LOUDON N.H. (September 21, 2009)—- Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Copart Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team came to New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a clear goal, to get momentum back on their side. For the second week in a row Hornaday came to the race track with a dominate truck leading the most laps and running in the top five during the entire event. However, the Heluva Good! 200 took on an uncharacteristic long green-flag run during the second half of the race. Teams were forced to make a quick green-flag stop for a splash of fuel with less than 30 laps remaining. Hornaday needed five seconds; race winner Kyle Busch only needed four. The three-time Truck Series champion kept the bigger picture in mind, holding off a hard charging Kevin Harvick late in the race to finish second and swing the momentum back into the No. 33 camp, gaining 20 championship points over Matt Crafton.
“It was a really good run for the Copart Chevrolet,” said Hornaday after the race. “We had to be conservative and take on enough fuel to make sure we could go past a green, white, checkered finish if it came to that. Kyle (Busch) could gamble so he beat us out of the pits by not taking on as much fuel. We tried to catch him at the end but our tires were just gone by that point. I knew that Kevin (Harvick) was coming. He got up to me three or four times and I backed off so he could get underneath me but could never complete the pass. I didn’t realize he was as loose on the bottom as he was. We raced hard and got a good finish. I’ll take second.”
Hornaday started the Heluva Good! 200 from the third position and as the race began pole sitter Mike Skinner and eventual race winner Kyle Busch battled for the lead beating and banging off each other down the front stretch. Hornaday rode in third until the two became single file. Hornaday’s truck was better later into a green flag run. As the laps ticked off so did the distance to the leaders. By lap 18, Hornaday had moved into second and was stalking Busch for the lead. The first caution of the race waved on lap 38. The No. 33 team gave up the second position to come to pit road for the first scheduled pit stop of the race on lap 39. The team changed four tires and made a slight air-pressure adjustment. The following lap the No. 33 was back on pit road for fuel. Hornaday’s KHI teammate Kevin Harvick took fuel only and was scored as the leader for the restart on lap 43.
Harvick’s older tires proved to be no match for Busch as he quickly reassumed the lead. Hornaday passed teammate Harvick, setting his sights on Busch. By lap 69, Hornaday took the lead and a few laps later had pulled away from Busch and began to negotiate lap traffic. The second caution of the race waved on lap 91. Crew chief Rick Ren made the tough call to come down pit road on lap 93 for fuel only. Four trucks went with the same strategy including Busch; however the majority of the field elected to take on tires and fuel. Hornaday would restart as the leader on lap 98, pulling away to a 10-truck length advantage over Busch 10 laps later. As Hornaday paced the field, his KHI teammate Harvick made good use of his four fresh tires, methodically negotiating his way through traffic.
With 50 laps remaining Harvick caught Hornaday for the lead. As the KHI trucks raced side-by-side rookie Johnny Sauter moved to their back bumpers. Unable to make the remainder of the 200-lap event on fuel, Ren made the call to come to pit road for a splash of gas on lap 169. The No. 33 truck only needed five seconds, equaling eight gallons, of gas to make it to the end of the race and through a green, white, checkered scenario. Hornaday’s team executed the fuel stop perfectly; however, Busch only took four seconds worth of gas, leaving Hornaday a second behind on the track with less than 30 laps remaining. The final caution of the race waved on lap 188 for debris, setting up Busch, Hornaday and Harvick for a seven-lap shoot out. Busch got a good restart leaving Hornaday and Harvick to battle for second. Busch went on to take the checkers, winning his third race in three Truck Series starts. Hornaday would hold off Harvick for second gaining 20 championship points on Matt Crafton who finished fourth. Hornaday now leads Crafton by 217 points with six Truck Series races remaining.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
September 19, 2009
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race: 19 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 3rd
Finished: 4th
Truck Series Point Standings: 1st (+217)
Race length: 200 Laps/ 211.6 Miles
Track layout: 1.058-mile
Shape: Oval
Number of Race Cautions: 3 for 14 laps
First Practice: First (29.793 seconds; 127.842 mph)
Final Practice: Second (29.610 seconds, 128.632 mph)
Qualifying: Third (29.857 seconds, 127.568 mph)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: September 26, 2009
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Event Name: Qwik Liner Las Vegas 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Sponsor: Copart
Broadcast Time: SPEED 9:00 p.m., EST MRN 9:00 p.m., EST