(Clermont, IN.) – Short track racing.  Every fan in NASCAR loves the chance to see the best drivers in the world beat and bang on a track no bigger than a high school football stadium.  But to the teams and drivers, short track racing means survival, because with no space to avoid a crash, you become part of the crash.  On Saturday night, ACDelco driver Ron Hornaday became the crash and took a heavy hit in the NASCAR Busch Series point’s standings.

The weekend was a struggle from the beginning.  Early in the first practice, Hornaday cut down a right rear tire forcing the team to put on four fresh tires.  That used up one of the NASCAR allotted sets and put the team behind the eight ball.  Hornaday battled to get the car to turn during practice.  The ACDelco Monte Carlo was never much better than 15^th on the practice sheet.  With time running out and no fresh tires, Hornaday did not make a bonsai qualifying attempt.  Most of the field did and the “blue deuce” finished 30^th on the final practice sheet.

In qualifying, Hornaday did the best with what was basically a blind attempt.  Not knowing exactly how the car would react, Hornaday took a leap of faith and drove the car deep into turn one.  The back of the car got light and Hornaday back off the gas.  The loose condition kept him from getting back in the gas right away and the ACDelco Chevy qualified 23^rd.  The cars were impounded after the qualifying session and there was no “happy hour” practice.

As darkness fell over IRP, the temperatures cooled.  That was good news for the ACDelco team as cooler temperatures tend to tighten up the race track.  At the drop of the green flag, Hornaday drove right to the bottom in turn one and made a three-wide pass on Stacy Compton.  By lap five, he was 20^th.

The first caution of the night took place in lap six for a crash in turn four.  Hornaday radioed to the crew that he was throttle tight off the corner.  ACDelco crew chief Butch Hylton asked Hornaday to think about a trackbar adjustment on the first stop.  On the restart, Hornaday again showed why he’s the “master of the restart.”  He used the apron in turn one to get by Clint Bowyer and Ashton Lewis, Jr. for 17^th.

On lap 50, the yellow flag waved for a spin in turn three when Shane Hmiel turned Tyler Walker.  Hornaday made his way to pit road and the ACDelco Chevy took four tires and two rounds up on the trackbar to loosen the car.  A slow stop after a problem on the right rear dropped Hornaday to 20^th.

During the halfway point in the race, the No. 2 Chevy worked its way up to 15^th.  Hornaday felt the trackbar adjustment didn’t help, but an air pressure adjustment to the tires might.  On lap 112, a caution allowed the team to put on their final set of tires.  They also took the trackbar rounds back out and went up on the air pressures.  Hornaday left pit road in 15^th.

The green flag waved and Hornaday drove into 14^th in turn one.  He worked his way into 13^th and was chasing down the top-10.  On lap 127, Michael Waltrip got spun by Hmiel and stacked up turn four.  With the track blocked, Hornaday tried to get the car slowed down, but plowed into the left rear of Waltrip.  The crash completely smashed in the front nose of the car, puncturing the radiator.  The damage forced the ACDelco Monte Carlo behind the wall.  It took 58 laps to get the car fixed and back in the race.  Hornaday finished 35^th.

The race for the win saw Kyle Busch hold off a charging Johnny Sauter at the checkered flag.  Jason Leffler was third.  Hornaday’s disappointing night dropped him from third in points to sixth.  He now trails Martin Truex, Jr. by 475 points.  He is 100 points out of third.

The next race for the NASCAR Busch Series is Saturday, August 21 at Michigan International Speedway.