The weekend got off to a soggy start as rain cancelled half of the Friday’s first practice and

all of qualifying.  The NASCAR Busch Series field was aligned based on owner’s points, which put the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet in the fifth starting position, despite the fact that Hornaday is third in the drivers standings.    Hornaday’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick started on the pole.  The ACDelco team did get a final practice and Hornaday was the fourth fastest car in “happy hour”.

The weather turned a complete 180 on Saturday, as sunny and clear skies greeted the fans for the New England 200.  At the drop of the green flag, Hornaday tried his patented “drive to the outside”.   But it didn’t work like it had in the past.  In fact, it hurt him more than it helped.  Hornaday lost four positions on the start and it would have been a few more, but the caution waved at the end of lap one, for a spin involving Bill Hoff.  In just one lap, the ACDelco Chevy fell from fifth to ninth.

On the next restart, Hornaday made up for the loss in positions.  He battled to the inside going into turn one and picked up two spots.  On lap 32, Hornaday passed David Green and was back in the top-five.  But the car wasn’t quite where he wanted it.  Hornaday told the crew that the car was tight going into the corner and throttle tight off the corner.  Crew chief Rick Viers told Hornaday that they would take some wedge out on the next stop. 

On lap 62, the yellow flag waved for oil in turn four.  Hornaday brought the ACDelco Monte Carlo down pit road for service.  The crew changed all four tires and took 1 round of wedge out of the car to help free the car up in the corners.  It was a decent stop for the crew and Hornaday left pit road in sixth position.

The race went green and Hornaday made his moves.  He passed Green and Scott Riggs to move into fourth position.  It was a tough day for Riggs, as just five laps later he cut down a right front tire and had to stop under green.  He lost a lap and would finish outside the top-10.  The tough day dropped him out of the NBS points lead as well.

On lap 84 the caution waved again as Bobby Hamilton, Jr. hit Mike Bliss in turn four.  Bliss, who had been battling with Hornaday just two laps before, hit the wall and ended their strong run.  Hornaday was still telling the ACDelco crew that the car was tight.  But at this stage of the race, they could not pit and lose track position.  Hornaday would have to ride it out until lap 145.

When the team was finally able to make their pit stop, Hornaday had fallen to sixth.  The crew changed all four tires it 15.20 seconds and Hornaday raced off pit road in fifth.  However, the changed right rear tire never got back across the pit box and Hornaday was black-flagged for the violation.  It sent the No. 2 car from fifth to 13^th and now the ACDelco Chevy was stuck in dirty air for the first time.

The day that looked so promising turned out to be a heavy disappointment.  Hornaday struggled to get back up front in the dirty air.  The car developed an “aero-push” in traffic, and the best he could manage was an eighth place finish.  It dropped Hornaday from third in points to fourth.

Up front, Green battled with Harvick through the final 10 laps and was able to hold off Hornaday’s RCR teammate for the win.  It was Green’s second win of the year.  The victory also moved him into first place in the NBS point’s standings.

The next race for Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet Monte Carlo is Saturday, July 26th, at Pike’s Peak International Raceway.