Sorenson barely squeaks into the top 30 based on his two Busch Series wins and his unlimited potential. While this team will experience some major growing pains, it will be fun watching the young Sorenson progress. The team, though, has three strikes against it before it even hits Preseason Thunder at Daytona.

Strike one is the inconsistency of the Dodge race car. We've said it several times: Penske and Evernham are struggling with the Charger's aero package, and Ganassi is even further behind.

Strike two is Sorenson's lack of experience. We believe he could use another year, or possibly two, in the Busch Series to mature. Ganassi has rushed Sorenson up to Cup because he needs to keep sponsors happy, and because Jamie McMurray fled the team. Couple that issue with the fact that Sorenson will be joined by another rookie in the organization, and you begin to see how difficult a season it may be.

Strike three is the shortcomings of a floundering Ganassi operation. The organization had a title contender in 2002 in Sterling Marlin only to engineer and mismanage itself out of contention.