flashy or perfect by any means, it was good enough to move Hornaday to third in points - just 35 markers out of first.

So far in 2003, the 1.5-mile quad-ovals that make up Atlanta, Charlotte, and Texas, have not been good to the ACDelco Chevrolet.  Hornaday’s average finish at those tracks coming into AMS was a disappointing 15th.  And with just four races left, AMS was the one flaw in the Hornaday armor.

From the very start of the weekend, the ACDelco team searched for speed.  The first practice showed Hornaday eighth fastest in race trim, but 24^th fastest in qualifying trim.  The ACDelco team made wholesale changes to the car before the qualifying run, but the car still didn’t have the speed needed to break into the top-10.  A lap of 186.247 mph put Hornaday 21^st on the grid.  Greg Biffle won the pole for the Aaron’s 312 with a speed of 192.300 mph.

When the green flag waved to start the race, the outside lane was slow to start, which gave Hornaday on the inside lane a great start.  By lap two, Hornaday had moved up to 14^th.  “The car is a little wiggly at first, but it is pretty good in traffic,” said Hornaday.  The point’s battle took a turn in just the first two laps as well.  Point’s leader Brian Vickers made contact with Hank Parker, Jr. in turn one and damaged the front nose of his GMAC Chevrolet.  The damage was severe enough that Vickers finished 31^st and dropped from first to fifth in the championship title chase.

On the restart, Hornaday charged past Kasey Kahne to take over the 12^th position.  He then battled with Scott Wimmer side-by-side before grabbing the 11^th spot.  “The car is very air tight off the corner, Hornaday said.  “When nobody is in front of me, I’m pretty good.  But it is tight in traffic.”  As the green flag run continued, Hornaday told the ACDelco crew that the car was starting to get loose as the tires wore.  On lap 46, the caution flag waved and it was time for the first pit stops.  The ACDelco crew went to work on the “blue deuce” changing all four tires while taking a half-pound of air out of the left side tires to help the car.  In 14.90 seconds, Hornaday was down and away.  He picked up three spots with the quick stop and would restart the race in eighth.

The middle stages of the race saw Hornaday just cruising in 11^th position.  The car didn’t handle as well with the air pressure adjustment and the ACDelco Monte Carlo was unable to charge to the front.  On lap 114 the yellow flag waved again and the “blue crew” got a chance to help the car.  They put the air back in the left side and changed all four tires.

The green flag waved again, but Hornaday was stuck in 12^th.  The car was good, but just not good enough to catch the leaders or make up any time on the track.  The leaders had clean air and by lap 150, they had caught the No. 2 ACDelco Chevy and put Hornaday one lap down.  With the new lucky dog rule in affect, Hornaday battled to stay the first car one lap down.  But on lap 161, Kevin Harvick got lapped by Matt Kenseth, and took over the lucky dog spot.  And as luck would have it, the yellow came out just one lap later, when Chad Blount hit the wall in turn three. 

The crew once again went to work to try and make the car faster.  They changed all four tires and put one can of fuel in the car to keep it lighter for speed.  But that move proved to upset the balance of the car and Hornaday was wicked loose in traffic.  He slid back in the pack trying to find clean air.  “I can’t drive this thing at all in traffic,” said Hornaday.  As the ACDelco car fell back into 18^th position, the team caught a break.  A caution on lap 184 gave the team a chance to change tires and fix the car for a final dash to the finish.

Hornaday battled his way to 13^th and was closing in on the next two cars when the checkered flag waved.  It wasn’t the result the team had hoped for, but in the end they had picked up five championship points on the new leader, David Green.  With Hornaday’s best track, Phoenix International Raceway, up next, the ACDelco team is in its best position yet to take over the point’s lead.