Brooklyn,
MI
(August
19,
2001)—
Ron
Hornaday
led the
Pepsi
400
briefly
before
losing a
cylinder
and
finishing
30th
in
Sunday’s
rain-shortened
NASCAR
Winston
Cup
event at
Michigan
International
Speedway.
After
running
in the
top 15
for most
of the
afternoon,
Hornaday
was
sitting
in the
13th
position
when the
Conseco
Pontiac
lost a
cylinder
on lap
120. A
lap
later,
the
caution
came out
and
Hornaday
found
himself
leading
the race
with a
chance
to win.
Team
Conseco
knew
that
rain was
on its
way and
would
probably
bring an
early
end to
the
event.
Crew
Chief
Donnie
Brown
made the
decision
to stay
out on
the
racetrack
and hope
for the
rain to
fall
with the
Conseco
Pontiac
out
front.
But the
rain
held off
just
long
enough
for the
race to
restart.
With his
engine
hitting
on only
seven
cylinders,
Hornaday
could
only try
and keep
the
field in
sight.
On lap
160 of
200, the
rain
began
falling
with
Hornaday
holding
on to 30th
place on
the
racetrack.
A few
laps
later,
NASCAR
officials
red-flagged
the
event.
"I
can’t
believe
our
luck, We
had a
really
good car
today.
We were
able to
run in
the top
15 and
maybe
even the
top 10
if
we’d
gotten a
break
there at
the end.
Donnie
made a
great
call
that
might
have won
us the
race if
the rain
had only
come a
few
minutes
sooner.
We
dropped
a
cylinder
just as
the rain
started
again or
we’d
have
been
right
there
knocking
on the
door of
a top-10
finish.
We’ll
get
there.
Maybe
next
week at
Bristol."
- Ron
Aug.
19th - Before
the
rain-delay,
Tony
Stewart
(Pontiac
Wide Track
Team-Mate)
assisted
Ron and
the Team
Conseco
Pontiac
to pit
road as
the #14
fell
short on
fuel.
The Team
Conseco
Crew
filled
the AJ
Foyt
Racing
machine
with 76
racing
fuel and
Ron was
back out
and
gained
back his
lap and
under
the rain
delay
sat in
21st.
A
great
Conseco
in-car-cam
shot
from TNT
at the
re-start
showed
Ron
placing
the
Conseco
Pontiac
into 1st
gear.
The
Master
of the
restart went
from
21st to
12th. On
a cold
green
track
the
second
yellow
came out
at lap
121 and
found
Ron
sitting
in the
17th
position.
Deciding
to stay
out, Ron
and the
Team
Conseco
#14 were
in first
for the
restart,
but were
down a
cylinder
and with
a
sportsmanship
move and
a decision
to save
the
engine,
Ron
backed
off. Ron
kept the
car out
on
7cylinders
and battled
to stay
in the
top 20.
Rain
came
down
again
and that
brought
out
another
yellow,
while Ron
and the
#14 were
in the
pits,
coming
back out
on the
track in
30th, 1
lap down.
////NASCAR
made the
call to
throw
the
checkered
early
due to
rain.
Aug.
17th
- Ron
and the
Team
Conseco Pontiac
will
start 34th
in this
Sunday's
Pepsi
400 at Michigan
International
Raceway.
185.028
mph
lap at a
time of 38.913
sec. Ron
commented
on how
loose
the car
was -
"The
Bush car
was
loose,
so we
went for
tightening
up the
AJ Foyt
Racing Pontiac,
but it
wasn't
enough.
These
guys are
working
very
hard you
know,
and
David
Evans
built us
a great
motor,
but we
just
couldn't
use it
coming
off the
corners".
"We
put this
Conseco
Pontiac
back in
another
show and
I guess
that's
what
we've
got to
look at.
We could
be
better,
but the
car was
just
loose.
That's
what we
need to
do. We
just
need to
keep
making
these
races
with
this
race
team, so
we can
get
better
for next
year. We
hate to
say
we're
looking
at next
year
already,
but
that's
what
we've
got to
do.
We're
trying
to do
things
that we
haven't
done
before,
so we're
using
this as
a test
program.
Without
having a
provisional,
just
making
these
Winston
Cup
shows,
as tough
as this
competition
is -
we're
proud of
it."
Aug.
15th - “Back
to
Michigan.
We
have
made a
lot of
changes
since we
were
here in
June.
We’ve
got a
new car
and a
lot more
horsepower
than we
did back
then.
The
motor
room has
been
working
overtime
all
summer
long and
it’s
starting
to pay
off.
The
cars are
getting
better
too.
We’re
stepping
up the
program
all the
way
around.”–
Ron
