NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway must have seemed like a time warp, as fuel the factor in the finish.

The weekend got off to an incredible start for No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet.  Hornaday, a Palmdale, CA. native, was the fastest car right off the transporter.  Although the car was just a tick loose into the corners, crew chief Butch Hylton was very pleased with the car in race trim and switched over to the qualifying package to see if it was just as good.  It was.  Hornaday posted the third fastest mock qualifying run of the day.  He told the team that he had some left and that a Busch pole was possible.

In qualifying Hornaday went for the pole.  He drove the car deep into turn number one, but this time the car didn’t stick like before.  Hornaday got sideways and had to correct the car by getting out of the gas.  He was much better through turns three and four, but the damage had been done.  Hornaday tripped the timing lights in 23^rd position.  Everyone was disappointed.

The mood was better in happy hour as Hornaday and the ACDelco Monte Carlo rebounded from their qualifying snafu.  The “blue deuce” was again one of the fastest cars in race trim, during the evening run.  The team worked hard to correct a loose condition on the car.  At the end of practice, Hornaday was ninth fastest.

The conditions on race day were completely different than they had been the day before.  Temperatures at the track reached 90 degrees and team ACDelco was concerned about the track changing grip.  Starting back in the pack, Hornaday needed all the grip he could get.

At the drop of the green flag, Hornaday proved to his fellow California fans that he was “the master of the restart.”  Hornaday drove down the middle, on the outside; in fact anywhere he could to make his way to the front.  On lap three, the caution waved for debris and the ACDelco Chevy was already in 14^th position.

Hornaday picked up a couple more spots moving into 12^th, but the car was getting loose.  Hornaday struggled to hold onto the car in the corners, as the “blue deuce” nearly spun on two different occasions.  Despite the loose condition, Hornaday held his ground and in fact picked up one more spot to 11^th.  On lap 50, pit stops allowed the ACDelco Monte Carlo to get four tires and make several adjustments to the chassis.

Hornaday returned to the race in the top-15, but the loose condition continued.  He battled the car for the next 14 laps.  On lap 68, the caution waved for Stan Boyd’s crash on pit road.  Hornaday brought the car to the attention of his “No. 2-crew”.  The fact that they are “real car guys”, allowed them to make the proper adjustments to the ACDelco Chevy. 

Right off the bat, Hornaday was on the move.  By lap 83, he had climbed into the top-10.  The car was good everywhere on the track.  On lap 85, the yellow flag waved for debris and Hornaday made his final pit stop of the day.  The crew again changed four tires and packed the cell full of fuel.  Hornaday restarted in 10^th.

The big concern for the ACDelco team was fuel mileage.  Most teams felt they could go 50 laps on a tank of gas.  Hornaday would need to go 51 laps and that was with a perfect handling car.  The car was not perfect on the final run.  Hornaday developed a tight condition and fell out of the top-10. 

During the last 10 laps of the race, cars began to run out of gas.  As many made their way down pit road, ACDelco crew chief Butch Hylton began to punch the gas mileage numbers.  They came out the same each time.  Hornaday would run out of fuel with three laps to go.  Hornaday’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick had to stop when his car ran out of gas.  That forced Hornaday to pit road, where he got a splash of gas and returned for the finish.  He nearly got back into the top-10 when the checkered flag waved.  Hornaday finished 11^th and noted that it was a good point day.  Greg Biffle managed to save enough fuel to win the Stater Bros. 300.  He was one of two cars that did not have to stop for gas.

The busy week continues for the ACDelco team, as Hornaday heads to Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for a one day test at the one-mile track.  The NASCAR Busch Series races at Gateway International Speedway in Illinois next Saturday, May 8^th.