(Sparta, KY.) – Ron Hornaday continued to climb back into the NASCAR Busch Series point’s championship with his second straight top-five finish at Kentucky Speedway.  The ACDelco Chevrolet finished fourth while overcoming several obstacles during Saturday night’s Meijer 300.

The weekend did not start off as well as it finished.  Hornaday struggled with the balance of his Monte Carlo during practice.  The car went from loose early in the practice to tight in the middle of the session.  At the end of the two-hour practice, Hornaday found the car to be just a little too loose for his comfort.

In qualifying the loose practice condition took its toll.  Hornaday completed just one of the two laps because the car was so loose, “it was going to crash,” said Hornaday.  The one lap put the No. 2 RCR car 18^th on the grid.  A far cry from what the team had hoped for.

What looked like a disappointing weekend turned up beat in happy hour.  The “Real Car Guys” found the balance that Hornaday was looking for and the car came to life.  But would the poor qualifying effort cost the team a top-five finish? 

The green flag waved to start the race and Hornaday quickly made his way to the front.  On lap one he passed three cars including Billy parker and Stacy Compton to move into 14^th.  On lap nine the caution waved for Blake Feese’s crash.  Hornaday was 11^th.  “The car is not too bad,” said Hornaday.  “It’s just a little tight.”

The race went back to green and by lap 20, Hornaday worked his way into the top-10 by passing Jason Keller.  The car stayed too tight, but Hornaday stayed on top of the wheel and charged towards the front.  On lap 57, he passed his RCR teammate Clint Bowyer for sixth.

On lap 60, the caution flag waved for a second time.  Hornaday made his way down pit road and changed all four tires.  The team noticed that the right front tire had developed what the Goodyear engineer referred to as a “delamination.”   It was a similar problem to what the happened to Hornaday at Nashville just one week earlier.

During the middle stages of the race, Hornaday kept the ACDelco Chevy in the top-10.  Track position was crucial and the leader, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. worked in clean air and pulled out to almost a 20 second gap between first and 10^th. 

On lap 177, the leaders made green flag stops and that allowed Hornaday to climb into fourth position.  Soon after the leaders pitted, the caution came out for Johnny Benson’s crash.  Hornaday again made a four tire change and left pit road in sixth position.

The final 20 laps of the race saw Hornaday battle Bowyer and David Stremme for fourth and then Jason Leffler for third.  Hornaday held the third position until the final lap when Mike Bliss got by leaving Hornaday fourth.  It was the second straight top-five finish for the ACDelco Chevrolet.  Kyle Busch took the win, with Greg Biffle finishing second.

The next race for the NASCAR Busch Series is next Saturday night, June 26^th at The Milwaukee Mile in Milwaukee, WI.