officially started the darlingtonraceway.com 200 from the 15^th position, however an unapproved engine change on David Green’s Pontiac allowed Hornaday to move up to 13^th at the drop of the green flag.  Despite it being St. Patrick's Day, “Green” would not be the color of the day.  Stanton Barret would again start on the pole thanks to Greg Biffle’s championship points from last year.

Hornaday wasted no time in attacking the Busch field and by lap three he had worked his way into the top-10.  The ACDelco car was very tight to start a run, but as the tires wore down on the old gritty Darlington Raceway surface, the car turned to loose in and loose off.  On lap 18, Hornaday radioed to the ACDelco crew that the car was backing into the corner and that he could “spin it out anywhere.”  Despite the loose condition, Hornaday continued to run in the top-10.  At the front of the pack, RCR driver and Hornaday teammate Johnny Sauter took over the lead.

On lap 26, the luck of the Irish ran out for Green.  Michael Waltrip, who had hit the wall in turn two half a lap earlier, nailed the outside wall in turn four causing a stack up that collected the cars of Green, Kerry Earnhardt, and Larry Gunselman.  It would essentially end the day for all of those cars.  The yellow flag was a welcome break for the ACDelco team.  Hornaday came down pit road and the pit crew went to work tightening up the race car.  After a wedge and air pressure adjustment, Hornaday returned to the race in 10^th.

The race went back to green but it didn’t take long for the caution flag to fly again.  On lap 36, Mike Harmon lost control of his No. 44 Chevy in turn two and hit the inside wall head on.  He was okay, but the car couldn’t say the same thing.  Hornaday told the crew during the caution that the car was still loose in and wasn’t sure why.  Todd Bodine, Scott Wimmer and Johnny Sauter led the field at lap 40.

Once again, the race slowed just as it started.  On lap 41, Jaime McMurray got into Mike Bliss going into turn three, and Bliss smacked the wall with the right front ending his day.  Behind the wreck, Hornaday dove to the bottom of the track to avoid the other cars checking up.  As he slowed off the corner, Randy LaJoie continued to race Hornaday back to the yellow.  The two made slight contact, but Hornaday beat LaJoie to the line, but wasn’t happy about it.  “I guess we’re racing back to yellows now.  But if he races me like that again, we’re gonna wreck,” said Hornaday.  The ACDelco Chevrolet was eighth.

The next section of the race set up a nice run of green flag laps.  Hornaday used one of his famous restarts to get by several cars and made his way into the top-five.  On lap 50, he zoomed past his teammate Sauter and took over fourth with his sights on the next two cars ahead.  One lap later, he passed Wimmer for third.  He chased down the top-two cars but the race again fell under yellow at lap 61 when Tim Sauter hit the wall on the front stretch.    “It’s loose off Dude,” Hornaday said on the radio.  Hornaday followed the leaders down pit road and the ACDelco crew went to work.  Another air pressure adjustment to the right rear and four fresh tires put Hornaday back out in 16.28 seconds.  The good work by the crew allowed Hornaday to exit pit road in second position.

When the race went back to green on lap 67, it marked the final restart of the day and set up a long green flag run to the finish.  Unfortunately for Hornaday, the long run made his car stay loose and he had to slide it around to keep up with the leaders.  On lap 71, Scott Riggs passed Hornaday for second place.  On lap 93, Hornaday was fourth and complaining that the car was very loose.  Lap 95 was McMurray’s chance to get by Hornaday, but the young driver made the mistake of running Hornaday up the track.  “I’m going to make him wear out his stuff for that,” said Hornaday about McMurray.  But the ACDelco Chevy got real loose and Hornaday fell back in the pack.  It was all Hornaday could do to hang on.  With a lack of practice due to rain, the No. 2 car never had time to do long runs and the car was just too loose.  By lap 106, Hornaday radioed the crew that the right rear was pretty much worn out. 

On lap 124, the leaders made their final pit stops and Hornaday got four fresh tires.  But the gap was too much to close and the ACDelco car hung on for a ninth place finish, the second straight top-10.  The battle for the win was a classic.  Bodine and McMurray passed Stacy Compton, who had elected not to pit, and running side-by-side the two drivers waged war for the win.  In turn two on the final lap, the two got sideways and nearly crashed.  It was a preview of the “dash for cash.”  McMurray got a great run on the high side in turn four and took the lead from Bodine.  Bodine then got loose and tagged the back of McMurray sending both drivers into the wall.  McMurray’s car slid backwards into the inside wall just short of the line, which allowed Bodine to cross the finish line with the win in a cloud of smoke.  McMurray finished second, with Riggs finishing third.

The ninth place finish for Hornaday vaulted him to fourth in points, just 88 markers back of the leader Bodine.  The next race for the ACDelco Chevrolet is next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.