The MD3 Rookie of the Year points leader sits 10th inside the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models standings
Dustin Sorensen entered the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models season with limited time behind a dirt Late Model and mild expectations.
With 10 races left until the World of Outlaws World Finals in Charlotte, the Rochester, MN native leads the MD3 Rookie of the Year standings by 150 points and valuable experience behind the wheel of his family-owned No.19 Longhorn Chassis.
“Since the start, the main goal was to win the Rookie of the Year award,” Sorensen said. “The big one for me is winning my first Feature with the World of Outlaws as soon as possible. That would be the highlight of my career. Every night, it’s always something different depending on who you’re racing against, like I passed Jonathan Davenport in the USA Nationals and that was something I never thought was a goal, but it was a cool achievement. It varies from track to track, but I really wanna get one of these wins by the end of the season.”
Sorensen began his campaign at unfamiliar tracks for him like Volusia Speedway Park and Farmer City Raceway before he got his first top-10 finish in the Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in May.
From there, Sorensen’s summer began to heat up by leading the most laps at Brownstown Speedway, finishing second for his first podium of the season. Entering the Series’ return to racing this weekend, he’s finished inside the top-10 in five of the last seven Feature races – including a third-place run at the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway.
“I think during the summer is where we got to be competitive with these guys,” Sorensen said. “Getting more seat time and going to tracks with a lot of variety have helped me learn quicker along with taking the Late Model to different tracks when we were off helped a bunch too.
“I’ve only been to Spoon River once. I’ve never been to (Highland or Maquoketa) yet. But I don’t have much experience to go off of. So, hopefully, I can be able to relate from any of the previous tracks we’ve been on earlier this year or find any sort of quirks that can help benefit me going into the week.”
Before joining the “Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet,” Sorensen’s Late Model experience was exclusive to the Minnesotan region of racetracks. Branching out his newfound knowledge, he’s found a baseline setup under the sheet metal for him to understand the track and where he needs to adjust through the program.
“It’s crucial to get settled in from the get-go,” Sorensen said. “You only get two laps to figure it out and try to learn as much as you can before you go straight into Qualifying, which is the most important part of the night, so you’ve got a good start. It’s vital for us to have the right balance at the start. The Longhorn No.19 has been pretty good with every track we go to. The standard setup is sporty so that helps a ton. It’s something I’ve had to deal with to learn quickly, and we’ve done well with it so far.”
Acknowledging his lead in the Rookie of the Year standings, Sorensen was quick to credit the team he has around the racecar that has helped him steadily progress through the season: his dad, Mike Sorensen, and crew member Cory Richman.
“It says a lot about my dad and Cory Richman, honestly,” Sorensen said. “They do an awesome job with taking care of the car and make sure there’s no mechanical failures, which is huge when you’re racing through a long season. I can’t thank them enough for making the car perfect every night as far as that goes. We’ve only had one DNF this year for a mechanical issue, but it was nobody’s fault and out of our control. It’s been about consistency in finishing races, consistent in not tearing our stuff up, and getting good results when possible.”
Sorensen straps on his helmet for four nights of racing at three different racetracks, beginning with Highland Speedway on Wednesday, Aug. 14, Spoon River Speedway on Thursday, Aug. 15, and two days of action at Maquoketa Speedway on Friday-Saturday, Aug. 16-17.
In addition to the racing on the track at Maquoketa, there will be off-track activities for fans to enjoy on Saturday, including a car show from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., a kids zone from 12 p.m.-4 p.m., the Hoker Trucking Toys for Tots donation drive, a driver autograph session at 4:30 p.m., and a cornhole tournament starting at 12:30 p.m..
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision – available either online or through the DIRTVision App.
