(Daytona Beach, Fla.) Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet finished fourth in the Winn Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).  It was Hornaday’s third straight top-five finish and a happy ending to his 100^th NASCAR Busch Series start.

The weekend was again got off to a great start.  The No. 2 ACDelco Chevy was fast right

off the truck.  In fact, the team made very few changes to the car over the two days at the track.  After a 16^th place finish at DIS in February, the team brought a car that they hoped would race better.  That meant giving up a couple of spots in qualifying, but to the RCR team, it was worth it.  When qualifying rolled around, Hornaday put his Monte Carlo into the seventh starting position.  It was slower than the team expected, but it was how it would race that was most important.

The final practice of the day told the crew all they needed to know about the speed of the No. 2 car in race trim.  It was fast.  Hornaday finished the practice fourth on the speed chart.  More importantly, he had been able to pass Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was the pole sitter and the winner of the last two superspeedway events.  Now the question was, could he repeat the pass during the race.

As darkness settled in over the speedway, the field took the green flag amongst the popping of flash bulbs.  Immediately, the “two-headed monster” of Earnhardt, Jr. and Michael Waltrip teamed up and pulled the top-10 into a single file draft.  Hornaday stayed put in fourth until lap 17, when the ACDelco driver passed Mike Bliss and settled in third.  He would stay there for much of the night.

The first caution of the evening took place on lap 42, when the lapped car of Larry Hollenback tagged Bliss, sending him into a wild spin that ended in contact with the pit road wall.  Hornaday radioed the crew that the car was loose and when the pits opened, he brought the Monte Carlo down pit road for service.  Hornaday took four tires and returned to action in the third position.  The first two cars, Earnhardt, Jr. and Waltrip took only two tires.  Hornaday hoped that four tires would help him get by the two DEI teammates.

The race restarted on lap 46, but it was more of the same.  Hornaday had enough power to keep up with the front two Chevy’s, but did not have the help needed to get by.  Without help, Hornaday was stuck in the third position.

On lap 66, Kasey Kahne got into the side of Greg Biffle and lost control on the backstretch.  The yellow flag was displayed again, but none of the leaders elected to pit.  On the next restart, Hornaday used one of his patented restarts and got enough momentum to get by Waltrip.  He then set his sights on Earnhardt, Jr.  But just as easily as he had passed the No. 99 Chevy, Waltrip passed him right back, sending Hornaday to third.

In the late stage of the race, Hornaday’s spotter Jay Shew, made a deal with Jamie McMurray’s team to help Hornaday try to get back passed Waltrip.  McMurray agreed to stay with Hornaday and try for the win.  But unfortunately for Hornaday, McMurray’s word was about as good as a check written on a closed account.  On lap 75, Hornaday slid high to get a run on Waltrip, McMurray dove to the inside and stole the third position away.  And that was the last move anybody in the top-five made.  The race would end with Earnhardt, Jr. in victory lane and Hornaday in fourth.

But on the bright side it was a great point’s night for the team.  In fact the top three in the NASCAR Busch Series points standing had a terrible night.  Hornaday vaulted in third place in points and cut the lead from 88 points coming into Daytona to 33 points.

The next race for Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet Monte Carlo is Saturday, July 12^h, at Chicagoland Speedway.