LEBANON, Tenn. (August 8, 2010)—- Ron Hornaday finished sixth in the Nashville 200 Saturday night at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish at the 1.33-mile superspeedway. Hornaday started from the 10th position and made his way as high as second, but the No. 33 Purina/Beneful Chevrolet became too tight at the end of the event.
“We just got too tight there at the end,” said Hornaday after the race. “For some reason I picked up a pretty bad chatter in my front tires and every time I would get close to another truck I got too tight and couldn’t get past them. I have to thank the No. 33 Purina/Beneful team. They worked hard all day and we came away with a top-10 finish.”
Hornaday began the Nashville 200 from the 10th position and by the first caution, on lap three, he had moved up two spots to eighth. Hornaday reported to the crew that he was a little free and pushed the nose through the center of the corner. The race restarted on lap seven and Hornaday quickly began moving up through the field. On lap nine he was scored in the fourth position and by lap 15, the No. 33 truck slid past eventual race winner Todd Bodine for third.
The second caution of the night waved on lap 17, with Hornaday scored in the third position. The race restarted on lap 22 and Hornaday quickly took to the outside of the No. 3 of Austin Dillion taking the spot and looking toward leader Timothy Peters. However, as the laps clicked off, Hornaday’s truck became increasingly tighter. By lap 25, the No. 33 was scored in the fourth position, battling Matt Crafton for third. On lap 50, Hornaday was able to get past Crafton assuming the third spot. By lap 55, the field began to cycle through green-flag pit stops. Hornaday came to pit road under green on lap 61for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. The set of pit stops were almost complete when the caution waved on lap 64.
Hornaday was caught one lap down to the leaders in the ninth position after the caution waved. When six remaining lead lap trucks came down pit road, it allowed Hornaday and 10 other trucks behind him to take the wave around and reassume their position on the lead lap, but at the tail end of the line behind the leaders. Hornaday restarted the race on lap 72 from the seventh position.
Following the restart, the race took on a long green-flag run. Hornaday battled his way through lap traffic to be scored back in the top five on lap 77. By lap 90, Hornaday made his way around Mike Skinner for third and was quickly closing in on second-place Timothy Peters.
The caution waved again on lap 107 and the leaders came down pit road for the final stop of the night. Hornaday gave up the third position to come to the attention of the No. 33 team for four tires, fuel and no adjustments. The No. 33 truck restarted the race from the fourth position. Hornaday restarted from the outside lane and was unable to make a run for the lead. Hornaday fell back as far as eighth before battling through traffic to ultimately finish the Nashville 200 in the sixth position.
The run marked Hornaday’s fifth consecutive top-10 finish at the 1.33-mile Superspeedway. Todd Bodine went on the win the race, followed by Austin Dillion, Aric Almirola, Timothy Peters and Johnny Sauter.
The Truck Series returns to action next Saturday night at the track “Too Tough to Tame,” Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
August 6, 2010
Nashville Superspeedway
Race: 14 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 10th
Finished: 6th
Truck Series Point Standings: 7th
313 points behind leader Todd Bodine
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: August 14, 2010
Track: Darlington Raceway
Event Name: Too Tough To Tame 200
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 7:30 p.m., EST MRN 7:15 p.m., EST