driver Ron Hornaday, was one of the drivers affected by NASCAR’s judgement call.

The weekend started off with rain and cold temperatures in Kansas City, KS.  But the brisk weather proved no obstacle for the ACDelco team.  Hornaday was one of the fastest cars in the first practice session.  The car was fast and the handling perfect all morning long.  With the cool conditions, an early qualifying draw was the key to having a shot at the pole position.  But, Hornaday’s team drew a 50^th qualifying spot and despite the slowing of the track, the ACDelco Chevrolet posted the ninth fastest time of the day.  Michael Waltrip won the Bud pole with a new track record speed of over 178-mph.

On Saturday, race conditions were perfect.  Sunny skies and cool, yet comfortable temperatures greeted the sell out crowd.  The green flag waved and Waltrip led the field to turn one.  Point’s contender David Green took over the lead from Waltrip on lap two, giving him a crucial five-point bonus for leading a lap.  On lap four, Damon Lusk lost control of his car and slammed the outside wall in turn two.  He was okay, but the car was done for the day.  Hornaday picked up two positions before the caution and was now running seventh.

The green flag on lap 10 saw Hornaday make a “masterful” restart.  He picked off Tony Raines and Brian Vickers to move into the top-five.  He held that position until lap 28, when Hornaday was passed by Mike Bliss and Jaime McMurray.  “The car is aero tight off the corner,” radioed Hornaday to the crew.  “It’s just abusing the right front tire when I’m in traffic.”  The ACDelco Chevy continued to fall back as the car tightened up as the laps mounted.  On lap 67, Hornaday made his first pit stop of the day under green flag conditions.  The crew raised the track-bar and also adjusted the tire pressures to help the car turn.

On lap 71, Tim Fedewa spun his No. 12 Chevrolet coming off turn four to bring out the second caution of the day.  Hornaday told the crew that the car had a bad vibration.  Not wanting to risk crashing, ACDelco crew chief Rick Viers called Hornaday to pit road and the crew changed all four tires, hoping that was the cause of the vibration.  Hornaday returned to the track, but said the vibration was still there.  “I think it may be the transmission,” Hornaday told the crew.  “I’ll try to go easy on it during the restart.”  He was 14^th.

When the green flag waved to restart the race, Hornaday settled in line and raced off into turn one.  Two laps later, he told the crew that the car was “free”, meaning the back of the car wanted to spin around.  On lap 84, that’s just what happened.  As Hornaday drove into turn one, the car slid up the track and then did two complete spins.  The ACDelco Monte Carlo came to rest in the grass off of turn two and fortunately was not damaged.  The team went to work on the car during the yellow to tighten it back up.  “Well, I guess that adjustment was too much,” Hornaday told Viers.  “Let’s go back half way.  The car is really cutting now, but it’s too loose into the corner.”

The race went back to green at lap 88, with Hornaday in 17^th.  The NASCAR Busch Series points leader Brain Vickers made contact with Jason Leffler in turn one of the restart and Vickers backed hard into the wall.  The car was badly damaged and he would be relinquished to 32^nd position.  Hornaday radioed the crew that the car was still “free” into the corner, but that he felt he could drive it if he let off sooner getting into the corner.

During the middle stages of the race, the ACDelco crew tried to get Hornaday track position, while adjusting the car.  On lap 133, the team took gas only and got the ‘blue deuce” out in second place.  Hornaday was able to lead a lap on the restart and pick up his five-point bonus.  But without fresh Goodyear’s, Hornaday dropped back in the pack.  He eventually settled into 18^th, but the bonus points made it worth it.

The late stages of the race saw the ACDelco team trying everything they could to get the car better for Hornaday.  The car had become very aero dependant and when the No. 2 got around other cars, Hornaday claimed he was out of control.  The ACDelco team tried track-bar and air pressure adjustments to help the car.  They also pulled out on the fenders for more downforce, but the car never was good enough to allow Hornaday to charge to the front.  

At the front of the pack, Michael Waltrip had the race all but won.  But it would not be his day.  With just five laps to go, his Chevrolet blew a right front tire, and hit the wall bringing out the caution.  That set up a wild one-lap shootout for the win, and some controversy.

The field took the green, but new leader Bobby Hamilton, Jr. sputtered on the start and David Green got by.  Greg Biffle also tried to get the spot and hit the back of Hamilton, spinning the No. 25 into the wall.  Several other cars were caught up in the crash, and Hornaday narrowly avoided the accident.  It was at this point that confusion set in.  NASCAR’s new rule prevents racing to the line when the caution is displayed, including the last lap.  Hornaday managed to pick up several spots in the turn one crash, but didn’t race anyone once he saw the caution lights for the first time in turn three.  When he crossed the line and took the checkered flag, Hornaday had finished 12^th and remained in third place in points just 42 out of the lead. 

However, 30 minutes after the finish, NASCAR claimed that they called for the caution while the field was between turns one and two.  They admitted the yellow lights and flag did not wave on time, but that the race was considered complete at the point they called caution.  That judgement call scrambled the field and put Hornaday back two spots to 14^th.  It moved Jason Keller from outside the top-15, to fourth and Scott Riggs from 14^th to 13^th.   That change pushed Hornaday back to fourth in points, 48 markers out of first.

The NASCAR Busch Series returns to action at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Friday, October 10th.  Hornaday is fourth in the NASCAR Busch Series point’s standings, just 48 points out of first.