HAMPTON, Ga. (September 4, 2011) — The No. 33 Armour/Ingles Chevrolet Silverado was a damaged machine when four-time champion Ron Hornaday pulled in to victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday night. Hornaday received left front fender damage at the start of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and worked his way through the field to bring home the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team its second win of the season, and Hornaday’s 49th career win.
The No. 33 Chevrolet qualified for the Good Sam Club 200 in the 17th position. As the field took the green flag for the 130-lap event, trucks in front of the KHI machine began to check up making contact with one another. Hornaday made contact with another competitor sustaining damage to the left-front hood and fender.
Despite the damage, Hornaday picked up two positions by the time the first caution flag was displayed on lap 20 for oil on the track. Crew chief Jeff Hensley brought Hornaday down pit road for four tires, fuel and to make repairs to the Armour/Ingles Chevrolet. The team made two additional stops during the caution period to make further repairs and to top off with fuel placing Hornaday in the 27th position for the lap 26 restart.
Driving through the field picking off competitors one at a time, Hornaday was up to the 14th position by lap 32. A two-truck accident in turn four on lap 38 brought out the second caution of the night. The Armour/Ingles Chevrolet was scored 13th and decided to stay out to maintain track position.
When the field went back racing on lap 42, Hornaday was on his way to the front of the field, picking up two additional spots by lap 54. The driver had moved to the 11th position when the third caution flag waved on lap 60. As the field slowed, Hornaday reported he was losing grip and had no bite off the corners. Hensley brought the No. 33 Chevrolet down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. The KHI crew executed a solid stop and picked up five positions on pit road.
Green-flag racing resumed on lap 64 with Hornaday in the sixth position. When the caution waved for a fourth time on lap 73, Hornaday had dropped back to 12th and radioed to Hensley he was fighting tight conditions. Hensley called Hornaday to pit road and to ensure the vehicle was not in need of further repairs from the early-race incident. The team made one additional stop to top off on fuel and Hornaday lined up in the 26th place for the lap 76 restart.
Back under green, the Armour/Ingles Chevrolet began to move forward, advancing to the 22nd spot just as the final caution flag of the night waved on lap 79 for a spin on the frontstretch. Hensley instructed Hornaday to stay out, and to save fuel on the caution laps. When the field resumed green-flag conditions on lap 81, Hornaday was scored 19th.
Within two laps of racing, Hornaday picked up seven positions and moved into 12th on lap 84. With 30 laps to go, the driver was sitting 10th when Hensley reported that the leaders would not be able to make it on fuel and would be coming to pit road for green-flag pit stops within the next five laps. On lap 111, the leaders began to hit pit road, moving the No. 33 Armour/Ingles Chevrolet to the lead position on lap 113. Hornaday held on to the lead position as the laps wound down and brought home his second win of the season and second-career Truck Series victory at Atlanta. The win is the driver’s 49th career victory in the series, edging him closer to 50 series’ wins. Hornaday gains four positions in the Driver’s Point standings to fifth, 48 points behind the leader James Buescher.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action at Chicagoland Speedway on September 16. Watch the action live on SPEED at 8 p.m. ET.
Comments from driver Ron Hornaday:
“Jeff and all the guys worked hard. We got back up to sixth place after the damage early on and with that awesome stop in the pits. After about three laps into it, my truck was really tight. I asked Jeff [Hensley] what he did to the truck, and he said the tape had blown off. It’s amazing what a piece of duct tape will do to the performance of your truck at Atlanta Motor Speedway. We came in and put some more tape on and pulled the spring rubber and we were really good. This Armour/Ingles Chevrolet is a winning paint scheme and we did it again tonight.”
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