LAS VEGAS (Oct. 17, 2011) — Ron Hornaday and the No. 2 Champion Chevrolet Silverado were the dominate team this weekend during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) driver captured his first pole of the season and led 107 of the scheduled 146 laps before bringing home the sixth win of the season for the No. 2 team and Hornaday’s fourth. This victory marked back-to-back wins for Hornaday and his first at the speedway after bringing home his 50th career Truck Series win at Kentucky Speedway on October 1. With four races remaining in the season, Hornaday now sits fourth in the driver’s point standings only 21 points out of the lead.
Hornaday led the field to the green flag and remained in the lead position until the first caution of the day slowed the field on lap three for a single-truck accident in turn four. The race resumed green-flag conditions on lap six and before the second caution flag was displayed for debris on the track on lap 13, Hornaday put a 10-truck lead on the field.
Green-flag conditions returned on lap 15 and Hornaday went three-wide into turn one with the Nos. 88 and 13 but held onto the lead position when the third caution flag came out on lap 23 for an accident on the frontstretch.
During the caution, crew chief Bruce Cook brought the driver down pit road on lap 24 for two right-ride tires and fuel. Some of the leaders opted to remain on track which placed Hornaday in the sixth spot when the field resumed racing on lap 28. Back under green, the Champion Chevrolet quickly moved forward and as the trucks raced out of turn four on lap 28, the veteran driver regained the lead.
With a multi-truck accident on lap 31, NASCAR displayed the red flag for extensive cleanup before bringing the field back to competition on lap 35. Hornaday raced side-by-side with the No. 17 truck for position but pulled ahead with the lead when the fifth caution flag of the event was displayed on lap 42. Cook elected to bring the No. 2 Chevrolet to pit road on lap 43 for two left-side tires and fuel.
Hornaday took the lap 45 restart from the 13th position but quickly picked up two positions before the yellow flag waved for a sixth time on lap 48 for an accident in turn four. The KHI team chose to remain on track and lined up in the 10th spot for the restart on lap 51.
As the field raced around the 1.5-mile track, Hornaday powered his way back into the top five, reaching the third spot by the time the yellow caution lights flashed on lap 61 for an accident in turn two. Cook called his driver to pit road during the caution for a fuel-only stop and the No. 2 Champion Chevrolet returned to the track in the seventh position for the restart on lap 63.
Back under green, Hornaday raced his way to the front of the field by lap 65. The driver pulled ahead of his competition but reported to his team that his Chevrolet was really free getting into the corners on lap 77. Cook assured Hornaday that his lap times were faster than the rest of the field and to maintain his line until the team could make their final pit stop.
Hornaday continued to lead as green-flag pit stops began at lap 100. On lap 105, the driver piloted the No. 2 Chevrolet to pit road for a scheduled pit stop for four tires and fuel. After the field cycled through the round of green-flag stops, Hornaday regained the lead on lap 114. Debris on the track brought out the eighth caution of the race on lap 117. The KHI team kept their driver on track and Hornaday led the field back to green on lap 121. Shortly after returning to green-flag conditions, however, the yellow flag waved again on lap 123 for an accident on the frontstretch. The field went back racing with 16 laps to go with Hornaday holding the lead.
The 10th and final caution was brought out on lap 136 for an accident in turn two. Green-flag racing resumed with eight laps remaining in the event and as the trucks wound back up to full speed, Hornaday was able to pull away from field. The veteran driver kept the No. 2 Champion Chevrolet in the lead position over the final laps to bring home his 51st career Truck Series win and his first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With four races remaining in the 2011 season, Hornaday moves up from fifth to fourth in the Driver’s Point standings, now only 21 points from the lead, while the No. 2 Chevrolet team extends its lead in the Owner’s Point standings to 73 over the second-place team.
The Truck Series will return to action at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 22. Watch the action live on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET.
Comments from driver Ron Hornaday:
“I cannot thank Kevin and DeLana enough for putting me behind this No. 2 Champion Chevrolet and for believing in me to come out and win races. Bruce Cook and all the guys on this team really work hard and put together a great race truck. This is fun. We wanted to come back with Champion and redeem ourselves from the finish we had in Michigan. I’m proud to be able to bring them to victory lane. I’ve been here 10 times before and finally got a victory. Now I only have seven tracks on the schedule without a win. That’s pretty cool.”
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