The decision by Dollar General to reallocate its racing sponsorship plans has extended into NASCAR, after Sarah Fisher revealed that her Kentucky-winning IndyCar team would loses its longtime backer at the end of the year. Now Reed Sorenson, a championship contender in the Nationwide Series and a race winner earlier this season at Road America, has lost his ride in Turner Motorsports' No. 32 car – which also is set to lose Dollar General backing at year's end.
Sorenson is curently third in the Nationwide standings, 49 points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with five races to go. Turner has also notified employees of a potential downsizing at the conclusion of the season, due in part to the impending loss of Dollar General sponsorship. The team announced that Brian Vickers, who drove for Turner on a part-time basis from 2007-'10, would be in the car this Saturday at Kansas and next weekend at Charlotte, with drivers for the final three Nationwide events decided upon at a later date.
Mooresville, N.C.-based Turner Motorsport fields a total of seven vehicles in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series. The team announced that it had notified employees of potential layoffs in order to comply with North Carolina's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to provide 60 days' notice of possible mass layoffs.
"It is hopeful," the team added, "the action will become unnecessary as the team continues to work with potential marketing partners for their Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series teams."