Martinsville, Va. (October 22, 2007) – Ron Hornaday survived a caution-filled race on Saturday, October 20, 2007, and earned a strong third-place finish in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The third-place finish was Hornaday’s 11th top-five finish of the season.

The weekend started on Friday for Hornaday and the No. 33 Camping World Chevy team. After several rain showers passed through the area that morning, NASCAR officials made the decision to cancel the first scheduled practice session and delayed the second scheduled practice session until later in the afternoon.

Hornaday had the sixth fastest truck at the end of the one and only practice session for the NASCAR Truck Series with a lap time of 20.080 seconds (94.303 mph). Hornaday commented to the team early in the session that the truck “had a lot of forward bite and a little chatter.” The No. 33 Camping World Chevy team made a spring change and a few other slight adjustments throughout the remainder of the session and was able to improve the truck’s handling to Hornaday’s liking.

Truck series teams returned to the half-mile track on Saturday morning for qualifying. Hornaday ran a lap of 20.110 seconds (94.162 mph), which secured him the 12th starting spot for the race.

As the green flag dropped to start the 200-lap race, drivers began battling hard with one another and racing two-wide to try to gain valuable track position. After completing a handful of laps, Hornaday made radio contact to crew chief Rick Ren to tell him that he was fighting a tight condition as he continued to run in the 12th position.

The first of 13 cautions came on lap 26 after Brian Scott spun in turn two. Hornaday was running in the 11th position when he brought the No. 33 Camping World Chevy down pit road for a scheduled pit stop fuel and a track bar adjustment to slightly free the truck and improve the handling. That would be the only pit stop of the day for the team.

The race was restarted on lap 29 with Hornaday in the 12th position. He quickly began gaining positions and raced his way into the top 10 and was running in the ninth position by lap 34.

The second caution came on lap 36 after Scott Lynch spun in turn three. The race was restarted on lap 41 with Hornaday still running in the ninth position, but the field was slowed when the caution flag waved three laps later on lap 44 for debris on the race track.

Hornaday again restarted the race on lap 47 in the ninth position, where he ran for the next several laps as he tried to gain positions while also fighting a tight condition and the competition that was behind him.

The fourth caution came out on lap 66 after an accident in turn one involving Johnny Benson and Regan Smith. Hornaday continued to run in the ninth position when the caution came out and restarted in that same position when the green flag waved on lap 70. Hornaday quickly gained one spot up to the eighth position on the restart before the caution came out on lap 73 after Jason Leffler spun as he entered turn two.

The race was restarted on lap 75 with Hornaday running in the eighth position. He continued to race hard and battled for position before finally settling into the seventh position by lap 100. Then he took the sixth spot before the caution came out on lap 109 for an accident in turn three involving Dario Franchitti and Clay Rogers. The race was restarted on lap 115 with Hornaday running in the sixth position.

The seventh caution of the afternoon came out just six laps later on lap 121 after Dennis Setzer spun in turn two. Hornaday remained in the sixth position when the race was restarted on lap 124 and began battling with Matt Crafton for the fifth position. He was able to catch up to Crafton several times, but just could not get around him. Hornaday continued to put pressure on Crafton and increased the distance between him and the rest of the field.

The caution came out again on lap 146 after an accident in turn two involving Colin Braun. The race was restarted on lap 154 with Hornaday running in the sixth position. Hornaday wasted no time on the restart and took the fifth position on lap 155 and continued to make his way to the front of the field.

The caution came out for the ninth time on lap 159 for an accident on the frontstretch involving Jacques Villenueve. The race was restarted on lap 166, but another caution quickly came out on lap 168 for an accident in turn one involving Kyle Busch and Terry Cook. The next restart came on lap 171 with Hornaday still running in the fifth position.

On lap 177, the field was slowed down again when the caution flag waved after Travis Dassow spun in turn four. The race was restarted on lap 180 with Hornaday still running in the fifth position. Just after the field crossed the start-finish line on lap 183, Leffler and Travis Kvapil made contact and caused an accident in turn two.

The race was restarted on lap 191 with Hornaday still running in the fifth position and still driving hard. The field was just getting up to speed when the 13th and final caution of the afternoon came out on lap 195 after a multi-car accident on the frontstretch involving Tim Sauter, Joey Clanton, Leffler, Kvapil, Denny Hamlin, Lynch, Todd Bodine, Rogers and Erik Darnell. NASCAR officials made the decision immediately to red-flag the race to clear the track.

After nearly an 18-minute delay, the race restarted on lap 197. With three laps to go in the race and running in the fifth position, Hornaday got up on the wheel and drove as hard as he could. Still fighting a tight condition, he went to the outside of Rick Crawford and took the fourth position. Then with two laps to go, Hornaday went to the outside again and cleared Crafton for third place. He was able to hold off a charge from Crafton going into turns three and four to cross the start-finish line on the final lap in the third position.

“Rick Ren and all the guys are doing a great job, just giving me awesome trucks,” Hornaday said after the race. “Thanks to Chevrolet, Camping World, Kevin and DeLana Harvick for this great opportunity.”

Going into the Kroger 200, the No. 33 Camping World team was first in the NASCAR Truck Series point standings. After Saturday’s race, the team is now second in the point’s standings, 11 points behind the No. 5 driven by Mike Skinner. There are four races left in the 2007 NASCAR Truck Series season.

Next up for the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado: Ron Hornaday will drive the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet in the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at the Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Live coverage of the event begins Saturday, October 27, 2007 on SPEED at 12:30 p.m., ET. The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN).

STATS RECAP

Date: October 20, 2007

Track: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

Event Name: Kroger 200

Driver: Ron Hornaday

Race: 21 of 25

Started: 12th

Finished: 3rd

Truck Series Point Standings: 2nd

Driver Championship Standings:

1. Mike Skinner – 3383 points

2. Ron Hornaday – 3372 points

3. Travis Kvapil – 3097 points

4. Todd Bodine – 3048 points

5. Johnny Benson – 2969 points

NEXT ON SCHEDULE:

Date: October 27, 2007

Track: Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway

Event Name: EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200

Driver: Ron Hornaday

Broadcast Time:

TV: The EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 can be seen live on SPEED at 12:30 p.m., ET.

Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 12:30 p.m., ET.