| Talladega, AL (April 20, 2001)
 Team
Conseco will use chassis 1405 this weekend in Talladega. This is
the same car that Hornaday drove to a 17th-place finish in his
first Daytona 500 earlier this year.
Following
the 125-mile qualifying race, Team Conseco flew a repair crew to
Daytona to repair the damage chassis 1405 sustained in an
accident with Dale Jarrett. The crew replaced the entire right
side of the car in Daytona’s garage area. In the race,
Hornaday charged from his 42nd-place starting position, to
second on the racetrack. He raced in the top 10 for the majority
of the event before finishing 17th with a damaged left side. As
a result, the body was completely replaced upon return to Team
Conseco’s shop in North Carolina.
“Ever since Daytona, I’ve been looking forward to the
race in Talladega. I learned so much during that race; I’ve
been sitting here thinking about what I learned and how to use
that information. It’s been a long eight weeks, but it’s
finally here.”
–Ron Hornaday, Team Conseco Driver
Talladega, AL (April 22, 2001)— In a race very similar to the
Daytona 500, Team Conseco driver Ron Hornaday charged from 42nd
to the front in the Talladega 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at the
Talladega Superspeedway this past Sunday afternoon.
As soon as the green flag was in the air, Hornaday began
working his way to the front. After three laps he had moved up
20 positions, and by the ninth lap he had worked his way all the
way up into the top 10.
On the 100th lap, Hornaday took the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac to
the point, bypassing Mark Martin for the lead. Hornaday was
shuffled to the back a number of times, only to make his way
back up to the top five before eventually getting
landing in the 22nd position at the end of the day.
“That sure was and exciting way to spend the afternoon”
Hornaday said after the caution-free race was over. “This
Conseco Pontiac was strong all afternoon. I just couldn’t get
anybody to work with me there at the end of the race. It was
everyman for himself. We just couldn’t get in a position to
move up. But I did like leading the race for a while. That was
fun. We’ll keep working at it. We’ve got two more of these
races this year and I can’t wait to get back to the next one
in Daytona.”
FOX will air the NAPA Auto Parts 500 from Ontario, California
live on Sunday, April 29 with television coverage starting at
2:00PM E.D.T.
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