LAS VEGAS (September 26, 2010)—- Ron Hornaday brought the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) E-Z-GO Chevrolet to Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) looking for his first win at the 1.5-mile speedway, one of only eight tracks on the current Truck Series schedule in which the four-time champion has yet to master. Early in the event the No. 33 truck looked to be a contender, leading 23 laps before relinquishing the lead to another competitor. The No. 33 truck became too tight late in the race and Hornaday was unable to contend with the leaders for the win, crossing the finish line in the 11th position.
“It is a really disappointing finish for the No. 33 team,” said Hornaday following the race. “We had a really good No. 33 E-Z-GO Chevrolet early in the race. We fought a tight condition all race long. As the race wore on we went the wrong way with our adjustments. We never could figure out how to make the truck turn. I’m looking forward to regrouping over these next few weeks and going back to short-track racing in Martinsville.”
Hornaday began the Smith’s Food & Drug Stores 350 from the seventh position and immediately radioed to the crew that he was too tight all the way around. The first caution of the night waved on lap 11, but the team decided it was too early to give up track position and opted to remain on track. Hornaday restarted the race from the sixth position on lap 17. Hornaday slowly began to move up through the field and by lap 21, Hornaday had moved into the fourth position. The caution waved for the second time on lap 23. Hornaday brought the No. 33 truck down pit road for fuel only while many of the leaders chose to take tires. The trucks in front of Hornaday pitted the run before as they were running mid pack and opted to try and gain track position if a quick caution came out. The No. 33 restarted the race in the sixth position on lap 26 and one lap later, Hornaday moved into the second position ready to battle the No. 4 of Ricky Carmichael for the lead. The No. 33 took the lead for the first time and only time of the night on lap 28 holding the top spot for 23 laps until he lost the side-by-side battle with the No. 31 of James Buescher.
After losing the lead, Hornaday reported that the truck was still too tight. The caution waved on lap 60 giving the No. 33 truck the opportunity to come to pit road for four tires, fuel and to take a spring rubber out of the left-rear. The removal of the rubber and differing pit strategies from the lead trucks placed Hornaday in the 14th position for the restart on lap 64. Two laps later Hornaday took over the sixth position, making his way back toward the top spot. At the half-way mark on lap 73, Hornaday was scored in the fifth position. With the laps winding down, Hornaday continued to reiterate to the team just how tight the No. 33 was becoming and as the truck burned off fuel, it gained more nose weight creating a bouncing effect between the right and left-front springs. Hornaday held on to the sixth position when the caution waved again on lap 94. The team opted to pit on lap 97 taking four tires, fuel, removing another spring rubber from the left-rear and making an air-pressure adjustment.
With 46 laps remaining, Hornaday restarted from the eighth position. However, Hornaday began to fall back through the field. He reported that the No. 33 truck was tighter than before and the adjustments did not do anything to help the tight condition. The caution waved again on lap 106. The No. 33 team did not want to pit and give up track position. Knowing that the truck would not hold up in the condition it was in, Hornaday brought the No. 33 truck down pit road for the final time of the evening for four tires, fuel and to add two spring rubbers back into the left-rear. Hornaday restarted the Smith’s Food & Drug 350 from the 17th position with 35 laps remaining.
Hornaday slowly made his way back up through the field, climbing as high as eighth before falling back to the 11th position when the checkered flag flew. Austin Dillon went on to win his second race of the 2010 season followed by Johnny Sauter, James Buescher, Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton.
The Truck Series takes a three week hiatus before returning to action at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on October 23rd. The Kroger 200 can be seen live on SPEED at 12:30pm, EST.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
September 25, 2010
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race: 20 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 7th
Finished: 11th
Truck Series Point Standings: 7th, 509 points behind leader Todd Bodine
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: October 23, 2010
Track: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Event Name: Kroger 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 12:30 p.m., EST MRN 12:45 p.m., EST