MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 25, 2009)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team braved through all the rain at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway to overcome a pit-road penalty and finish fourth in the Kroger 200 on Saturday. Hornaday led 54 of the 200 laps, but fading brakes at the end of the race denied him his first win in 15 attempts at the paperclip-shaped track.
“We weren’t points racing,” said Hornaday following the race. “Todd (Bodine) was a little slower right in the center. I went up after the race and told him I didn’t mean to run in to him every time, but I had just burned my brakes up behind him. There at the end Colin (Braun) was able to get by me. I am sure glad Colin ran in to the side of my door, it straightened me back up or I might have been in trouble there. It was just an awesome day for the VFW Chevrolet. This was one hurdle we had to jump and we jumped it. When those other guys came and got tires, I thought we were a sitting duck but it was a good call. It was a good day. We waited until 47 or 50 laps to pit and guys were coming on new tires but we did what we needed to do.”
Hornaday started the Kroger 200 from the outside position and on the first lap made a move to get around pole sitter Mike Skinner to lead lap one. Hornaday set the pace until the first caution of the race waved on lap 32. Crew chief Rick Ren made the call to leave the No. 33 on the race track because it was too early in the race for the team to be able to make it to the end on fuel. The majority of the field came down for four tires and fuel. Hornaday continued to lead over KHI teammate Kevin Harvick on the lap 38 restart. Hornaday pulled out to a one second advantage over second place when the second caution waved on lap 52.
On lap 53, the No. 33 team pitted for four tires and a slight air-pressure adjustment, as they were barely in their pit window to make it to the end of the race on fuel. The following lap the team came back down for fuel. However, the top three trucks of Hornaday, Harvick and Skinner were caught speeding and were forced to the tail end of the longest line for the restart. Hornaday found himself going from the lead to 18th position during the sequence of pit stops. Hornaday tucked himself behind teammate Harvick on the restart on lap 58 to try and follow the No. 4 through traffic. However, on lap 64, the No. 4 cut down a left-rear tire and was forced to pit. Hornaday then followed Bodine to the front of the field. Scored in the 13th position as the caution waved for the third time on lap 71, Hornaday radioed his crew and told them he was beginning to have trouble with the brakes and was having to pump them several times in order to stop the No. 33 truck. By lap 83, Hornaday had moved back into the top 10, methodically working his way back through traffic.
By lap 100 Hornaday had worked his way up to the sixth position. Trying to make it a one pit stop race Hornaday was asked to conserve as much fuel as possible. Under the sixth caution on lap 122, the team told Hornaday that he could definitely make it to the end on fuel. On the restart on lap 125, Hornaday was scored in the third position. He continued to battle Bodine for the second spot but could not make the pass. As the laps wound down Hornaday continued to battle Bodine for second. However, his brakes continued to fade and finally had to give way to the advances of Colin Braun for third with only 25 laps remaining. Hornaday would remain in the fourth position when the checkered flag flew.
Hornaday’s teammate Harvick battled back to regain both laps he lost under green when he was forced to pit for the flat left-rear tire. Harvick came back to finish behind Hornaday in fifth. Timothy Peters scored his first Truck Series victory followed by Bodine, Braun, Hornaday and Harvick. Hornaday remains the championship point’s leader by 224 makers over Matt Crafton with four races remaining in the 2009 season.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
October 24, 2009
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Race: 21 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 2nd
Finished: 4th
Truck Series Point Standings: 1st (+224)
Race length: 200 Laps/ 105.2 Miles
Track layout: 0.526-mile
Shape: Oval
Number of Race Cautions: 8 for 39 laps
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: October 31, 2009
Track: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Event Name: Mountain Dew 250
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Sponsor: Copart
Broadcast Time: SPEED 4:00 p.m., EST MRN 4:00 p.m., EST