TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 23, 2011) — The No. 2 Bad Boy Buggies team entered Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon ready to capture their third straight victory with four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday behind the wheel. The Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team pushed teammate Mike Wallace across the finish line to capture the ninth victory for the organization this season with Hornaday coming in second. The runner-up finish moves the veteran driver up five points in the Driver’s Point standings, only 16 markers from the lead, and increases the No. 2 team’s lead in the Owner’s Point standings to 81 points over the second-place team with three races remaining in the season.
Hornaday qualified in the fifth position and as soon as the green flag waved, quickly paired up with the No. 33 Anderson’s Maple Syrup Chevrolet. As the field raced into turns one and two, the two-truck tandem of Wallace and Hornaday charged toward the front. By the time the duo reached the backstretch, the No. 33 took over the lead with the No. 2 in second.
On lap three, Hornaday and Wallace swapped positions allowing the No. 2 Chevrolet to hold the lead until the two KHI Chevrolets separated and were passed by another two-truck tandem. When the field came to lap four, the Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet was scored in the 25th position.
Wallace and Hornaday raced in the rear of the field for the next 10 laps before the first caution flag fell on lap 14 for an accident in turn three involving six trucks. Crew chief Bruce Cook brought Hornaday down pit road during the caution period for a fuel-only stop and returned the No. 2 Chevrolet to the track in the 15th position.
The race returned to green on lap 17 and the Nos. 33 and 2 quickly matched bumpers once again as they sailed around the 2.66-mile speedway. Before the field completed lap 18, Hornaday pushed Wallace to the lead.
The KHI duo remained in front of the field until the day’s second caution on lap 37 for an accident in turn two. Cook called Hornaday to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Spotter Billy O’Dea was able to guide Wallace and the No. 33 Chevrolet off of pit road at the same time as the No. 2 in order to keep the pair together for the restart on lap 41.
Back under green, Wallace and Hornaday immediately shot toward the front of the field with the No. 33 regaining the lead on lap 42. The two continued to race out front until the field was slowed for a third caution for an accident which erupted on the frontstretch on lap 49. Cook elected to bring the Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet to pit road on lap 50 for a fuel-only stop. Following Hornaday’s pit stop, O’Dea once again guided the two KHI Chevrolets off of pit road together with Wallace in the second position and the No, 2 in fourth for the restart on lap 54.
Hornaday reached the bumper of the No. 33 Chevrolet before the field entered turn two and as the trucks raced down the backstretch, the veteran driver pushed his teammate back into the lead. The two remained connected and opened a five-second lead over the rest of the field before their momentum was slowed for the fourth caution of the event on lap 60 for fluid on the track in turn four. Hornaday drove the No. 2 Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet to pit road for a fuel-only stop and returned to the track in the fifth position.
Hornaday was unable to reach the rear bumper of the No. 33 machine which was running in the third position when the field returned to green-flag conditions on lap 64. The No. 2 dropped back to 10th but by lap 66, reunited with Wallace and pushed the No. 33 back into the lead. With 24 laps remaining in the event, the KHI tandem’s lead was threatened by the duo of Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. The two raced their way to the front and took the top positions from Wallace and Hornaday when the fifth caution flag of the day waved on lap 85 for an accident on the backstretch. Both the No. 2 and No. 33 teams opted not to pit and Hornaday lined up in the fourth position for the lap 88 restart.
As the race resumed, the No. 2 quickly found the No. 33 and the pair shot toward the front. As the field raced out of turns one and two, their climb was slowed as debris was spotted on the track bringing out the sixth and final caution of the day. Hornaday remained on track behind Wallace and the two prepared for the green-white-checkered finish. The green flag waved and the No. 2 Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet pushed the No. 33 through the final two laps to victory lane. The runner-up finish marked Hornaday’s 12th top-five finish thus far this season and his second at Talladega. The one-two finish was the sixth for KHI in 10 years of competition.
The Truck Series returns to action at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29. Watch the action live on SPEED at 2 p.m. ET.
Comments from driver Ron Hornaday:
“We are not out of this championship but we still have a long ways to go. KHI really worked on our trucks and knew what we needed to do in order to get this two-truck tandem to work. We got our noses to match up and were able to take off from the field. I have to thank Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) for putting me back in this No. 2 truck. I’m so happy to have put Mike back into victory lane. That was pretty cool.”
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