Sorenson set to join Gillett Evernham team for 2009

He doesn't have a number, he doesn't have a sponsor, he doesn't know if he'll be driving a third or fourth car. None of that seems to matter to Reed Sorenson, who will move next year from struggling Chip Ganassi Racing to Gillett Evernham Motorsports -- though many of the details of that transition are still uncertain.

Sorenson

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Even so, it's clearly a vertical career move for the 22-year-old Sorenson, who is winless is 97 Sprint Cup starts. Although both organizations face sponsorship challenges, he leaves a Ganassi team that's won once in the past six seasons and never placed a car in the year-end title Chase, and joins a GEM outfit that's won 12 times and made three playoff appearances during that same span.

"I'm going over here to try to make myself a better racecar driver," Sorenson said after the deal was announced Tuesday. "That's the main point of going over here, and that's the bottom line. I wanted to be more competitive, and I wanted to have some more opportunities to win races and things like that. That's the reason for coming over here, and I want to be a part of it and Gillett Evernham Motorsports and everything that they are about and represent."

In a statement released by the team, Ganassi said, "After much internal discussion over the last few months we agreed that parting ways with Reed was the right decision for all of us. The business side of sports is never easy and this was just a business decision that was made on both our parts. We wish Reed nothing but the best."

Sorenson said he expects to finish this season in Ganassi's No. 41 car, and that his current sponsor, Target, won't follow him to his new home. But Tuesday, those were about the only absolutes. Sorenson was unsure as to whether he'd be in a third or fourth car for the GEM team, which currently fields vehicles for Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier. Sponsorship for Sorenson's car is still in the works, he said. The future of Carpentier, a rookie whose deal with GEM expires after this season, also is unknown.

"Well, I can tell you right now, I know they are looking for sponsorship for him right now, and that's really all I can say about that," Sorenson said of Carpentier. "You know, as far as the rest of the stuff there, I think that's just kind of something that we'll have to wait and see over the next few months to get a definite answer on all that stuff, and that's just because there's some stuff going on and a lot of hard work and trying to get everything placed in the right way."

The makeup of the GEM team for 2009 will almost certainly hinge on sponsorship. Indications are that, in a perfect scenario, the organization would prefer to field cars for both Sorenson and Carpentier, but only if the requisite financial support falls into place. Carpentier's No. 10 car has lacked a full-time primary sponsor this season, making due with a series of interim deals. Since Sorenson has signed a multi-year deal and Carpentier is on a one-year contract, it's clear who the odd man out will be if the backing comes up short.

It's not exactly a tearful parting at Ganassi, an organization that has had issues with Sorenson's attitude as well as his performance, and very well might have split with the driver at season's end even if the GEM offer had not surfaced. Discussions about Sorenson's future had been ongoing for at least six months, according to Ganassi team officials, and sources indicated that Sorenson didn't help himself by missing sponsor appearances and butting heads with his crewmen.

Although Sorenson had talked with Ganassi officials about an extension, team minority owner Felix Sabates likely summed up the organization's feelings. "I think Reed is today as good as he's ever going to be," he told the trade publication NASCAR Scene last weekend. "If somebody else wants to put him in a car, fine with us."

Sorenson's reaction? "I plan on winning some races and going for championships here sooner than later," he said. "So I respect Felix a lot. He's been a great guy to me. Him and Chip have both been two great mentors for me and I enjoyed working for him and working with him, and I definitely don't plan on not winning races. So I plan on winning races and I plan on being competitive and being able to get a shot at running in the top 12 and things like that. Hopefully I can prove that in the future."

Sorenson's announcement comes on the heels of some blows already suffered by the Ganassi organization, which shuttered the No. 40 team of rookie Dario Franchitti earlier this season because of sponsor issues and will lose Texaco, the primary backer of Juan Montoya's No. 41 car, after this year. Yet John Olguin, vice president of marketing and communications for Ganassi, said at least four prospective new sponsors already have contacted the team, that Target recently signed an extension, and that reports of the team's demise are exaggerated.

"We've heard some ridiculous rumors lately. I actually heard we are closing our shop to become a Target distribution center," Olguin said. "It's just crazy."

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