Sorenson Searching for Ride

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be in a competitive situation again." (Photo: Getty Images)

After celebrating his fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings last week in South Florida, Reed Sorenson will head into the offseason not knowing what lies ahead for the 2012 season.

Sorenson finished the last five races of the season behind the wheel of the No. 82 Dodge for McDonald Motorsports after Turner Motorsports released him as driver of the No. 32 Toyota in the midst of the championship hunt, but now finds himself searching for a ride.

"I'm looking for a job right now," Sorenson said. "I'm open to any opportunities. It's really tough out there in the sport right now, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be in a competitive situation again.”

Prior to his exit from Turner when he was third in points, Sorenson visited Victory Lane at Road America and led the standings for six weeks. He was able to earn a trip to this year's awards banquet by maintaining a top-five points position in his stint with McDonald Motorsports.

"All and all it was a good season," Sorenson said. “We started off the year with the goal of winning the championship. I forget what part of the season we led, but we led for a little bit and we were in contention for the championship pretty much the whole season. I'm pretty proud of that. We were able to win a race, that was another one of our goals, and two Dash 4 Cash races. That was something we didn't even think about at the beginning of the season. We really thought that going down to the end of the season we had a real shot at this championship, and then whatever happened, happened. Fortunately, I was able to find a car to get into with Randy McDonald and finished out the season and ended up fifth."

With the success early this season that saw him earn 18 top-10 finishes in 29 races, Sorenson is still puzzled by his departure from Turner in early October.

"I still wake up just as shocked as when it happened," Sorenson said. "As I talked with the guys with my team and things like that, they are too. It's just a shame we didn't get to finish out the year and finish what we started. We started the year together and really gelled, and really got along good. Those guys worked hard to be third in points to, and with five races to go it kind of took away what they had worked for all year as well. In my mind at least we should have finished third in points. I never got a reason, and probably will never get one because it's three months later."

Brian Vickers, Ron Hornaday Jr. and James Buescher combined to close out the season in the No. 32 car. Vickers posted the best finish among the group in eighth, a marker that Sorenson equaled or eclipsed 15 times in 2011.

Despite not knowing what's in store for him next season, Sorenson was proud to be able to finish 2011 on stage at the awards ceremony for not only himself, but for the crew members he started the season with at Turner.

"To be able to finish out the year and get in another car and at least be on stage means a lot to me," Sorenson said. "It means a lot even to the guys that worked on my car all year, means a lot to them for me to fight. It was nice to hear all those guys come up to me and they were cheering me on and wanting me to do what I could. Like I said we were able to finish fifth, which is not what my goal was, but it's better than the alternative of not being able to finish the last five races."