and give him McMurray's seat in the No. 42.

But the creation of a fourth team with a full-time sponsor means Ganassi will have to look outside for a new driver when McMurray leaves. Holding him to his original deal gives Ganassi an extra year to find the replacement.

THANK YOU, TONY: Tony Stewart's hometown plans to honor the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner with a downtown parade and ceremony at City Hall on Monday.

"It's a way to say "Thank you, Tony, for a job well done,' " said Roger Johnson, a Columbus, Ind., resident and the state's fire marshal. "We want him to know how proud we are of him."

Stewart was born in Columbus and has a home in the city of 39,000, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis. He became the first Indiana native in 65 years to win a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday.

Gary Pigg, Stewart's assistant, said the driver would attend.

Stewart and longtime road racing star Scott Pruett plan to race today in the Rolex Sports Car series, Saturday in the Busch event and Sunday in the Nextel Cup contest on the Watkins Glen road course.

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:47:15]