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Posted on July 1, 2008	Email   Print

 Hornaday “Leaves the Building” with Elvis after

Dominating Win at Memphis

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (June 30, 2008) – Ron Hornaday and the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado team scored their third victory of the 2008 NASCAR Truck Series season on Saturday night, June 28, in the O’Reilly 200 at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park. Hornaday led 139 of the 204 laps en route to taking over the Truck Series point standings and extending his lead of all-time series wins to 36.

“That was probably the hardest race I have run this year so far,” Hornaday said. “I wanted that trophy really bad and that Elvis trophy is the coolest thing in the world. We were really good in practice and we did a qualifying run and we were terrible. Rick Ren (crew chief) stayed up all night thinking about it and he made some very minor changes but they all worked in the end. You have to race hard and this was a good win for us.”

Hornaday took the green flag at the start of the race from the third position. Within the first 10 laps of the race, he had gained a spot to second and was working on leader Johnny Benson. By lap 40, he had caught Benson before taking the lead on lap 44. Hornaday led the next 10 laps.

The team made their first pit stop of the night on lap 54. Hornaday came down pit road in the lead for four tires and fuel. With many of the other competitors taking two tires or fuel only, Hornaday restarted from the fifth position on lap 59. He battled through a tight condition and retook the lead on lap 76 from Stacy Compton. By lap 85, Hornaday had built a 25-truck-length lead over Compton and a 40-truck-length lead by lap 88.

The caution came out on lap 123 and Ren called Hornaday down pit road for the final time for tires and fuel. Another solid stop by the No. 33 Camping World team put Hornaday out front for the restart on lap 126.

As the laps wound down and Hornaday had driven away from the field with a commanding lead over second-place Erik Darnell, the caution came out on lap 199 after a multi-truck accident in turn four. NASCAR officials displayed the red flag for nine minutes for the track to be cleared of any remaining debris. The race was restarted on 202, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Hornaday, known as the “Master of Restarts,” immediately pulled away from the field and crossed the finish line on lap 204 for his 36th career NASCAR Truck Series win.

After Saturday night’s race, Hornaday and the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado team gained three spots to retake the lead in the Truck Series point standings, leading Matt Crafton by 27 points.

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