BRISTOL, Tenn. (August 25, 2011) — Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team headed to Tennessee this week for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. With Cooked Perfect Meatballs on board the Chevrolet Silverado, Hornaday fought tight conditions in the opening laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 and was relegated to a 24th-place finish after contact with the wall on lap 10.
Hornaday took the green flag in the third position for the 200-lap event and quickly settled into the fourth place as the field made their way around the 0.533-mile oval. Battling tight conditions in his Chevrolet, Hornaday spun coming down the backstretch making contact with the inside wall, bringing out the first caution flag of the night.
With left-front fender damage, Hornaday drove the machine to pit road for his KHI crew to assess what repairs would be needed to the Chevrolet. The team pulled off the damaged sheet metal and changed four tires during the stop. When the field restarted on lap 17, Hornaday was in the 34th position, three laps down.
Under green-flag conditions, Hornaday radioed to the crew that his Cooked Perfect Meatballs truck was still very tight as he fought to move through the field. The second caution flag waved on lap 32 for an accident in turn two. The No. 33 Chevrolet received the ‘lucky dog’ and earned back one of his laps, now only two laps down to the leaders. When the team came to pit road on lap 34, they changed two left-side tires, and made chassis adjustments to help with the tight-handling issues. The field went back to green-flag racing on lap 36 with Hornaday still in the 34th position.
On Lap 53 an accident in turn three involving two vehicles behind Hornaday brought out the third caution of the race. The team made another stop down pit road for more chassis adjustments, two right-side tires and fuel. Racing resumed on lap 59 with the Cooked Perfect Meatballs Chevrolet in the 33rd spot.
With only six green-flag laps completed, the field was once again slowed for a multi-truck pileup on the frontstretch. Hornaday, still struggling with the handling of his damaged machine, visited pit road once again for another chassis adjustment. As the trucks involved in the accident came off the race track, Hornaday gained four positions restarting 29th on lap 71.
The fifth caution waved on lap 91 for an accident in turn four. Hornaday reported that his truck was handling better, but the tires were chattering as he raced around the track, The driver brought the No. 33 down pit road where the crew tried to secure the front end of the Chevrolet for more stability. The crew made additional chassis adjustments and added fuel for the restart on lap 97 with Hornaday in the 27th position.
Just as the race crossed the halfway point, the sixth caution flag of the night waved on lap 103. Hornaday, still two laps down, came down pit road for four tires and a chassis adjustment during the caution. The team went back racing on lap 108 in the 26th position.
On lap 114 the field was once again brought to yellow-flag conditions for an accident in turn two involving four trucks. The team, still fighting handling issues and damage from the early-race accident, opted to come down pit road for further chassis adjustments. The field resumed on lap 119 with Hornaday in 26th spot.
As the field settled into a long green-flag run, the leaders caught Hornaday on lap 139, leaving the No. 33 to fall three laps down. The eighth caution was brought out on lap 172 for an accident in turn four involving the No. 70 truck. Crew chief Jeff Hensley elected to bring Hornaday down pit road one last time for a fresh set of Goodyear tires.
Hornaday restarted 25th when the race resumed racing with 17 laps to go. The caution flag quickly waved again but for the final time of the event on lap 187 for the No. 3 truck who had run out of gas on the track. With 10 laps to go, the green flag waved with the No. 33 running in the 24th spot. Hornaday fought to work his way forward but came to the finish line having maintained the 24th position.
The Truck Series will race at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Atlanta 200 on September 2. Watch all the action live on SPEED at 8:00 p.m. ET and listen to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Chanel 90 and MRN Radio at 7:45 p.m. ET.
Comments from driver Ron Hornaday:
“We had such a fast truck heading into tonight’s race. We were so fast in practice and had a great qualifying effort. I was so tight there in the beginning and with the chatter in the front tires, I couldn’t get it to turn. I just lost it. My guys did a great job in the pits trying to get this Cooked Perfect Meatballs Chevrolet back together.”
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