(Nazareth, PA.) - In a blink of an eye, it was over.  Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet arrived at Nazareth Speedway loaded for bear, but left empty and disappointed.

For Hornaday, Nazareth Speedway had always been his personal playground.  Hornaday had scored two of his three career NASCAR Busch Series victories and one of his record 26 NASCAR Truck Series wins at the one-mile triangle.  This was the weekend for the ACDelco Chevy to get its first victory of 2004.

From the time they unloaded, the "blue deuce" was one of the cars to beat.  In practice Hornaday was third fastest in race trim.  The car was strong and Hornaday was primed for another strong Nazareth run.  In order to shorten the weekend, the Busch Series planned for one practice, a qualifying session and that was it.  That changed how the teams setup for qualifying.  Hornaday drew the 25^th qualifying position and went out to make his run.  When it finished, the ACDelco Monte Carlo was ninth fastest and Hornaday was confident that the car would race well.  Kyle Busch won the Busch Pole at over 131 mph.  The cars were then impounded for race day.

The teams were greeted with hot temperatures in the Lehigh Valley on race day.  The heat would make for a slick track and the teams made air pressure adjustments to compensate.  The green flag waved on the final Goulds Pumps 200 and Hornaday immediately told the crew that the car was too tight.  But that didn't stop him from picking up two positions in the first 14 laps.  "The car is shoving really badly," said Hornaday.  Despite the push, Hornaday reeled in the rest of the field.  On lap 57, he drove under Jason Leffler on the front stretch and took over sixth position.  Just three laps later, Hornaday passed Bobby Hamilton, Jr. for fifth.  By lap 70, the ACDelco car was third, disposing of Tim Fedewa and Casey Atwood.

On lap 71, the first caution flag waved for debris in turn two.  Hornaday brought his ACDelco Chevy down pit lane for a four tire stop.  The crew also shoved a rubber in the right rear to help the car turn.  Hornaday never lost ground and exited pit road, third.

The middle section of the race saw a long green flag run and very little passing.  The field ran single file for literally 50 laps.  On lap 137, Hornaday squeezed by Leffler in the dogleg to take over second spot.  He was chasing down leader Hamilton, jr. when the yellow flag waved for a crash in turn three involving Mike Bliss on lap 143.  That set up the final pit stop of the day and the most crucial part of the race for Team ACDelco.  On the stop, Hornaday got right in his stall.  But Jason Keller, cut through the front of Hornaday's pit box and clipped John Wallace, the front tire carrier for the ACDelco team with the nose of his unsponsored Ford.  The result of the collision sent Wallace to the ground and the tire he was carrying to the wall. Wallace recovered and grabbed the tire and the ACDelco team rallied to complete the stop.  But they lost valuable time.  Hornaday left pit road in eighth position and never was a factor again.  Mired in traffic, Hornaday battled an even tighter racecar and finished a disappointing 11^th.  On the final lap of the race, Martin Truex, Jr. drove underneath Hamilton, Jr. for the lead in turn three on the final lap.  He went on to win the Goulds Pumps 200.  Hamilton, Jr. was second and David Green finished third. 

After the race, ACDelco crew chief Butch Hylton met with NASCAR Busch Series officials about the pit road collision.  He handed Busch Series director Brian DeHart a copy of the tape showing Keller cutting through the ACDelco pit box.  NASCAR said they would review the tape and consider any actions against Keller on Monday, May 24.

It was heartbreak for the ACDelco team.  They had put themselves in a position to win and another driver's mistake took it away.  The only bright side of the race was in the points standings.  With Robby Gordon not making the trip to Nazareth and a blown engine by Greg Biffle, Hornaday moved into seventh position in the Busch Series championship chase.

The next race for the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet in next Saturday, May 29 in Charlotte, N.C.