(Memphis, TN.) – Ron Hornaday showed that his season is far from over, as the ACDelco Chevrolet driver finished third in the Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park.  It was the seventh top-five finish of the year for the former two-time NASCAR Truck Series champion.

The weekend started off on a down note, as word spread that ACDelco Crew Chief Butch Hylton would be leaving the team after the race.  With a “lame-duck” driver and crew chief, expectations weren’t necessarily high.  But the ‘Real Car Guys’ proved everybody wrong.  The ACDelco Monte Carlo was the best car right off the transporter.  Hornaday sat at the top of the speed chart during the morning practice.  The car was so good that the team used most of the time to fine tune on the setup.

In qualifying, Hornaday bottomed out going into turn one and chattered the tires.  The result was a 14^th place.  “I bottomed out really bad in turn one,” said Hornaday.  “Maybe I drove it in too deep.  I don’t know.  That is really disappointing, because we have the fastest car out here.  Hopefully we can work through traffic without getting caught up in a wreck.”

In happy hour, Hornaday continued to blister the field.  The ACDelco crew made “pit-stop” type changes to the car to find out what it might do in the race.  Hornaday tried each change and radioed back the result, giving Hylton a full book of notes.

Rain threatened race day, but in typical NASCAR form, the skies cleared and the green flag waved right on time.  Hornaday wasted little time in racing to the front.  On lap 10, Hornaday bumped Mike McLaughlin up the track and took over 10^th position.  Just 10 laps later, the first of 13 cautions, took place in turn two. 

“The car is really good, but I feel like I’m glazing the right rear tire,” said Hornaday.  “I think I need just a little more bite off the corner.  I’m a tick loose.”

On lap 51, Hornaday finally had a chance to adjust on his Monte Carlo.  The team took a spring rubber out of the right rear and went one round up on the track bar.  With four fresh Goodyear Eagles, Hornaday was down and away in 17-seconds.

The middle stage of the race was survival of the fittest.  The cautions mounted as lap traffic made it impossible to pass.  The frustration built crash after crash.  NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver Greg Biffle said after the race, “This was the worst driving I have ever seen by professional race car drivers.”  Hornaday managed to miss most of the madness, but he did wrinkle up the front nose a little avoiding major contact.

The turning point of the race came on lap 160.  After a caution involving Michael Waltrip and Mark Green, several cars pitted including Martin Truex, Jr. and Greg Biffle.  ACDelco crew chief Butch Hylton told Hornaday on the radio, “We should’ve pitted there.  I think that track position is going to help them.”

With Truex and Biffle in the middle of the pack, Hornaday continued to charge to the front.  He took over fourth from teammate Clint Bowyer on lap 186 and set his sights on the top-three.  On lap 194, Todd Szegedy crashed in turn two bringing out the yellow flag.

Hornaday made lap 195 his final pit stop of the day.  The team changed all four tires with a slight air pressure adjustment.  The stop wasn’t the crews best of the day and Hornaday returned to the track in 14^th position.

The ACDelco Chevy charged to the front during the final 50 laps.  Hornaday made very few friends as he used the bumper to move slower cars out of the way.  It was classic old school Hornaday.  By lap 213, he was 10^th and on the move.  Just 20 laps later he was fifth.  On lap 247, Waltrip crashed for a second time bringing out the caution and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

Hornaday restarted the race in fourth and quickly passed David Stremme for third.  Hornaday chased Truex and Biffle and caught them at the checkered flag.  If there had been just one more lap, Hornaday would have either won the race or caused one of the biggest wrecks in Memphis history.  It was Hornaday’s best finish at the track in the Busch Series. 

The next race for the Busch Series is next Saturday, October 30 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  The race can be seen on TNT at 1p.m. ET and heard on PRN Radio or XM 144.