(Bristol, TN.) – When a full moon lights the night sky at Bristol Motor Speedway, the action is always hot and heavy.  For ACDelco Chevrolet driver Ron Hornaday, the action was always right on top of him and the heavy was the impact to the car.  A tough night of multiple incidents left Hornaday 20^th in the final running order of the Food City 250.

The ACDelco car was never quite right the entire weekend.  Hornaday battled a Monte Carlo that bottomed out early in practice.  The “Real Car Guys” crew worked with the shocks to keep the car from hitting the track.  The improvements helped, but Hornaday was only 18^th fastest in practice.

In qualifying, Hornaday got loose getting into the corner and lost valuable time waiting for the car to catch.  He finished the lap with a 15.438 second time, good enough for 16^th on the grid.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the Busch pole with a time of 15.160 and a speed of 126.570 mph.    In happy hour, the ACDelco team worked on the loose condition that had plagued the car all day.  Hornaday posted the 18^th best time, but felt the car would be good in the race.

Thursday night, Hornaday headed downtown to the Food City race fest.  The annual event drew a huge crowd and the ACDelco driver signed autographs for the fans for two hours.  The highlight of the evening was a framed picture of Hornaday’s infamous No. 16 “Superman” truck, given to the driver by a fan. 

On race night, Hornaday felt confident about his car and knew that patience would be the key.  At the drop of the green flag, Hornaday dropped down to the inside groove and began to work his way to the front.  It didn’t take long for the first caution of the night.  On lap two, Johnny Sauter got turned in front of the field stacking up the back of the pack.  Hornaday had picked up two spots and was 14^th.

On the restart, Hornaday made his way to 12^th position and settled into a groove.  Martin Truex, Jr. pounded on the back bumper of the ACDelco Chevy and eventually bumped his way by.  On lap 29, the second caution of the night took place when Greg Biffle lost is patience with Tina Gordon.  Biffle bumped Gordon sending her in a spin.  The result of the bump sent Biffle into Truex and the wall.  Biffle’s night was over and Truex escaped with minor damage.

After race went green, Hornaday worked his way into the top-10.  But his night was about to go from good to bad, with some help from a familiar friend.  On lap 48, Kasey Kahne got into the back of Tony Raines, spinning his No. 74 Chevrolet right in front of the “blue deuce”.  While Hornaday checked up and missed the spin, Robby Gordon couldn’t get slowed down and plowed into Hornaday.  The contact sent the ACDelco Monte Carlo into the outside wall.  The damage was not race ending, but it did send the No. 2 machine down pit road for service.  The crew changed four tires and fixed the cosmetic damage.  Hornaday said the car was toed-out, but that he could live with it.  The ACDelco Chevy returned to the race in 31^st.

Hornaday patiently worked traffic during the next green flag run.  On lap 73, the caution flag waved for a multi-car crash.  While most of the field pitted, Hornaday stayed out and was now fifth.  It looked like it might be their night after all.

The ACDelco Monte Carlo held its position in the top-10 for the next 40 laps.  On lap 117, the yellow flag waved for a crash on the backstretch involving Kenny Wallace.  While missing the wreck, Hornaday got into the side of Casey Mears.  The contact cut down the right front tire.  Hornaday was forced to pit.  The crew changed all four tires and made a major chassis adjustment.  ACDelco crew chief Butch Hylton told Hornaday that was his last stop of the night.  “That’s all you get,” said Hylton.  “Take care of your car.  We’re done pitting for the night.” 

After the restart, Hornaday worked his way from 29^th to 15^th within 37 laps.  On lap 165, the caution was displayed for a crash in turn four.  Hornaday missed the crash and slowed for the caution.  But Jamie McMurray was late getting on the brake and slammed the back of Hornaday.  The ACDelco Chevy spun down the track and was hit again in the right front.  On pit road, the crew fixed the major damage and Hornaday told Hylton that the wheel was completely toed-out.  Unfortunately, there was not enough time to fix the car and Hornaday went back out in 28^th position, one lap down.

With a badly damaged car, Hornaday’s goal was simple - Just finish and survive.  But even while trying to do that, Hornaday found another crash.  On lap 177, Travis Geisler got spun by Paul Menard coming off turn two.  With nowhere to go, the ACDelco car ran into the back of several cars.  The damage was minor and with only a few laps left, Hornaday stayed out.  He finished 20^th at the checkered flag.

The race belonged to Earnhardt, Jr.  He led the majority of the laps and held off a charging matt Kenseth on a green-white-checkered finish to claim the win.  Kenseth was second and Kyle Busch finished third.  Hornaday dropped to seventh in points after the disappointing night. 

The next race for the NASCAR Busch Series is Saturday night, September 4th at California Speedway.