to a great start for Hornaday the “blue deuce.”  The No. 2 ACDelco Chevy was one of the fastest cars in the opening practice.  It drove good and had plenty of power, which is a must at Talladega.  The only adjustments the crew really had to do to the car was make sure they had the right gear for qualifying.  By qualifying fourth, they must have chose the correct one!  NASCAR Winston Cup driver Joe Nemechek won the Bud Pole.

The team arrived at the track on race morning only to be greeted by rain, which was quite heavy at times.  There was a great deal of concern as to whether or not the rain would pass.  But NASCAR chairman Bill France, Jr. waved his magic wand and the skies clear bringing with it sunshine and warm temperatures.

Th green flag waved to start the Aaron’s 312 and Hornaday wasted no time in trying to gain positions with one of his famous starts.  He was able to drop to the inside and slip in behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Nemechek for the third position.  Those three cars formed a perfect trio and pulled away from the rest of the field. 

On lap eight “The Big One’ hit.  Johnny Sauter cut a right rear tire down and spun to the inside of the track in turn four.  That stacked the field up behind him and the wreck was on.  When the dust settled 15 cars were damaged beyond repair and another 15 sustained heavy damage and would not be a factor in the race.  NASCAR Busch Series points leader Todd Bodine and third place Jason Keller were among those involved in the crash.  With the majority of the field in trouble, the 117-lap event became a 10-car race.

During the caution Hornaday felt like he had run over some debris so the ACDelco team brought him down pit road on lap 15 for tires and fuel.  The rest of the field made stops as well and Hornaday returned to the track in eighth position.  Three slower cars elected not to pit.

On the restart Hornaday again made his move.  He dropped down to the inside and made a four-wide move on Mike Bliss heading into turn three to take over sixth.  Once again the top seven or eight cars lined up single file and pulled away from the rest of the field.  Dale Jr. took over the lead at this point and showed that he might have the car to beat.  But the ACDelco car was strong as well.

On lap 39, the caution lights flashed for debris on the track.  Hornaday came down pit road and took gas only.  He left pit road as the leader and picked up five valuable bonus points.  He held the lead until lap 45 when Nemechek and Earnhardt, Jr. teamed up and bumped Hornaday back to fifth.  “I’m starting to get real loose,” said Hornaday on the radio.  Crew chief Rick Viers quickly radioed back that on the next stop they would fix the problem with an air pressure adjustment.

The yellow flag waved again on lap 56 as debris from a damaged car fell into the racing groove.  The ACDelco made its way down pit road for its final stop of the day.  The crew decided on a four-tire stop.  While the left side tires were going on, the jack lost hydraulic pressure and dropped the car back to the ground before the rear tire was on.  It cost the team time in the pits; as they had to jack the car back up to get the tire on.  Hornaday lit up the tires and returned to the race in ninth.  Viers again came across the radio, this time asking Hornaday to conserve fuel.

On the restart it was Jaime McMurray, not Hornaday who tried to make a dramatic pass.  But the young driver learned that he needed to go back to Hornaday starting school.  Instead of picking up positions, he stacked himself, Hornaday and Michael Waltrip three wide and the lead pack, all single file, pulled away.  After several laps McMurray dropped in line behind Hornaday and Waltrip, but the group had lost several seconds to the leaders.  They were now the second pack and they needed help to catch back up.  They got the help they needed when rookie Chase Montgomery spun down the front stretch with just eight laps to go.

Hornaday restarted for a final time in fourth position.  He tried to get a run on Shane Hmiel, but Hmiel blocked Hornaday for position.  The racing was getting wild at the front between Earnhardt, Jr., Nemechek, Hmiel and Hornaday.  Just when it looked like someone might make a move, the yellow came out after Ashton Lewis ran out of gas and came to a stop in turn three.  The field raced back to the caution, but Earnhardt Jr. had too much taking the win.  Nemechek finished second with Hmiel third and Hornaday fourth- his first top-five of 2003.

The fourth place finish moved Hornaday up to third in the Busch Series points battle, just 69 points behind leader Todd Bodine.

Next week the NASCAR Busch Series travels to Nashville, TN.  You can bet the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet is ready to continue its chase of the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship.