Kansas City, Kan. (April 30, 2007) – Ron Hornaday’s No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado was fast from the moment it unloaded at the Kansas Speedway. He started the race from the eighth position and brought home his second sixth-place finish in a row.

During the first practice session, Hornaday’s truck was fourth fastest posting a time of 32.320 seconds (167.079 mph) on the mile-and-a-half track. The second practice was cancelled due to rain. But even with only an hour of practice, Hornaday qualified the next day in the eighth position with a time of 31.964 seconds (168.940 mph).

On the third lap of the race Hornaday had worked his way up to the sixth place, and by lap 10 had reached the second position. He battled up front with Jack Sprague, Mike Skinner and Travis Kvapil for the first 50 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250. By lap 51 the top trucks were already lapping the field.  

When it was time for Hornaday to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop, he told crew chief Rick Ren that the truck was really fast, but a little aero tight and he didn’t want to make too many changes. Ren radioed his driver that they would only make a slight air pressure change. On lap 58 after leaving pit road NASCAR assessed Hornaday with a penalty for excessive speed exiting the pits. He was one mile over the 45 mph pit road speed. Hornaday had to go back to pit road to serve a pass- through penalty. Hornaday rejoined the field at the tail end of the lead lap.  Unfortunately, the caution came out before the pit sequences had cycled through, putting the No. 33 truck one lap down to the leader.

Hornaday spent the rest of the race fighting his way back towards the front of the pack. He received the lucky dog on lap 121, and was not only back on the lead lap, but back in the top 10 by lap 134. By lap 142 he had battled his way to the sixth position, where he continued to race Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner and Todd Bodine for the duration of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.

During the race Hornaday ran four of the fastest laps, he made 31 passes and spent 125 of 167 laps in the top-15. Hornaday posted the fastest speed of any driver in Turn 1 at 169.081 mph, and also in Turn 3 at 167.316 mph.

So far in 2007, Hornaday has amassed one top-five and four top-10 finishes, and this marks his second sixth-place finish in a row.

Not only has the driver of the No. 33 truck finished each race this season in a higher position than where he started the race, but he has also surpassed last year’s finishes from his first five races of this season. Hornaday continues to maintain his fourth-place position in the point standings.

Ron Hornaday Quote:
“Our Chevrolet Silverado was fast in the first practice, and even though the second practice was cancelled due to rain, we still qualified our No. 33 truck in the top 10. Rick Ren and the guys gave me a truck that was capable of going to the front. I hate it for the guys that the speeding penalty put us behind, but we still had a great finish and held onto fourth place in the points.”

Rick Ren Quote:

“We really unloaded onto the track fast. We were fast in practice, and we qualified in the top 10, even though we really had a race setup. I knew we could run in the top-five and I thought we’d be able to move to the front, but the pass-through penalty hurt us. Hornaday was up on the wheel though, and even after going a lap down, he pulled out a sixth-place finish for our team.” 

Next up for the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado: Ron Hornaday will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet in the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 presented by Circle K at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Live coverage of the event begins Friday, May 18, 2007 on SPEED at 8:30 p.m., ET. The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN).