Hornaday & Dr Pepper Racing Suffers from Accident and Finishes 21st in Daytona
Craig Campbell - Dr Pepper Racing
Daytona Beach, FL – The Fourth of July weekend marked not only the debut of the NASCAR Busch Series under the lights of Daytona International Speedway but was also the first Superspeedway race for the Dr Pepper Racing Team with Ron Hornaday as the driver.  Ron was running up front early on in the race but contact with the #59 Stacy Compton on the backstretch on Lap 49 

resulted in the #26 Dr Pepper Chevy losing a lap to the leaders.  Ron nearly regained the lost lap a few times throughout the remaining 50 laps but just fell short.  The Dr Pepper Racing Team finished the first car one-lap down in the 21st position and remains 26th in the Owner’s point standings.

Hornaday qualified 19th but made his way into the Top-5 quickly before the caution lights became illuminated on the backstretch.  Ron along with numerous other drivers checked up for the caution, only to find out that there was no caution flag being waved.  On Lap 30, the electrical problem happened again, however NASCAR Officials called for a yellow flag this time on Lap 32 due to Electronic Failure and bunched up the field for the first pit stop of the evening.

The Dr Pepper Chevy entered pit road in 21st position and the “Thirst Crew” quickly set in position for a Four-Tire stop with an air pressure adjustment to correct the tight handling condition the car had during the first run.  There was a problem though when #2 Johnny Sauter was exiting his pit stall that was one behind us.  Sauter stopped too far in his pit stall and when he exited he hit the rear tire that was taking off the #26 Dr Pepper Chevy.  The Thirst Crew scrambled to recover the tire and avoid an ensuing penalty.

Hornaday was getting set to charge back up through the field when he was in the middle of a three-wide situation on Lap 42.  Ron had support from behind and was making progress when he discovered an opening in the outside lane.  As he moved up the race track, there was contact made with Compton that sent Hornaday into the outside wall and back down into traffic, fortunately this incident did not cause “The Big One”.  The Dr Pepper Chevy was bruised and battered but was able to drive to the pit box for repairs.  During the service period the team lost a lap, but got the car to the point it could retain the draft and battle for its lap back.

Hornaday found the Dr Pepper Chevy extremely loose throughout the second half of the Stacker 2 250 but continued to circle the 2.5-mile tri-oval and keep his position.  An accident on Lap 84 had the caution flag being waved after the leader passed the start/finish line and it looked as if the Dr Pepper Team would regain their lap. NASCAR Officials ruled that Hornaday already took the caution and that a car cannot take the caution more than once, therefore the #26 Dr Pepper Monte Carlo remained a lap down.

On Lap 90, Hornaday was in 28th position when the “Big One” came about.  #24 Jack Sprague and #92 Todd Bodine got into one another and cars were spinning all over the place, luckily Ron got through unscathed.  The race was red-flagged for 17 minutes and when they finished the last few laps the Dr Pepper Chevy was in 21st.

The Dr Pepper Racing Team will travel to Joliet, Illinois to the Chicagoland Speedway for Saturday’s running of the Tropicana 300.  The #26 Dr Pepper Chevy will be adorned in a new paint scheme to celebrate the launch of Dr Pepper’s New Brand, “Red Fusion.”   

NBC and TNT will take over television coverage for the remainder of the 2002 NASCAR Season.  Coverage will begin at 3:30 EST on July 13th on NBC and MRN.

Sponsor Exposure Update:  Ron Hornaday was active throughout the week.  He kicked off last week by visiting the studios of ESPN’s RPM2Night to tape a feature that aired on Wednesday evening.  On Thursday, Ron participated in a fan-filled Q&A session at Daytona USA called the Fan Forum.  Following the Q&A, Hornaday proceeded to Speediatrics, a NASCAR-themed pediatrics’ ward at Halifax Hospital, to brighten the day of some nearby children and their parents.  Ron will also be featured on the Hot Seat of the weekly racing show “Inside Winston Cup” this Monday evening on the SPEED Channel at 7pm.