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With a 12th place finish at
Lowe's Motor Speedway, ACDelco Chevrolet driver Ron
Hornaday remains in the hunt for the NASCAR Busch Series
championship. Hornaday, a two-time NASCAR Southwest Tour
(1992, '93) and NASCAR Truck Series Champion ('96, '98),
is in fourth place, just 76 points out of first position.
In fact, the |
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80
points separating the top-five make it the closest NBS
points battle with five races to go in the history of the
series.
The ACDelco transporter will unload chassis No. 36. It is
the same "drop-snout" Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Hornaday
raced to a seventh place finish at Richmond International
Raceway in September. At the Richmond race, the car
carried the likeness of Lava Records, Franky Perez. This
week it will carry the 2003 ACDelco colors.
There's a first for everything... At Memphis Motorsports
Park, first belongs to Hornaday. In 1998, Hornaday won
the very first NASCAR race at the track in his No. 16
Chevrolet Silverado. It was one of six victories in '98
that propelled Hornaday to his second NASCAR Trucks Series
championship. In fact, Hornaday took over the point's
lead in '98 following his victory in Memphis...a feat he
hopes to accomplish this weekend. Last year, Hornaday
scored another top-10, finishing seventh in his No.26
Chevy.
ACDelco dominates Memphis - This has been one of the best
tracks for an ACDelco sponsored car in the past. Check
out these past performances.
|
Year |
ACDelco
Driver |
Start |
Finish |
|
1999 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr |
8th |
2nd |
|
2000 |
Kevin Harvick |
2nd |
1st |
|
2001 |
Kevin Harvick |
1st |
3rd |
|
2002 |
Johnny Sauter |
2nd |
14th |
Ron
Hornaday comments on Memphis Motorsports Park
What are your thoughts on racing at Memphis Motorsports
Park?
"What
a fun race track. I love Memphis. Always have and
probably always will. The fans are awesome. The place
is just cool. Graceland is a great place to visit. In
fact, we left tickets for the King under his door back in
1999. I'm not sure if he came or not, but I can know he
was there in spirit.
We have raced very well at Memphis. I won the race in
1998 after I blew a tire and had to fight back from a lap
down. I expect to be racing for the win. It is one of my
all-time favorite tracks."
The point's battle has been the biggest story over the
past few weeks. You have been as high as third and as low
as fifth. What are your thoughts on the point's battle?
"It's
tight. That's really all there is to say. All five teams
are top teams. Nobody in this battle is a fluke or a
surprise. At the beginning of the season we felt like we
would be racing Green, Riggs and Keller. I guess Vickers
would be a surprise if you think back to February when
this season started, but it didn't take long to realize he
is the real deal.
One of the strange things about this championship battle
compared to others I've been in is that there are five
guys this close. Back in my Truck and even Southwest Tour
days, we were usually racing one other guy, maybe two at
best. When you are racing five guys, it's impossible to
point's race. You can't do it. There is no way that the
other four will all have the same bad day. It just won't
happen. You have to race for the win. You have to lead
laps. We haven't done that in a long time and that's what
it is going to take. We have to step it up a notch, or we
have no chance at winning this deal."
Where do you think your best chances at winning are?
"You would hope everywhere. I don't know. We have won
here at Memphis in the past and we always run up front, so
I think we have as good a chance as anyone. Then you look
at the rest of the schedule and it sets up really well for
me. I won at Atlanta in an ARCA car, so I feel good about
that track. Phoenix is my home track and we are always
one of the best cars, so I know we can win there.
Rockingham is a track where we haven't won, but have
scored top-fives. And then there is Homestead. I have no
clue what to expect there. I won the truck race last
year, but that was on the flat track. We won't know
anything about Miami until out test during race week. But
then again, neither will anybody else!" |