By the Numbers: Gateway

This season been a tough one for Reed Sorenson on many levels -- in both the Cup Series and his short time in the Nationwide Series.

After a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500, Sorenson has just one Cup Series top-10 since. Add to that a Cup Series average finish of 26.9; a ranking of 32nd in the Cup Series point standings and rumors running rampant in the garage about a possible dismissal from Chip Ganassi Racing and Sorenson is in need of some good news quick.

Well, that depressing cloud over Sorenson's season could break apart Saturday at Gateway International Raceway when the green flies for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Sorenson has just two full-time seasons of Nationwide Series action, but when the series visits the 1.25-mile track located minutes from downtown St. Louis, the Georgia native has been the man to beat.

Since NASCAR started tabulating Loop Data statistics in 2005, Sorenson has led a one-man show at Gateway, taking the top spot in almost every category.

In 2008, Sorenson has competed in just one Nationwide event, and it followed the path of his Cup season. In the No. 22 Dodge for Fitz Motorsports at Talladega Superspeedway, Sorenson started 32nd and was able to work his way to the front, leading a lap, before crashing on Lap 76 and ending the day with a DNF.

This will be Sorenson's first start this season in the No. 40 Ganassi Dodge, a car that has seen more downs than ups in 2008.

The Cup Series may be off this week, but this could be a very big weekend for Sorenson. As one of only six Cup Series regulars to enter this week's race at Gateway (Sorenson, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann), this is a golden opportunity for Sorenson to find a ray of sunshine in what has been a bleak year.

This could also be a big race for Chip Ganassi Racing as well. Sorenson's two Gateway wins make up 40 percent of Ganassi's Nationwide win total since 2005 -- Juan Montoya and Casey Mears each have a win and Sorenson has another -- and if Sorenson can make it a hat trick, Ganassi will end a 34-race skid in the Nationwide Series.