DOVER, Del. (May 15, 2010)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Truck Series team had a strong run going at Dover (Del.) International Speedway until vapor lock (an air bubble in the fuel line due to excessive heat) prevented the truck from getting enough fuel in the in take to accelerate on the final restart of the Dover 200, dropping Hornaday from a fifth-place finishing position to 12th. The No. 33 team remained fourth in the Truck Series point standings, 125 markers behind new leader Aric Almirola.
“We had a decent truck in the beginning, but we just dialed ourselves out of it on the one run,” said Hornaday after the race. “We got it pretty close at one time. I’m not sure if the track changed on us, I think it did, but we just went the wrong way with our adjustments. I was just hanging on at the end. I had heard the truck in front of me was out of gas, so I just rode around under caution, but the fuel pick up on these trucks is on the right side and we just didn’t have enough fuel near the pick up to take off. Once I got down the back straight-a-way, she took off. Maybe we need to run a road course pick up here. It was just a tough day all around.”
Hornaday began the Dover 200 from the sixth position. By lap three the No. 33 truck had moved into the third position directly behind Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) teammate Elliott Sadler. The first caution of the afternoon waved on lap 19. Hornaday reported to crew chief Doug George he was a little tight, but pretty good. The No. 33 team decided to stay out and retain track position.
Hornaday continued to run second to pole-sitter Kyle Busch who had pulled out to over a one-second lead. The second caution of the afternoon waved on lap 52. The No. 33 truck was still tight. Hornaday came to pit road for the first scheduled pit stop of the day on lap 54 for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Quick work by the No. 33 team allowed Hornaday to retain the second position for the restart on lap 58. On lap 60, Hornaday snuck past Busch to assume the lead and gain five valuable bonus points. A lap later, Busch reassumed the lead as Hornaday reported that the No. 33 truck was now too free.
Trying to change his lines looking to adapt to his truck’s loose condition, Hornaday rode in the second position until the third caution waved on lap 85. The No. 33 truck had moved from a tight condition to an extremely loose condition. The No. 33 team brought Hornaday down pit road for his second scheduled pit stop of the afternoon. The team again took four tires, fuel and made another air-pressure adjustment. During the stop, the team discovered that Hornaday had picked up a large napkin, blocking his grill opening. Removing the debris, Hornaday restarted in the fifth position on lap 90, due to varying tire strategies by the lead trucks.
Not happy with the changes to the truck, Hornaday hung in the fifth position until he was able to get by Tayler Malsam who had taken two tires under the previous yellow flag for fourth. The No. 33 team gave up the third position to bring Hornaday down pit road for the third and final time on lap 124 under the sixth caution of the evening. The team changed four tires and made a wedge adjustment. Hornaday restarted on lap 127 from the 10th position after several trucks remained on the race track, while others took two tires only. By lap 142, Hornaday had moved back into the top five, but was still fighting a very loose-handling truck.
A rash of late cautions brought up debate in the No. 33 pit stall on whether to come down pit road for the two additional right-side tires the team had left, but track position was too vital to give up. On lap 173, Hornaday’s KHI teammate Sadler experienced a blown right-front tire while running second, crashing hard into turn one. Nervous about tire wear, Hornaday radioed his spotter, Rick Carelli, and said that he was “just hanging on.”
Primed for another top-five finish, Hornaday was making his way to the checkered flag when fourth-place Johnny Sauter blew a right-front tire and careened into the wall. On the lap 197 restart, Johnny Benson’s second-place truck failed to take off on the restart stacking up the field and sending the Dover 200 into a green-white-checkered scenario. Hornaday made his final restart of the evening from the sixth position. However, as the green flag waved the No. 33 truck would not accelerate due to a fuel pick up problem, stacking up the top lane. Once on the straight-a-way the No. 33 truck’s intake was finally able to get fuel which allowed Hornaday to finish the race in the 12th position.
Aric Almirola went on to win his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race followed by James Buscher, Justin Lofton, Ricky Carmichael and Todd Bodine.
Hornaday remains fourth in the Truck Series point standings 125 markers out of first. The Truck Series returns next weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the seventh race of the 2010 season.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
May 14, 2010
Dover International Speedway
Race: 6 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 6th
Finished: 12th
Truck Series Point Standings: 4th (-125)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: May 21, 2010
Track: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
Event Name: N.C. Education Lottery 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 7:30 p.m., EST MRN 7:30 p.m., EST