MADISON, Ill. (July 19, 2010)—- The CampingWorld.com 200 was scheduled for Friday evening under the lights at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway, however, a power outage delayed the start of the event until Saturday afternoon prior to the Nationwide Series event. Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 team started from the eighth position, but a broken left-front sway bar arm on lap 48 brought the No. 33 team to pit road for nine laps, relegating Hornaday to a 26th-place finish. Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) teammate, Kevin Harvick, went on to win the CampingWorld.com 200, his third Truck Series win of 2010.
“We had a really great truck,” said Hornaday after the race. “It is such a shame we broke the left-front sway bar, I think we were the only truck that had a shot to compete with Kevin [Harvick]. I am really proud of the No. 33 team, the guys worked really hard this weekend to give me an awesome truck. You can get mad at these sorts of things, but parts fail, things happen. We just need to find a little luck right now.”
Hornaday started the day-delayed CampingWorld.com 200 from the eighth position, while his teammate Harvick earned the first pole of his Truck Series career. Harvick jumped out to a strong lead immediately, while Hornaday too made quick work of the trucks in front of him, moving into the second position on lap eight. The KHI trucks of Harvick and Hornaday continued to run one-two until lap 17, when Hornaday was able to get by the leader Harvick for one lap and earn five bonus points.
On lap 25, Hornaday informed the team that he had begun to try different lines around the track in an effort to catch Harvick. His lap times began to improve with his experimentation. On lap 38, Hornaday radioed crew chief, Butch Hylton saying he had developed a really bad “hop” off the corners. The truck did not want to stay on the bottom of the track and the tires had begun to chatter slightly. With green-flag pit stops on the horizon, the No. 33 team began to plan on a few minor changes to help Hornaday with the handling of his No. 33 Charter Chevrolet. Suddenly, on lap 48, Hornaday told the team he thought they had broken a left-rear shock as the truck began to bobble badly on the left side. However, upon further discussion the team determined they had broken the left-front sway bar arm. The caution waved on lap 49, allowing the team to begin work on pit road. Uncertain of the extent of the damage, the No. 33 team quickly replaced the sway bar. However, when the bar broke, it also damaged the brackets that held it in place. Not wanting to take a chance on wrecking a good truck, the No. 33 team took their time and fixed the bar.
Hornaday returned to the CampingWorld.com 200 on lap 63, nine laps down to the leaders, scored in the 30th position. Still not satisfied with the handling of the truck, the No. 33 team brought Hornaday back down pit road on lap 75 to make additional changes. Under the following caution on lap 81, Hornaday came back down pit road for additional adjustments. The team made three stops under the lengthy caution to make major changes to the truck to compensate for the damage caused by the broken front sway bar arm.
Due to attrition during the closing laps of the event, Hornaday was able to gain four positions on the track, scoring him in the 26th position. Hornaday’s teammate Harvick pulled out to a sizeable five-second lead over second place Brad Kesolowski. Hornaday soldiered on with a truck, which at the end of the race was running lap times in the top 10. Unable to gain any additional positions, Hornaday finished the race in the 26th position, 10 laps down to the leaders.
Harvick led 143 of the 160 laps on the way to his third Truck Series victory of 2010. Kesolowski was second followed by Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton. The Truck Series returns to action Friday, July 23rd at O’Reilly Raceway Park.
STATS RECAP
Race Info
July 16, 2010
Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway
Race: 11 of 25
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 8th
Finished: 26th
Truck Series Point Standings: 6th (261 points behind leader Todd Bodine)
Next on the Schedule for the No. 33:
Date: July 23, 2010
Track: O’Reilly (Ind.) Raceway Park
Event Name: AAA Insurance 200 presented by J.D. Byrider
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Broadcast Time: SPEED 8:30 p.m., EST MRN 8:30 p.m., EST