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Hornaday finishes 16th at
Daytona......... |
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By :
Tony Rizzuti / ACDelco PR |
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Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 15,
2003) - The confidence was high.
The car was fast and handled
great. The only thing that could
stand in the way of ACDelco driver
Ron Hornaday and victory lane was
bad luck. But luck was not on the
side of the "blue deuce" as
Hornaday battled an ill-handling
car to a 16th place finish in the
NASCAR Busch Series season opener
at Daytona Intl Speedway. |
The
weekend got off to a good start in
qualifying as Hornaday piloted the
ACDelco Chevy to an eighth start
with a speed of 184.930 mph. "I
thought we had a chance at the
front row, but the car pushed a
little in turn two and I know I
lost at least two-tenths right
there", Hornaday said. "That
shows how strong these RCR cars
are. We didn't cut a perfect lap,
yet we still put the car in the
top-10." Joe Nemechek won the
pole at 186.050 mph, but would
fall ill on raceday and was
replaced by Jeff Green.
Despite the fact that this was the
first weekend for the new ACDelco
crew and driver, the team gelled
all weekend and so expectations
were high for Saturdays race.
"This was probably the best
prepared car I have ever had at
Daytona. I really thought we had
a great shot at the win," said
Hornaday.
As the green flag waved to start
the Koolerz 300, it did indeed
look like Hornaday was one of the
men to beat. After a dramatic
three-wide move going into turn
number one, the ACDelco Chevrolet
drafted in line to the fifth
position behind Dale Earnhardt,
Jr., Kevin Harvick , Mike
McClaughlin and Michael Waltrip.
On lap nine, Hornaday and drafting
partner Waltrip, made the move
past Jimmy
Vasser to take the third and
fourth positions respectively. A
few laps later, Hornaday came
across the radio for the first
time and said that the car was
beginning to pick up a bad push.
It was an early sign of a problem
that would plague the No. 2 car
all day long.
The first caution of the day came
out on lap 31 as rookies Brian
Vickers and Coy Gibbs made contact
in turn two. Vickers car had to
be loaded on to a flatbed, but
Gibbs was able to drive his
machine behind the wall and would
return later in the race, though
several laps down. Hornaday had
drop back to seventh at the time
of the yellow and made his first
pit stop of the day. The
"Magnificent Seven" ACDelco pit
crew made wholesale changes to the
car. They took a rubber out of the
right rear, pulled out the left
front fender, changed four tires
and loaded the car with fuel.
They did all this in 16.7
seconds! Hornaday left pit road
in seventh position with hopes
that the push would go away.
By lap 40 it was evident that the
problem that plagued the car early
on had actually grown worse. On
lap 40 he radioed in that the nose
was feeling really light and that
the car had nearly turned sideways
a lap before coming off turn two.
ACDelco crew chief Rick Viers told
Hornaday to "hold on" and that
they would make adjustments on the
next stop.
At lap 51 Hornaday got the break
he needed as Brad Baker blew a
motor. Hornaday brought the car in
for four tires and a trackbar
adjustment. He returned to the
field in 12th position. He would
remain in the 12 spot during the
next green flag run. Meanwhile up
front, Harvick and Earnhardt Jr.
continued to pace the field and
were beginning to look like the
cars to beat.
On lap 74, Hornaday caught another
break as the caution flew for a
fiery accident involving Stacy
Compton in turn two. Compton blew
a right front tire and slammed
into the outside wall breaking a
fuel line and creating a huge
fireball from behind his
Chevrolet. He would climb from
the machine and was not injured.
The ACDelco "two-crew" once again
went to work on the car. They
again made a trackbar adjustment
and took their final set of
"sticker" tires for the weekend.
The RCR team car of Harvick saw
his dream of a Daytona Busch win
fall to the wasteside as he was
penalized for leaving pit road
with the catch can still attached
to the car. He was forced to the
back of the longest line and would
have to race back to the front.
With Harvick's mistake, Earnhardt
Jr. had now taken control of the
race, but Matt Kenseth and Johnny
Sauter had joined the fray as
well. Those three cars would pull
away from the field, but a handful
of late caution made for a
scramble to the finish.
On lap 93, Green got loose and
went spinning into the inside wall
off turn two bringing out the
caution. Hornaday elected not to
pit and remained on the track in
18th position. As the green flew,
Hornaday tried to battle his way
back up the ladder. But just five
laps later, Michael Waltrip spun
after being tapped by Scott Riggs
and brought out another caution.
Once again, Hornaday would stay on
the track to keep the valuable
track position.
Once again the green flag run
would be short as Mike Bliss lost
a fitting on the rear end and
dropped a line of oil around the
track. Unfortunately for
Hornaday, he was riding behind
Bliss at the time of the oil and
found his windshield completely
covered with oil. The team would
make its final pit stop of the
race and returned to the track for
the run to the finish in 25th
position.
Hornaday found drafting help for
the final run with Randy LaJoie
and the two made their way through
traffic into the top-20. Harvick
showed his muscle as the No. 21
RCR Monte Carlo raced back into
the top-five. But Earnhardt Jr.
still held the point with pressure
from Kenseth. It all had the
makings of a spectacular finish.
But that finish would never
materialize. With just two laps
to go, Jason Keller's car hit the
wall and burst into flames. The
car came to rest pinned against
the inside wall, trapping him
inside the car. He was tested and
treated for a concussion. As the
field came back to the line they
took the yellow and the white
flag, giving Earnhardt Jr. his
second straight Daytona Busch
win. Kenseth finished second with
Harvick third. ACDelco driver Ron
Hornaday made the best of a bad
day with a 16th place finish.
Next up for Ron Hornaday and Team
ACDelco..."The Rock." North
Carolina
Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. is
the next race for the ACDelco
Chevrolet. It marks the first
appearance for the new 2003 Monte
Carlo. Hornaday's best finish at
the track is a third place run
back in 2000. |
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