Hornaday Wins from the Pole in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (April 28, 2008) – Ron Hornaday and the
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet
Silverado team claimed their first win of the 2008 NASCAR Truck
Series season and their second pole award at Kansas Speedway on
Saturday, April 26, 2008. Hornaday led 136 of the 167 laps of
the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 on the way to his 34th career NASCAR
Truck Series win, the most career wins in series history.
“I’ve got to thank Chevrolet, Camping World, VFW, everybody at
KHI and this whole Camping World team for giving me this awesome
truck,” Hornaday said. “I hadn’t won at Kansas before so this is
really cool.”
Hornaday, who became the first to win a Truck Series race at
Kansas from the pole position, led the first 27 laps before
making his first scheduled pit stop after the caution flag came
out on lap 27. He brought the Camping World Chevrolet Silverado
down pit road for four tires and fuel and restarted on lap 30
from the third position. Two laps later, he passed Chad McCumbee
for the lead.
Hornaday was leading on lap 46 with KHI teammate Jack Sprague in
his rear-view mirror. Hornaday made the decision to let Sprague
lead a lap to earn five bonus points and then retook the lead on
the next lap.
When the caution came out on lap 67 after an incident in turn
four, Hornaday came down pit road for a scheduled pit stop to
take tires and fuel. With varying pit strategies, some trucks
stayed out and Hornaday restarted on lap 70 running in the 11th
position. In the next few laps, he drove fiercely up into the
top five and took the lead again on lap 76 to lead the next 33
laps.
Hornaday’s final pit stop of the day came on lap 108, as the
caution waived for the eighth time, when he came in to take four
tires and fuel. He restarted from the fourth position on lap
112. After regaining the lead on lap 113, Hornaday and crew
chief Rick Ren knew fuel mileage would be an issue and believed
they would have to make one more stop for fuel to finish the
race. Ren told Hornaday to conserve all the fuel he could,
hoping that Hornaday could coast across the finish line at the
end.
With Hornaday leading and laps winding down, a caution came out
after Dennis Setzer’s truck was involved in an accident and came
to rest on the backstretch. Hornaday stayed out, and with the
tow truck and jet dryers coming onto the track, was able to
conserve fuel with just enough to finish the race. Hornaday led
the field to the restart on lap 133 and led the last 34 laps to
capture the win. Sprague crossed the finish line 0.149 seconds
behind Hornaday for second place, giving KHI their first one-two
Truck Series finish.
Hornaday, who has led laps in all five races this season, sits
atop the NASCAR Truck Series driver points, leading Rick
Crawford by 61 points.
RACE
CHATTER:
During the caution between laps 128 and 132:
Hornaday: “Can we make it from here, Rick?”
Ren: “Just conserve as fuel as you can right here, Ron.”
Hornaday: “I am conserving fuel. We’re under caution.”
Ren: “Okay Ron, you’re good on fuel. You can make it from here.
Do whatever you gotta do.”
Hornaday: “10-4”
POST-RACE LINKS:
•
Race Results
•
Driver Standings
•
Race Photos
AUDIO FILES:
•
Post-Race Interview With Crew Chief Rick
Ren
and Ron Hornaday
•
Rick Ren Talks About His Race-Winning
Strategy
•
Ron Hornaday Talks About His New Truck
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