Brian Pattie is facing different challenges this year with rookie Reed Sorenson than he did with veteran Joe Nemechek. Credit: Autostock

Shop Talk with Brian Pattie

Crew chief adjusting to working with rookie Sorenson

HAMPTON, Ga. -- The Atlanta weekend was certainly one of the more difficult ones Brian Pattie has experienced as a crew chief.

After a 16-win career as a Busch Series crew chief -- mostly with Joe Nemechek -- Pattie has learned to accept the ups and downs, but Atlanta was tough.

	Inside the Numbers Reed Sorenson's 2005 Busch Series stats Track Start Finish Daytona 5 9 Fontana 4 5 Mexico City 19 14 Las Vegas 7 6 Atlanta* 28 19 * -- After failing to qualify his No. 41 Dodge, Sorenson ran the race in Sterling Marlin's No. 40 Dodge, which had qualified 28th. Crew chief Brian Pattie gets technical with NASCAR.COM Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

His driver, Reed Sorenson, missed the show because of a new NASCAR rule states that cars not in the top 30 in owners points in 2004 must make the show on time in each of the first five races.

Sorenson's team is essentially brand-new -- they ran eight races in 2004 -- so when the transmission jammed during their qualifying lap at Atlanta, they were sent packing. That won't happen this weekend. Despite the missed race, the team is eighth in owners points, releasing a heavy load off Pattie's shoulders.

Not that it gets any easier this weekend. This weekend's Pepsi 300 is the season's second stand-alone Busch event, and it comes at the difficult Nashville Superspeedway, the largest -- and fastest -- of NASCAR's three concrete tracks.

NASCAR.COM's Ryan Smithson spoke with Pattie, 29, about preparing his young driver for the 1.33-mile track.

Brian, you guys are going to Nashville this week, and you were talking about how fast of a track it was, especially with a guy like Reed.

Oh, it's fast. We tested there over the winter doing some chassis and engine development for Chip Ganassi Racing and it's really fast. It seems like the speeds are mid-180s so that is pretty fast. The track has got tremendous grip.

Does Reed have any experience in ARCA on concrete?

I don't believe so. Actually his first laps in a Busch/Cup car was at Nashville when Chip was looking at him. I remember the test because I was there with David Reutimann. He said he was fast and he liked the track. He picks up pretty fast so we should be fine.

What kind of car are you taking to Nashville? What track would mirror it? Or do you build a brand-new car?

I would say any fast, intermediate track. We're taking our California car. There's really not any difference anymore like there used to be. We have got five intermediates and a couple of short-track (cars) and that is just how we do stuff.

Is Reed pretty good about giving you feedback?

He is not very technical; he just wants to turn a little better here. He does not care what you do as long as you can fix it. He does not tell you what to do, he can tell you what he is feeling and you have got to go from there.

You talked about tire failures being scary there. That ever happen to you?

	Brian Pattie says he and Sorenson attack one race at a time, including this weekend's event in Nashville. Credit: Autostock
	REED SORENSON •   Driver Page •   2005 Statistics

Oh yeah. We blew a left-front there with Reutimann. Goodyear had a problem at that race. They knew about it and we should have had a competition yellow earlier in the race, but I think we had 12 failures that race. It was pretty bad, but I think we'll take a new tire.

This was last year?

It was first race last year. The second race was fine.

You are working with a 19-year-old this year, and you were with Nemechek for so long. How is that different from working with a veteran Cup driver to working with a pure rookie in the Busch Series?

It is really hard to tell. Joe and I had great success for a long time and him and I were like brothers at one point.

I knew what he was thinking and he knew what I was thinking and I think that is pretty much what I have now. It didn't take that many races for Reed and I to do that. Two races in, he trusted me and I trusted him. The kid is good.

We attack one race at a time. We don't look five races beyond that. Once we get out of these first five races, we are locked into the field, I think it'll be a little less stress and we can focus on race trim.

Is Nashville a hard place on pit road? It seems like it would be a pretty tough transition going from 180 to getting down to pit road speed, especially for someone his age.

I believe so, but anywhere is difficult. I think if you can get on pit road at Bristol, you can get on pit road anywhere. They are used to running so fast. These guys are talented, they can handle it. They have got a lot of car control.

Is this upcoming stretch really what we will see out of Reed? Can he maintain his level in the points?

We are focusing on the first five to get in. We have seven weeks in a row, a weekend off, race five more, a weekend off, and then go 16.

Our car count at the shop is great. The guys at the shop are doing a really good job. If we continue to focus on each race -- and we have strategies for each race -- I think we will continue to do that.