Catchfence

STATESVILLE, N.C— No. 43 Air Force Dodge driver Reed Sorenson has scored the 13th most points over the last four races and climbed seven positions since Texas. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver hope to keep that string going this weekend when he races in the 600-mile Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

Sorenson’s owner Richard Petty will be in Indianapolis on Sunday morning to watch John Andretti race in the Indianapolis 500 before returning to Charlotte for the 600 in the late afternoon.

SORENSON QUOTES

REED SORENSON ON RACE’S IMPORTANCE— “I think the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Allstate 400 at Indy plus the Chase races are the biggest races in our season. The 600 is one of those races that can make your season. We ran really well at Daytona and if we can do the same this weekend then we’ll have had our best runs in the most important races and that’s a good thing. We didn’t get to show much of what we had in the Showdown Saturday night. We started so far back (27th) in just a 40 lap race that its just difficult to get up to where we wanted to be. You saw how im­portant clean air is during the All-Star race. Sunday’s race is 600 miles so you have plenty of time to get to the front.

SORENSON ON CONDITIONING FOR 600 MILES— “I workout pretty hard during the week so I like the fact that this races requires conditioning. A good conditioned driver can’t make up for an ill-handling car so the guys that get their car right will probably be in victory lane, but with all things equal I think my conditioning is an asset.”

RICHARD PETTY— “We’re going up to Indy to watch John (Andretti) race and take in all that up there. He did an amazing job on Sunday. They cut it awfully close but had to overcome a lot. If he runs well nobody will remember where he started. They never gave up. That was pretty dramatic. We’ll stay up in Indy until the end of John’s race then fly back for the 600. It’s going to be a pretty fun day for us. I think we have planned about as full of a racing day as you can get. I don’t know much about what goes on with those cars in Indy but I am a fan and enjoy it.”

PETTY ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND— “What we do is entertainment. We just put on a show. What the men and women in our armed forces do is put their lives on the line so my family can do what it enjoys. What we owe then almost can’t be explained in words. This weekend we remember all of those people that died fighting for our country. Whether it was in the American Revolution or Iraq or Afghanistan those people gave their lives for us and that’s something we should never forget.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

· Watch Sorenson fly an Air Force jet fighter at http://www.airforce.com/ interactive/racing/

· Sorenson will drive chassis 288 for the first time in competition.

· Sorenson marks his 121st career Sprint Cup start on Sunday.

- Richard Petty Motorsports, Press Release