CONCORD, N.C. (May 22, 2010)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 team scored another solid top-five finish to round out the month of May fourth in the Truck Series point standings, 103 markers out of the lead spot. Hornaday and the No. 33 team led 28 laps on their way to a third-place finish Friday night in the N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
“I think I got a little too tight there at the end,” said Hornaday following the race. “It was a good night for the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet. We had a really good truck through the mid-portion of the race, but we ended up a little too tight at the end to do anything with Kyle [Busch]. I had a lot of fun tonight racing with Todd [Bodine] and all those guys. Everyone did a really good job. Not the finish we really wanted but it is a good point’s day and we will take another solid finish. I’m really looking forward to Texas in a few weeks where we can apply some of the things we learned here tonight.”
Coming into the seventh race of the season, Hornaday had nine wins at 1.5-mile tracks in 65 starts. Following a three-hour rain delay Hornaday and the No. 33 team began the N.C. Education Lottery 200 from the fifth position. The first caution of the night waved on lap 10 when the No. 3 truck blew a left-rear tire crashing hard into the outside wall. The No. 33 chose to remain on the race track to save tires and valuable track position. By lap 22, Hornaday was battling his Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) teammate Elliott Sadler for the third position. The second caution waved on lap 24. The No. 33 team hit pit road on lap 26 for their first scheduled pit stop of the night. The team opted to take fuel only to gain track position. The No. 2 team adopted the same strategy and came out the leader for the restart on lap 28 with Hornaday starting alongside in second.
The race then went on a long green-flag run. Hornaday settled into the fifth position battling Bodine for fourth. The two raced side-by-side for more than 20 laps until the No.33 finally prevailed past Bodine on lap 66. Hornaday’s KHI teammate Sadler led 31 laps before giving up the lead on lap 68 when the team had to pit for fuel after not filling the truck completely on the first round of pit stops.
Hornaday moved into the third position and anticipated making a pit stop on lap 80. Seconds before he was to hit pit road, the caution waved for the No. 85 truck which had caught fire on the frontstretch. The trucks were brought down pit road under caution for the extensive clean-up effort that ensued to remove debris from the track. When pit road opened on lap 84, the team brought the No. 33 down for their second and final pit stop of the night, changing four tires and adding fuel. Quick work by the No. 33 team returned Hornaday to the track in the second position for the restart on lap 88. The ‘restart king’ made quick work of leader Bodine jumping out to pace the field on lap 90.
Hornaday led a total of 28 laps before the fifth caution of the night waved on lap 111. The No. 33 team chose to remain on the track since they had used their last set of tires and track position was so vital. Early race leader Kyle Busch lined up to Hornaday’s outside for the restart on lap 117. Hornaday was unable to hold of a hard-charging Busch falling to third while battling once again with Bodine for second. A rash of cautions late in the event resulted in the race coming down to a three-lap shootout for the finish. Hornaday lined up in position to battle for the win but could not get a good enough start to challenge Busch for the win, crossing the finish line in the third position.
Busch won his second Truck Series race of 2010 followed by Bodine, Hornaday, James Buscher and Hornaday’s KHI teammate Sadler in fifth.
Hornaday remains fourth in the Truck Series point standings 103 markers out of first. The Truck Series returns to action in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway for the eighth race of the 2010 season.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
May 21, 2010
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race: 7 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 5th
Finished: 3rd
Truck Series Point Standings: 4th (-103)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: June 4, 2010
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Event Name: WinStar World Casino 400K
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 9:00 p.m., EST MRN 9:00 p.m., EST