JOLIET, Ill. (August 30, 2009)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Turtle Wax Chevrolet team were in uncharted territory this weekend as the Truck Series arrived for the first time at Chicagoland Speedway. The team tested at the 1.5-mile track last year, and went off what notes they had to set up the No. 33 truck to make a bid for their seventh win of the season. Rain throughout the weekend resulted in minimal practice on Thursday in preparation for Friday night’s EnjoyIllnois.com 200. As the green-flag fell, Hornaday and team proved once again that preparation and perspiration lead to fast race trucks. However, pit road strategies would dictate the outcome of the race and force Hornaday to fight his way back from two laps down to score his 14th top-15 finish of 2009.
“We had a really good Turtle Wax truck,” said Hornaday. “Unfortunately, we were not able to show just how good we were. There have been times this year that pit strategy has worked out for us and got us a win. This time we were on the other end of the deal. We got caught a lap down there and I felt like tires made a major difference. They did, but track position ended up meaning more. I’m glad we finally did get our lap back so that we could get up to 11th. I would have really liked a top-10 finish, but we just ran out of time.”
Hornaday began the inaugural Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway from the sixth starting position. The first caution of the race waved at lap two for a spin off turn two by the No. 90 truck. As the drivers began to learn the nuances of the track, the top 10 ran single file behind leader Kyle Busch. At lap 19, the caution waved for the second time for debris. Hornaday and the No. 33 team gave up the fourth position to come to pit road for fuel only. Several other teams, including Kyle Bush, Todd Bodine, Brain Scott, and Colin Braun elected to take on tires and then come back the following lap for fuel. The No. 33 team felt like track position was more valuable than tires, choosing to remain on the race track the following lap.
Hornaday restarted in the second position on lap 24. By the third caution on lap 30, Hornaday had found his rhythm on the race track and was significantly faster than leader Matt Crafton. On lap 36 Hornaday assumed the lead for the first time. However, his reign of the top spot would be short lived. Kyle Busch took the top spot two laps later after making Hornaday’s truck too loose to hold on to the lead. Following the exchange, Hornaday settled into the second position as the race progressed with a long green-flag run.
On lap 70 the field began to make green-flag pit stops. The No. 33 truck gave up the second position on lap 80 to take on four tires and make no adjustments. Hornaday told crew chief Rick Ren that the truck was the best it had been all night, the only reason Kyle (Busch) was beating them was the fact he had 20 lap fresher tires. In order to make it on fuel to the end of the race, Hornaday came down pit road again on lap 84 to take on fuel. As green-flag stops continued to cycle through, some of the teams that had taken on tires at lap 20 elected to stop for fuel only under green-flag conditions. Differing pit strategies pinned the No. 33 team two laps down to the leader in 18th position. By lap 91, Hornaday had moved up to the 12th position one lap down to the leaders. On lap 95, Hornaday’s KHI teammate Ricky Carmichael spun through the grass off of turn four, bringing out the caution and trapping Hornaday one lap down to the leaders.
On lap 97 the No. 33 team came back down pit road to top off for fuel, the following lap the No. 33 truck was back on pit road for four tires. Hornaday felt the tires would make a major difference in navigating through traffic. With 50 laps remaining Hornaday restarted in the 17th position. At lap 105, Hornaday’s lap times were faster than the leaders, but he was mired back in traffic trying to get his lap back. On lap 114, Hornaday radioed the crew and asked if there might have been a wheel left loose on the pit stop because he had picked up a vibration. At lap 121 the caution waved, but Hornaday was two trucks away from being the lucky dog recipient. The team came to pit road on lap 123 to change four tires just to be sure that a wheel had not been left loose. Finally, a late caution at lap 137 made Hornaday the recipient of the lucky dog award and he was able to return to the lead lap. Hornaday had to start at the tail end of the longest line being scored in 13th position for the final restart of the race on lap 143. With few laps remaining, Hornaday was able to move up two more positions and cross the start-finish line in 11th position. Hornaday remains the points leader by 220 markers over Matt Crafton.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
August 28, 2009
Chicagoland Speedway
Race: 16 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 6th
Finished: 11th
Truck Series Point Standings: 1st (+220)
Race length: 150 Laps/ 225 Miles
Track layout: 1.5-mile
Shape: D-shaped oval
Number of Race Cautions: 7 for 28 Laps
First Practice: Second (31.618 seconds; 170.789 mph)
Second Practice: Second (31.607 seconds; 170.848 mph)
Third Practice: Sixth (31.545 seconds, 171.184 mph)
Final Practice: Fourth (31.261 second, 172.739 mph)
Qualifying: Sixth (31.470 seconds; 179.592 mph)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: September 5, 2009
Track: Iowa Speedway
Event Name: Lucas Oil 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Sponsor: Longhorn
Broadcast Time: SPEED 9:30 p.m., EST MRN 9:15 p.m., EST