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STANDING ON THEIR OWN TWO FEET - For the first
time this season, the NASCAR Busch Series
separates from the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (NNCS)
for a stand alone event at Nashville Superspeedway.
Don’t expect all the “cup” drivers to stay away.
With Easter weekend off on the NNCS schedule, many
of the “busch-whackers” will make their way to
Nashville. That doesn’t bother ACDelco Chevrolet
driver Ron Hornaday. “I like racing with the
‘cup’ guys. You know what to expect when you are
racing them. Our ACDelco team is as good as any
team out there, so they don’t bother me at all.”
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES - Last year
Hornaday and his No. 2 ACDelco Monte Carlo entered
the Nashville weekend third in points, just 69
markers out of first and gaining momentum. But
this year, Hornaday is 13th in points,
177 points out of the top spot. With only one
top-10 in the last four races, Hornaday feels like
this is the weekend to right the ship. “Our
finishes haven’t shown just how good this team
is,” said Hornaday. “We have been a top-five or
top-10 car all year long. We have just had some
bad luck in each race. I think we will be a
top-five car at Nashville when we unload. We just
have to put together a full race.
TESTING RESULTS
- The ACDelco Racing team tested at Nashville
Superspeedway on Tuesday, March 30th. The team
worked on basic chassis setups in an effort to
find a better feel for Hornaday. “Ron likes the
front of the car to do the work,” said crew chief
Butch Hylton. “The trend right now is to use the
back to turn, but he doesn’t like that feel at
all. He likes to turn the wheel. So, we really
just worked on finding the right feel.” The
afternoon portion of the test was cancelled due to
rain. It was the second time the ACDelco team had
their Nashville test cancelled due to weather.
WHAT YA’ HAULIN’?
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The ACDelco transporter will unload chassis No. 29. It is
the first time this year that Hornaday has driven
this car. Johnny Sauter drove it to a third place
finish at Memphis (TN.) Motorsports Park last
year. It is also the same car that Hornaday
tested just one week ago in Nashville, TN.
Ron Hornaday on Nashville Superspeedway
What is the key to racing at Nashville
Superspeedway?
“Nashville is a cool track, but one in which you
need to hit the setup. It is not one of those
tracks where you can ride around and hope things
get better. The groove is pretty narrow and right
on the bottom. It reminds me a little of
Chicagoland Speedway as far as the groove goes.
“Last year we battled the air a lot. It’s amazing
how much of a wake these downforce cars can make.
NASCAR has tried real hard to take the
‘aero-tight’ condition out of the cars, but I
think it will be a factor.”
From a driver’s perspective, explain what
“aero-tight” feels like?
“Have you ever driven a motor home and come up on
a semi and the whole thing starts to move around
and kind of shake? That’s what it feels like. It
is very frustrating. At Texas Motor Speedway last
week, I had a very fast car. When I caught
certain cars, especially some of the Dodge’s, the
nose would just lift. When it does that in the
corners, you have no idea when it’s going to take
a set and turn. You can catch a guy, but you
can’t pass them. We saw a lot of that last year
in both races at Nashville.”
Last year coming into this race you were third in
points. This year you are 13th.
What’s been the difference?
“It’s been bad luck really. We didn’t race that
good last year in the first couple of races, but
we managed to scramble and get good finishes. We
used a lot of track position and pit strategy to
get up front and hang on to decent runs. This
year we have had better cars and I feel like
everything is better. But, we haven’t finished
well. It’s kind of like when you play golf and
hit every fairway and green, but then three-putt
every green. We’re racing well. We just aren’t
scoring right now. I think we will start getting
the finishes we deserve. This team is just too
good to continue finishing like we have.” |
Buckle Up
!