|
Daytona
500 |
| Daytona,
Fla. (February 18,
2001) -- In his first outing as the driver of A.J. Foyt’s
No. 14 Conseco Pontiac, Ron Hornaday was named Raybestos
Rookie-of-the-Race, finishing 17th in Sunday’s
Daytona 500. Hornaday
may have started the Daytona 500 from the 42nd
position, but he didn’t stay there long.
In the opening laps, Hornaday sliced through the field.
He made it to the second position three separate times
during the race, before being penalized for speeding on pit road
during green flag pit stops.
Hornaday was forced to return to pit road for a
stop-and-go penalty, and he lost a lap as a result.
For
the rest of the afternoon, Hornaday ran up front, but was never
able to get back on the lead lap. “We had a really strong car today,” Hornaday said afterwards. “It just goes to show how good Team Conseco really is. They rebuilt this car in the garage after we wrecked in the Twin 125 qualifier race on Thursday. They replaced the entire left side of the car, but you’d never know it to look at it today. We were doing real well until the second stop under green. I guess I didn’t get a good pit road speed-reading. That (penalty) just ruined our day. I should be thankful to come away with 17th but when you have a car as good as I did today, it’s hard to settle for anything less than a win." |