There’s little doubt that Reed Sorenson has had better days.
Less than a mile into Sunday’s Brickyard 400, a crumpled No. 83 Red Bull Toyota limped down the back straight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway streaming blue smoke. Seconds earlier, Sorenson got caught in the middle of a first lap wreck in the second turn which essentially ended his day almost before it began.
Starting 32nd on the grid, Sorenson got caught in the aftermath of a spin by Kyle Busch that involved five cars. Sorenson looked like he had some daylight between himself and a spinning Elliott Sadler but the door closed and the No. 83 ploughed into the back of the No. 19 and then hit the wall hard.
The impact crumpled the front of the car and heavily damaged the right side too.
All Sorenson had to say was: “I just can’t believe that happened in the second corner.”
Just a little bit unlucky, but at least things are running better
The Red Bull crew pulled out the duct tape and tie-downs and went to work on the shattered car, patching it up as best they could in 35 laps
and getting Sorenson back out on track. He emerged from the garage in second last place and ran around hoping to gain some spots.
He crept up the leader board seven spots before things went from bad to worse when an electrical gremlin ended his day for good. He completed just 89 laps and finished 35th.
Scott Speed was a bit luckier than Sorenson, tiptoeing past Sadler’s spinning car by a thread just seconds before it his stable mate. But the
No 82 Red Bull Toyota driver ran into trouble of his own on the famed 2.5-mile oval.
At one-third distance, Speed tangled with Jimmie Johnson in turn 1 and got the short end when his left front tyre deflated. The stop for new rubber dropped him from a top-20 position to the back of the queue. That didn’t help late in the race when Speed got caught in the accordion on pitlane when the field went in en masse under yellow.
"There at the end, we ran into everyone checking up on pit road — we got caught in one of those slinky deals and tore the front up. Just a little bit unlucky, but at least things are running better,” said Speed, who was the subject of rumours in Indianapolis emerged that he has signed a contract extension that will keep him with Red Bull next season.
In the end, Speed crossed the line 25th but dropped of two spots in the overall points standings to 26th.
Make sure to check out Red Bull Racing USA to get more information on the team and drivers.
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