NEWTON, Iowa (July 12, 2010)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 team finished the Lucas Oil 200 in the 24th position after the No. 33 truck was involved in a multi-truck accident on lap 113. Bad luck not only struck the No. 33 team, but affected all of the top four teams in the driver point standings. Despite a 24th-place finish, Hornaday was able to move up one position in the standings to third, 191 points behind leader Todd Bodine.
“We really struggled with our truck all day,” said Hornaday following the race. “We never could get it to handle the way we wanted it to, nothing we did helped. We threw a lot of things at the truck on that last pit stop. Everyone started stacking up in front of me; there was really nothing I could have done to stay out of the wreck. I checked up, but I was on the top side and had no place to go. I hate it for our sponsor this week, Karl Chevrolet, we really had a lot of fun with them and we were hoping for a better run.”
Hornaday started the Lucas Oil 200 from the 15th position. Only a few laps into the race, Hornaday radioed crew chief Doug George and emphasized that the truck was too loose. While running in the 13th position, the No. 33 team got their first opportunity to make adjustments to the truck when the first caution of the day waved on lap 38.
Hornaday brought the truck down pit road for four tires, fuel, added wedge into the truck, adjusted the air pressure in the tires and made a change to the left-rear shock. Hornaday restarted the race on lap 44 in the 15th position.
Four laps later, Hornaday moved into the 12th spot and was making his way toward the top 10. The chassis adjustments had improved the handling of the truck slightly, but until he could get more service, Hornaday moved up a lane on the race track to see if he could improve his lap times. By lap 58, Hornaday moved into the 10th position.
As the run went on, Hornaday radioed the crew to let them know he needed more right-side grip and the truck was still loose. The No. 33 truck also began to bottom out, making it hard to navigate the bumps on the race track.
On lap 75, the caution waved for the second time. The No. 33 team once again brought the truck down pit road. The team opted to save a set of tires for the end of the race, only taking on fuel and making more chassis adjustments to aid in Hornaday’s handling issues. The race restarted on lap 81 with Hornaday scored in the 16th position. Immediately following the restart, the No. 33 truck became extremely loose. The team once again devised a plan to adjust the handling of the truck.
The caution waved for the third time on lap 106. Hornaday followed the field down pit road for his third pit stop of the day. The team took on four tires, fuel, made a track-bar adjustment and added a rubber to the right-rear spring. Hornaday restarted the race in the 16th position for the restart on lap 112. When the green flag waved, Bodine and Brain Ickler touched, sending Ickler into Donny Lia and creating a multi-truck wreck going into turn one. Running the high lane, Hornaday had nowhere to go and ran into the back of Greg Pursley, sustaining heavy front-end damage which sent him to the garage for repairs.
The team changed the radiator and removed mangled sheet metal. Thirty-one laps later, the No. 33 team returned to the track in the 25th position. The team continued to work on the truck for the duration of the race and moved up one position to finish the Lucas Oil 200 in the 24th spot, 34 laps down to the leaders.
Austin Dillion went on to win his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the pole followed by Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) teammate Ken Schrader and James Buescher.
Hornaday moved up one position in the point standings to third, 191 points behind leader Bodine. The Truck Series returns to action Friday, July 16th at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
July 11, 2010
Iowa Speedway
Race: 10 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 15th
Finished: 24th
Truck Series Point Standings: 3rd (+1) 191 points behind first
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: July 16, 2010
Track: Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway
Event Name: CampingWorld.com 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 8:30 p.m., EST MRN 8:30 p.m., EST