The weekend did get off to a good start.  With

rain looming near the speedway, Hornaday kept the car in race trim and despite finishing 32^nd on the speed chart, was very pleased with the performance of the ACDelco Chevrolet.  However, the team never made a mock-qualifying run, so when the No. 2 “blue deuce” took to the track in qualifying, it was the first time the car hit the track in qualifying trim.  Hornaday used his experience to guide the Richard Childress Racing Monte Carlo around the 1.5-mile track in 29.726 seconds, which qualified him seventh overall.  Kevin Harvick, Hornaday’s RCR teammate won the pole with a new track record time of 29.277 seconds or 184.445 mph.  During the weekend’s final practice, Hornaday again showed he had a quick car in race trim by finishing third on the speed chart.  The ACDelco team used the entire final hour to tweak the setup on the ACDelco Chevy.

The green flag dropped to start the Charlotte 300 and it didn’t take long for the NASCAR Busch Series points battle to take a strange turn.  On lap five, points leader David Green got turned into the wall coming off turn four, bringing out the caution.  Green spent 70 laps behind the wall making repairs and at the end of the day would relinquish his hold on the point’s lead.

The race went back green on lap nine and Hornaday was still running seventh.  On lap 17, Hornaday radioed in to crew chief Rick Viers that the car was really tight from the center off.  By lap 21, Hornaday had lost a couple of positions and was running 11^th.  Up front, Michael Waltrip passed Kevin Harvick for the lead and pulled away.  The race stayed green for the entire fuel run and Hornaday made his first pit stop of the day on lap 67.  The ACDelco crew changed all four tires and took a round of wedge out of the right rear.  However a problem with the jack slowed the stop and Hornaday returned to the track in 19^th after a 20.5 second stop.  On lap 80, Waltrip put Hornaday one lap down.  The crossed flags marked halfway and Hornaday was 17^th, one lap down.

On lap 105, another point’s contender fell to bad luck.  Shane Hmiel had a motor let go in turn two bringing out another yellow flag.  Hornaday dropped onto pit road and took another four tires and another half round of wedge out of the right rear in an effort to free the car up.  On the restart, Hornaday was the first car on the inside line and had a chance to try to get his lap back with a good start.  At the drop of the green, Harvick and Waltrip got a great jump and Hornaday could not get his lap back.  On lap 114, Hornaday fell back to 17^th. 

On lap 127, the yellow flag waved for another motor problem.  Tony Raines blew the motor on his Chevrolet while running in the top five.  Hornaday radioed the crew during the caution that the car was starting to get better.  On the restart, Hornaday worked his way into 16^th position and was on the move.  But Kerry Earnhardt crashed off turn four on lap 135, slowing Hornaday’s momentum.  The caution allowed Hornaday to bring the ACDelco Monte Carlo down pit lane for service.  The crew changed four tires and sent Hornaday back out.  He would restart in 14^th.  During the yellow, the leaders also came down pit road.  Harvick and Waltrip changed four tires, but rookie Kyle Busch only took two tires and beat the veterans off pit road.

The day just never really changed for Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevy.  While the No. 2 car got better, so did everyone else and Hornaday just couldn’t race his way back onto the lead lap.  It looked like Hornaday would finish in the top 20 for the 12th time in 13 races.  But when Greg Biffle spun coming off turn four with just five laps to go Hornaday checked up in the smoke and was passed by Scott Wimmer and Mike Wallace.  The race would end under caution and Hornaday crossed the line 21^st.  Matt Kenseth used a late race pass of Busch and won the Charlotte 300.  Harvick who had run so well early in the race, finished 10^th.

The NASCAR Busch Series points shuffled around once again with Todd Bodine regaining the point’s lead.    Green dropped back to second.  Scott Riggs leaped into the top five with a third place finish in the Charlotte 300, as did Mike Bliss who is now fourth.  Hornaday fell back to fifth, but is still right in the battle just 133 points out of first place.

The next race for the ACDelco Chevrolet is Saturday, May 31 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.