By Brian Polking
July 18, 2009 10:30am CDT

It didn't take long for Reed Sorenson to get comfortable in his 2009 Nationwide Series debut. The driver of the Braun Racing No. 32 turned in a lap of 135.657 mph to pace Happy Hour for tonight's Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway. He will be looking for his first pole and third victory at the track later tonight.

Fellow two-time Gateway winner and Cup regular Carl Edwards recorded the second best time of the session. The Missouri native is the defending winner of this event and has been to victory lane in two of the past three races at the track. All four Cup regulars making the trip to Gateway posted times inside the top 11. In addition to Sorenson and Edwards capturing the top two spots, former track winner Kevin Harvick posted the ninth fastest time while Kyle Busch put down the 11th quickest lap as he looks for his first career win at the track.

Meanwhile, the drivers filling in for the Cup regulars had an impressive final practice. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posted the third fastest lap in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 machine while his teammate for the week Erik Darnell had the fifth best time in the No. 6 entry. Richard Childress Racing driver Stephen Leicht split the Roush boys, recording the fourth best time in the session. Although Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brad Coleman was outside the top 15 in Happy Hour, the No. 20 car shouldn't be written off. Coleman paced the opening session.

The Nationwide regulars were well represented as well with Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski posting the sixth and seventh quickest laps in the session. Jason Leffler finished 12th on the speed charts, and rookie sensation Justin Allgaier was 14th. Although Jason Keller rounded out the top 15, the session was not a good one for the track's all-time leader in top fives and top 10s. Keller, along with Steve Wallace, sustained heavy damage in the session and were both forced to move to backup cars.

Final Practice Speeds

RANK	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	32	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	Dollar General	135.657	33.172	Leader
2	60	Carl Edwards	Ford	Save-A-Lot	135.123	33.303	-0.131
3	16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	CitiFinancial	134.892	33.36	-0.188
4	29	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express	134.791	33.385	-0.213
5	6	Erik Darnell	Ford	Northern Tool + Equipment	134.735	33.399	-0.227
6	1	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	Miccosukee Resort & Gaming	134.561	33.442	-0.27
7	88	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet	Degree V12	134.376	33.488	-0.316
8	40	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	Stop Repair Bills.com	134.308	33.505	-0.333
9	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy John\'s Gourmet Sandwiches	134.168	33.54	-0.368
10	81	Michael McDowell	Dodge	Missouri / Illinois Dodge Dealers	134.12	33.552	-0.38
11	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	New Balance	133.905	33.606	-0.434
12	38	Jason Leffler	Toyota	Great Clips	133.761	33.642	-0.47
13	15	Michael Annett	Toyota	Ventrilo	133.682	33.662	-0.49
14	12	Justin Allgaier	Dodge	Verizon Wireless	133.646	33.671	-0.499
15	27	Jason Keller	Ford	Kleenex	133.523	33.702	-0.53
16	20	Brad Coleman	Toyota	Rudys.com	133.496	33.709	-0.537
17	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	US Fidelis	133.337	33.749	-0.577
18	66	Steve Wallace	Chevrolet	US Fidelis	133.282	33.763	-0.591
19	11	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Toyota	America\'s Incredible Pizza Company	133.179	33.789	-0.617
20	90	Johnny Chapman	Chevrolet	MSRP Motorsports	133.109	33.807	-0.635
21	42	Kevin Hamlin	Dodge	Smith Iron Works	133.002	33.834	-0.662
22	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	Lagina Plumbing / Eldora Speedway	132.967	33.843	-0.671
23	99	Trevor Bayne	Toyota	Aaron\'s Dream Machine	132.884	33.864	-0.692
24	5	Casey Atwood	Ford	31-W Insulation	132.783	33.89	-0.718
25	28	Kenny Wallace	Chevrolet	U.S. Border Patrol	132.665	33.92	-0.748
26	9	John Wes Townley	Ford	Zaxby\'s	132.646	33.925	-0.753
27	91	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	MSRP Motorsports	132.606	33.935	-0.763
28	173	Derrike Cope	Dodge	Derrike Cope Inc.	132.603	33.936	-0.764
29	70	Shelby Howard	Chevrolet	Foretravel Motorcoach	132.404	33.987	-0.815
30	196	Willie Allen	Dodge	ConelyAuto.com	132.275	34.02	-0.848
31	234	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	Long John Silver\'s	132.236	34.03	-0.858
32	0	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	SponsorDavis.com	132.209	34.037	-0.865
33	150	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	Saxon Group	131.973	34.098	-0.926
34	87	Kevin Conway	Toyota	Extenze	131.949	34.104	-0.932
35	31	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet	Circle K Thirstbuster	131.903	34.116	-0.944
36	61	Matt Carter	Ford	Specialty Racing	131.81	34.14	-0.968
37	4	Kertus Davis	Chevrolet	SponsorDavis.com	131.31	34.27	-1.098
38	178	Kevin Lepage	Dodge	Derrike Cope Inc.	131.306	34.271	-1.099
39	52	Brad Teague	Chevrolet	Four Points Sheraton / Porter\'s Steakhouse	131.111	34.322	-1.15
40	23	Ken Butler III	Chevrolet	Aaron\'s Dream Machine	130.966	34.36	-1.188
41	271	Joe Ruttman	Chevrolet	E.O.C. Motorsports	130.719	34.425	-1.253
42	1	Danny O\'Quinn Jr.	Chevrolet	SponsorDavis.com	130.552	34.469	-1.297
43	7	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	Protex by Bardahl	124.471	36.153	-2.981
44	26	Brian Keselowski	Dodge	Fischer Honda	-	-	-
45	10	Chad Blount	Toyota	Braun Racing	-	-	-
46	24	Eric McClure	Ford	Hefty	-	-	-
47	85	Jeff Green	Ford	31-W Insulation	-	-	-
48	47	Kelly Bires	Toyota	Construction Jobs.com	-	-	-
49	49	Mark Green	Chevrolet	GetMoreVacations.com	-	-	-