“I’m not really sure what happened,” said Hornaday after the race. “We were pretty good during the middle part of the race, and then I felt the truck get a vibration. I wasn’t sure what it was, but we caught a caution and had the chance to change tires. Then, after the last pit stop under green I was convinced something had broken in the rear end or the transmission. It ended up being the right-front tire being loose and causing other problems with the truck. It’s really unfortunate since we had a really good truck in the middle of the race. We were just one or two adjustments away from being really good. We will take a weekend off and go after the trophy in Loudon.”
Hornaday began the Built Ford Tough 225 from the eighth position, and as the race began, the No. 33 truck took to the outside, quickly jumping up to the third position. By lap 10, Hornaday began to reel in the lead trucks of Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Four laps later, the No. 33 truck slid into the second position. The first caution of the night waved on lap 20. Crew chief Kevin Buskirk told Hornaday it was too early to pit for tires, so the team decided to follow leader Johnny Sauter to pit road to take fuel only. Hornaday restarted the race from the lead on lap 26, pulling out to a sizable lead over second place Todd Bodine.
On lap 33, Hornaday reported to the team that his truck was loose going into the corners and tight coming off the corners. The team noted the handling of the truck and began to make preparations for adjustments for the next pit stop. Hornaday lost the battle for the lead to Bodine on lap 43. The second caution of the race waved on lap 45. Hornaday gave up the second position to follow the leaders down pit road. The No. 33 team made a four-tire pit stop, added fuel and made a slight air-pressure adjustment.
Hornaday restarted the race from the fourth position on lap 50. Wasting no time, Hornaday powered past the field retaking the lead on lap 51 however, his rein in the top spot was short-lived as Kyle Busch and Bodine slipped past him for the lead on lap 57. At the half-way mark on lap 75, the caution waved for the third time. Hornaday had fallen back into the fifth position, reporting to the team that he was loose in and tight off the corners, but he really needed to get the tightness out of the truck.
Hornaday brought the No. 33 down pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment on lap 77. The majority of the field chose to pit, however, some trucks took fuel only, leaving Hornaday in the fourth position for the restart. The caution waved again, for the fourth time, on lap 91. The No. 33 team was one lap shy of making it to the end of the race on fuel if they came to pit road. Not willing to take the chance of running out of fuel, the No. 33 team opted not to come to pit road. Many of the leaders made the opposite strategy call coming to pit road for tires and fuel.
Hornaday raced Busch for the lead as the race restarted on lap 95. The leaders began to race hard, taking it four wide for the lead. The No. 33 truck lost side bite and became very loose slipping back as the leaders raced side-by-side. A few laps later, Hornaday settled into the third position as he tried to catch the leaders. Hornaday was running third on lap 120 when a cycle of green-flag pit stops began.
One lap later, Hornaday reported he had a vibration in the right-front tire. Buskirk immediately called Hornaday to pit road for four tires, fuel and another wedge adjustment. As Hornaday left pit road he sensed a major problem with the truck. As the leaders cycled through green-flag pit stops, Hornaday fell two laps down to the leaders, telling the team that something was broken in the rear-end of the truck. On lap 144, Hornaday brought the No. 33 truck to pit road with a flat right-front tire. After changing both right-side tires, the team determined that on the previous stop the right-front tire had been left loose causing the majority of Hornaday’s handling problems. The flat tire and green-flag pit stop left Hornaday four laps down to the leaders. He took the checkered flag in the 29th position.
Bodine went on to win the Built Ford Tough 225 followed by Sauter, Aric Almirola, Jason White and Ricky Carmichael. The Truck Series returns to action in two weeks at New Hamsphire Motor Speedway at 2:30pm, EST.
About Kevin Harvick Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.
- Kevin Harvick Inc. Press Release
