Turner Motorsports announced Tuesday that Reed Sorenson, who is currently third in the Nationwide Series standings, is out as driver of the #32 Dollar General Chevy. Brian Vickers will assume driving duties from Sorenson beginning this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Turner offered no reason why Sorenson has been sidelined despite the driver currently sitting third in the Nationwide Series points standings. “I’m pretty confused right now,” Sorenson said. “I really don’t know what’s going on right now. I’m trying to figure some stuff out and get through this weekend. It’s hard on me, it’s hard on the guys that work on this car and where we finish in points. So it’s a bad deal.” The announcement comes on the same day that Turner Motorsports acknowledged that Dollar General was leaving at the end of the year. Dollar General is expected to be a limited sponsor on one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sprint Cup cars and as a primary sponsor in the Nationwide Series. Calls to J.D. Gibbs were not returned.(FoxSports)(10-5-2011)
UPDATE: The sponsorship picture at Joe Gibbs Racing is set to undergo a vast change next season, The Observer has learned. At a news conference Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dollar General is expected to announce will greatly increase its involvement in NASCAR, sponsoring both Sprint Cup and Nationwide series teams at JGR in 2012, several sources confirmed. Among the changes:
– Dollar General will become the primary sponsor on driver Joey Logano’s #20 Toyota in the Cup series for 10 to 12 races in 2012.
– Dollar General will become the primary sponsor on JGR’s #11 Nationwide Series team driven by Brian Scott.
– The company will also be the primary sponsor for several races for JGR’s #18 and #20 Nationwide teams.
Dollar General will likely also continue its involvement with the Truck series team owned by JGR driver Kyle Busch, sources said. A JGR spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday when asked about the sponsorship changes. The move means Home Depot, which has been a primary sponsor in the Cup series with JGR since 1999, will relinquish roughly a third of the races on the #20 next season.(Charlotte Observer)(10-11-2011)
