FT. WORTH, Texas (June 7, 2009)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Longhorn Chevrolet Silverado team stampeded into Texas looking toward a third consecutive victory at the 1.5-mile D-Shaped oval. However, it was not meant to be as trouble on pit road and a broken oil pump belt late in the race would take Hornaday out of contention for the win.
“It was a tough night for the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet,” said Hornaday. “The truck was never really down in the race track. We were all over the place loose and tight. We will be okay though; this team came back from tire trouble in Dover to give me a fast truck. The Longhorn brand is really sticking with us, so we will head to the house and go get them next week.”
Hornaday and the No. 33 KHI Longhorn Chevrolet Silverado team qualified second for the WinStar World Casino 400. Johnny Sauter led the field to the green flag. As the race began, the No. 33 was running lap times that mirrored the leader. Hornaday was able to get to Sauter’s back bumper but became aero tight as soon as he tried to pass. The first caution of the race waved on lap 40 for last week’s winner Brian Scott who scraped the outside wall in turn four. Crew chief Rick Ren called for four tires and a left side air-pressure adjustment. The following lap the No. 33 would come back down pit road for fuel. Two quick stops placed Hornaday in the lead for the restart at lap 45.
Hornaday would dominate the mid-portion of the race, leading a race high 56 laps and pulling away from second place by a two-second margin. Hornaday gave up the lead on lap 98 to begin a round of green-flag pit stops. The No. 33 came to pit road for four tires and an air-pressure adjustment. The following lap Hornaday would come in for two cans of fuel. Hornaday and the No. 33 team were then charged with a pass-through penalty for a tire that had gotten away from the team during the four-tire exchange. As the stops cycled through, Hornaday was scored in the 12th position, one lap behind the leaders.
The third caution of the race on lap 122 for debris found Hornaday one position shy of the “lucky dog” award which would have placed the No. 33 back on the lead lap. The team pitted for the final time on laps 124 and 125 for tires and fuel. Hornaday battled the leaders on the restart trying to regain his lap. With eight laps remaining in the event the No. 33 was scored in the 11th position, one lap down, when Hornaday came on the radio and told the team he had lost all oil pressure. He brought the No. 33 to pit road and the team discovered an oil pump belt had came loose from the truck. The team quickly replaced the belt, but not before the No. 33 went four laps down to the leader relegating him to a 19th place finish.
Todd Bodine went on to win at Texas Motor Speedway, followed by new championship points leader Matt Crafton, Colin Braun, Johnny Benson and Rick Crawford.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
June 5, 2009
Texas Motor Speedway
Race: 8 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 2nd
Finished: 19th
Truck Series Point Standings: 2nd (-1)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: June 13th, 2009
Track: Michigan International Speedway
Event Name: Michigan 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 1:30 p.m., EST (Tape Delay) MRN 1:30 p.m., EST