"I've been around running NASCAR five full years," said Sorenson who has raced in the Sprint Cup Series three full seasons. "That kind of freaks people out when I tell them my age. I've never thought the whole age thing is a big deal. I started real young in this sport, obviously."

It's a big deal when you realize Sorenson's best years of performance are ahead of him. That's what Richard Petty Motorsports believes as it puts Sorenson in its famed No. 43 Dodge in the 2009 Sprint Cup season.

"We think of Reed as a diamond in the rough," said Mark McArdle, the team's vice-president and director of competition. "He has natural talent and we believe if we surround him with the right people you will see him develop and blossom."

When Sorenson blossoms at RPM, it will be because the seeds were planted years about by Sorenson's parents Brad and Becky.

After five successful seasons in regional Quarter Midgets, Sorenson became the National Champion in 1997. In all he earned nine Southeastern Championships and set 15 different track records and several qualifying records during his tenure in the Quarter Midget ranks.

Sorenson next spent five full seasons (1998-2002) in Legends Cars, racking up 84 wins, 152 top-five finishes and 166 top-10 finishes in 183 starts. From there he moved on to the American Speed Association (ASA), where he recorded seven top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in 25 starts.

In addition, in 2003 he became the youngest driver to-date to receive rookie-of-the-year honorsen route to a fourth-place finish in overall series standings.

Sorenson signed to drive the in Chip Ganassi Racing's driver development program late in 2003. The racing world truly got a taste for Sorenson's talents in 2005 during his first full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). In only the sixth race of the season, Sorenson dominated the event en route to his first career series victory at Nashville Superspeedway. After winning again at Gateway, he spent the rest of the season competing for the championship (finishing fourth) and contending for rookie-of-the-year honors, getting edged out slightly for the rookie title by Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards, who was competing full-time in both series.

Sorenson's freshman season in the NSCS was full of ups and downs. However, he showed much promise, scoring his first Sprint Cup Series top -10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in just his sixth career start. He followed that up with his first top - five at Michigan International Speedway in June. In all, Sorenson recorded one top-five and five top-10 finishes while finishing 24th in the overall Sprint Cup standings. In addition to his Cup Series duties, Sorenson recorded five top-five and 14 top-10 finishes running a limited schedule in the Nationwide Series, with an overall finish of 10th in the standings.

In 2006, Sorenson exploded onto the scene scoring five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in his rookie year. His first pole came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007 and later that season he drove to a career-best third-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Late in the 2008 season he announced his move to RPM."I think I needed a new environment and I'm confident this team is going to get me back to where I was headed," Sorenson said. "This team has a lot of qualities and I think fans will start to see that on the track."

Sorenson isn't going at it alone. The 22-year-old will partner with teammates Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler for his fourth full season in NASCAR's elite series.

"We have a lot of goals but ultimately in this sport it is about winning races and championships and we aren't going to quit working hard until we race the No. 43 back to victory lane where we are holding that championship trophy over our heads."