Category: Post-Race Reports
06/19/10
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (June 20, 2010) — Starting the Bucyrus 300 from the 11th starting position, Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Longhorn Moist Snuff team battled back from a mid-race accident to finish the inaugural race at Road America in the 12th position.
“The No. 33 Longhorn Chevy was really good,” said Hornaday following the race. “We had a pit road penalty that got us a little behind and then the incident with the No. 21 car forced us behind the wall for repairs. The guys worked really hard and made the repairs without losing too much time. We were able to get the lucky dog and work our way back through the field to finish 12th. The guys never gave up and we finished with a decent run.”
Starting the Bucyrus 200 from the 11th position, Hornaday and the No. 33 team settled into the top 10 as Hornaday maneuvered his way around the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course, learning the turns and looking to advance his way to the front. Battling handling conditions that caused the car to be loose when turning to the right and tight when turning to the left, Hornaday made a scheduled pit stop on lap 27 under caution for adjustments. Running in the ninth position, Hornaday made his second scheduled stop of the race for fuel, four tires with an air-pressure adjustment and one round down on the track bar. Following a solid stop, Hornaday was caught too fast exiting pit road when he was clocked half-a-mile per hour over the pit road speed limit. Having to serve a penalty and drop to the tail end of the longest line, crew chief Ernie Cope called Hornaday back to pit road to top off with fuel.
The race restarted on lap 27 only to be halted on lap 29 for a multi-car accident. Hornaday would again bring the No. 33 car to pit road to top off with fuel and return to the track as NASCAR displayed the red flag for track clean up on lap 30 with the No. 33 car scored in the 16th spot. After an extended period of time, NASCAR fired the engines and resumed the race under caution until lap 33. Hornaday would restart the race on lap 33 from the eighth position after many lead-lap cars pitted on lap 31 under caution.
Making his way to sixth on lap 35, Hornaday was focused on a solid finish with 15 laps remaining in the inaugural race at Road America. However, on the same lap, contact from behind from the No. 21 car driven by Tim George Jr. would send Hornaday spinning, bringing out the caution, and a broken track bar would force the team to the garage for repairs. The team was able to make quick repairs and only loose one lap to the leaders. Hornaday restarted the race 27th on lap 38.
A quick caution on the restart for another multi-car accident would put Hornaday back on the lead lap and the recipient of the ‘Lucky Dog.’ Restarting the race from the 25th position on lap 41, Hornaday, with a fast car and avoiding several late race cautions, worked his way through the field to finish the Bucyrus 200 in the 12th spot.
Carl Edwards won the race in dominating fashion followed by Ron Fellows, Brendan Gaughan, Brad Keselowski and Owen Kelly.
STATS RECAP
June 19, 2010
Road America
Bucyrus 200
Race: 15 of 35
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Started: 11th
Finished: 12th
Owner’s Point Standings: 4th (+/- 0 spots, 236 points out of 1st)
Race length: 50 laps/200.4 miles
Turns: 14
Track layout: 4.048 miles
Shape: Road Course
Number of Race Cautions: 7 for 14 Laps
First Practice: 17th (139.303 seconds; 104.612 mph)
Second Practice: 20th (138.822 seconds; 104.975 mph)
Third Practice: 2nd (137.282 seconds; 106.152 mph)
Final Practice: 14th (138.824 seconds; 104.973 mph)
Qualifying: 11th (136.513 seconds; 106.750 mph)
Next on the Nationwide Series Schedule:
Date: June 26, 2010
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Event Name: New England 200
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Sponsor: Jimmy John’s
Broadcast Time: 3:00 p.m., ET on ESPN2 and 3:00 p.m., ET on MRN Radio