ESPN Sprint Cup

Road racing ace Scott Pruett will replace Reed Sorenson in the No. 41 Dodge this weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., Chip Ganassi Racing officials confirmed Tuesday.

Officials said the decision was made on the basis that the No. 41 team is within 29 points of falling outside the top 35 in owner standings -- the threshold for a guaranteed position in the coming race.

"I'm for it. Me and Chip [Ganassi] got together and came to this conclusion together. I'm not hurt at all," Sorenson, who is 32nd in the current driver standings, said. "The thing is, what I am hurt by is that we're this far back in points and have to worry about it. That upsets me and Chip both the most."

Pruett, who is in his fifth season racing for Ganassi in the Rolex Sports Car Series, has recorded three career top-five finishes in Sprint Cup Series competition -- all on road courses.

"Scott should be better at the road course. He should be better than me," Sorenson said. "It's what he does. It would be a bad idea if we didn't try that. We don't need two cars outside the top 35. I don't ever want to find myself in that situation. By putting Scott in there, hopefully he can get a solid finish to help us out in the owner's points.

"That's the smart thing to do. The thing is, too, if you look at everybody around us ... Robby [Gordon] is near us, and he's real good there. [Road ringer] Ron Fellows is driving the [Dale Earnhardt, Inc.] 01 car. I'm not a road racer. I've gotten better, we just felt like Scott is a road racer and hopefully he can help us out, get us points. I'll be there all weekend helping however I can."

Marty Smith is the NASCAR reporter for ESPN.