(Homestead, Fla.)- Ron Hornaday’s two year tenure in the ACDelco Chevrolet came to an end with a seventh place finish in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida.  In a season of highs and lows, Hornaday persevered to finish fourth in the 2004 NASCAR Busch Series final point standings.

The season finale for the Busch Series started out like it would be another disappointing weekend for the “Real Car Guys.”  With the regular crew working with 2005 ACDelco driver Clint Bowyer, Hornaday was left with a group of guys from various RCR teams and his third crew chief in four weeks, Chris Hussey. 

In the first practice of the weekend, Hornaday battled a loose car and was 21^st fastest.  The lack of speed created questions of whether RCR had given up the season and moved on.  Those questions were quickly put to rest when Hornaday qualified 11^th, better than the two other Childress prepared Monte Carlo’s.  The ACDelco Chevy posted consistent laps in the final “happy hour” practice as well, leaving Hornaday excited about his chances on race day.

When the green flag waved to start the final race of the year, Hornaday quickly made a move to the front.  At the end of lap one, he picked up three positions and was now eighth.  The first of what was a caution filled day took place on lap two when Jennifer Jo Cobb crashed in turn four.  The track was cleaned and the field went back to racing on lap six.

On lap 31, the second yellow flag of the day waved for debris on the backstretch.  Hornaday radioed the team that he was loose getting into the corner and tight on exit.  The ACDelco team pitted on lap 32 and changed all four Goodyear tires, with one pound of air out of the left rear.  The “Real car Guys” hit all of their marks and Hornaday left pit road in fifth position.

There were five more cautions before the halfway point of the race.  The biggest of the yellows was on lap 67, when point’s contender David Green blew a motor.  Green’s DNF assured Hornaday of a top-five finish in points, with Mike Bliss having a very remote chance of taking fourth away from the ACDelco Chevy.

The second half of the event saw Hornaday turn some of his fastest laps of the day.  By continuing to lower the left side air pressure, the “blue deuce” came alive.  Hornaday was sixth and charging.  After leading the race on lap 141, the ACDelco car hit pit road under green for fuel and tires.  Hussey made another air pressure adjustment to free the car up some more and Hornaday left pit road in ninth, one lap down.  Matt Kenseth stayed out, pushing his fuel to the max, hoping for a caution.  On lap 159, Wally Dallenbach brought out the yellow just before Hornaday got his lap back under green.  Fortunately, the ACDelco Monte Carlo was the “lucky dog” and Hornaday returned to the lead lap.

The final stages of the race saw Hornaday battling for a top-five.   With 25 laps to go, Hornaday raced side-by-side with Todd Bodine for fifth.  The two veteran drivers raced door-to-door for several laps until the yellow waved on lap 181 for a crash in turn three.  Hornaday radioed to the crew that he had passed Bodine before the yellow.  NASCAR reviewed the scoring loop, but maintained that the No. 31 had in fact been in front of the No. 2.

The race returned to green flag conditions, but Hornaday couldn’t seem to charge forward.  Instead he fought the last few laps just hoping to hang onto a top-10 finish.  On lap 197, Bliss hit the wall, clinching fourth position in points for Hornaday.  The yellow set up a green-white- checkered finish.

Kevin Harvick got the jump on Jaime McMurray and took the win in the No. 29 RCR Chevy.  It was RCR’s third win of 2004 and Harvick’s second.  Hornaday beat Joe Nemechek to the line and finished seventh.  Hornaday joined his 2004 teammate and 2005 boss in victory lane and then exited the garage with one final glance back to his “blue number two.”

While some will question whether the combination of RCR and Hornaday was a success or a disappointment, the facts line up in the Palmdale, Calif., native’s favor.  He leaves the Busch Series as the NASCAR record holder with 73 straight races without a Did Not Finish.  No driver in the modern era of NASCAR has come close to that number.  In the two years Hornaday drove the ACDelco Chevrolet, he never posted a DNF…ever.  Zilch…zero…nada. 

He captured three wins and finished third and fourth respectively in the final point’s standings.  He did so with a passion for racing that is so often missing in today’s “million dollar” drivers.  He always had a handshake for the customer, an autograph for the fans and a high-five for the kids. 

Ron Hornaday is many things to many people.  He may not have won the final race of the year, but he did go out a winner.