(Joliet, IL.) – Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet continued their hot summer with a 10th place finish at Chicagoland Speedway.  It was Hornaday’s fifth straight top-10 and his sixth in the last seven races.

The weekend did not get off to a good start for the No. 2 ACDelco Monte Carlo.  Hornaday struggled in the opening practice.  The car was bottoming out so bad that Hornaday could not control the car and it took all of his talent just to keep it from crashing.  The “blue crew” worked to correct the problem, but no matter what they did, the car shot sparks in the air in turns one and two.  One look at the time sheet showed Hornaday outside the top-30 for the first time all year.

In qualifying, Hornaday was better but still battled the bottoming out condition.  He qualified 29^th.  It was his worst start of 2004.  Rain delayed the rest of the session for two hours and when it resumed the drivers were greeted with a fast track.  Bobby Hamilton, Jr. won the Busch pole with a new track record at over 183 mph.

In happy hour, the ACDelco crew solved their problem and Hornaday immediately came to life.  He was one of the top-five fastest cars in the first 10 minutes of practice and on 20 laps tires was the fastest car in the final practice.  It looked like their might still be hope for a good run for the ACDelco Monte Carlo.

While weather had been a factor during practice and qualifying, sunny skies shined down for race day.  The key for Hornaday at the start was to make sure he didn’t damage the car while racing to the start.  At the drop of the green flag, Hornaday, running in the middle, got a great jump on the field, but the front of the pack stacked up, nearly causing a crash in the middle section of the pack.  Hornaday got on the brakes and avoided the potential problem.  He still managed to pick up four spots on lap one.

It didn’t take long for the first yellow flag of the afternoon to wave.  Billy Parker crashed his Dodge in turn one bringing out the caution.  It was a sign of a strange day of problems for several cars.  The race went back to green for two more laps before the leader and pole sitter, Hamilton, Jr., lost a motor and took his car to the garage. 

On the restart, Hornaday worked the traffic like a champion.  By lap 10, he moved into 17^th position and just 10 laps later he was 15^th.  Bad karma once again reared its ugly head on one of the top cars in the race.  Kevin Harvick blew and engine on lap 23, ending the RCR drivers chance at his third win at Chicagoland Speedway.  The problems continued for the leader.  Kyle Busch was forced to pit with a flat right front tire on lap 40.  Hornaday had moved into 13^th position.

On lap 46, Hornaday hit pit road for the first time.  The crew changed all four tires and made no adjustments to the ACDelco Chevy.  He left pit road in 11^th position.  With fresh tires on the car, Hornaday again marched to the front.  By lap 60, he was in ninth.  He remained in the top-10 for the next 68 laps. 

Lap 114 saw the ACDelco Monte Carlo pit for a green flag stop.  The crew changed four tires and made an air pressure adjustment to help tighten the car so Hornaday could chase the leaders.  He left pit road in 22^nd position, one lap down.  He needed the rest of the cars to pit as well, but strange happenings would hurt the “blue-deuce”.  On lap 115, Robert Pressley spun off turn four, bringing out the caution and trapping Hornaday one lap down.  The leaders were able to pit under caution, but Hornaday stayed out, putting him on the tail-end of the lead lap.

On the restart, Hornaday did hid best to stay out in front of the leaders and on the lead lap.  The ACDelco team caught the break they needed when the yellow was displayed for debris on the backstretch.  Hornaday was not safely on the lead lap.  He used the opportunity to pit for four fresh tires and a wedge adjustment to help his loose car.  He was now 15^th.

Once again, Hornaday worked traffic to perfection.  He was in the top-five for the first time on lap 143.  The car had changed from loose to tight and the ACDelco Chevy began to slide back in the field.  But the following problems for several cars in front of him put Hornaday back into fifth.  Matt Kenseth cut a right front tire on lap 165.   Busch lost a cylinder on lap 169 and Michael Waltrip was forced to pit for fuel on lap 175.

On lap 179, the yellow flag was displayed for fluid on the track.  Hornaday dove onto pit road.  While some cars did not pit and others took two tires only, Hornaday took four fresh tires and the crew took the wedge back out of the car to help a now tight condition.  He restarted 10th.

The “master of the restart” tried a four-wide move into turn one and moved into eighth position.  But the tight condition remained and after contact with Robby Gordon with five to go, slipped back to 11^th place.  On the final lap, Mike Wallace ran out of gas racing Terry Labonte’s son Justin for the win.  Hornaday got by Wallace and finished 10^th.  Justin Labonte took the checkered flag for the first time in his young career.  Jason Keller finished second and Jeff Burton, third.

The finish kept Hornaday in fourth position in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings, just nine points out of third place.  Martin Truex, Jr. continued to hold the top spot with Busch second and Keller third.

The next race for the NASCAR Busch Series is in two weeks, when the ACDelco Chevrolet will try to make it six in a row at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H.