No. 33 AES HR Solutions Chevrolet Silverado driver Ron Hornaday. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

After qualifying the No. 33 AES HR Solutions Chevrolet Silverado in the ninth position with a time of 19.968 seconds (94.832 mph) on Saturday afternoon, Ron Hornaday raced inside the top 10 all day. During the race, Hornaday posted an average running position of fifth place, climbing to the fourth position at one point. Hornaday ended the race by bringing home a rock-solid sixth-place finish in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

With 15 cautions that spanned an 85-lap duration and double wide restarts at a track that is notoriously difficult to pass on, the Kroger 250 was a wild race full of aggressive driving by lapped trucks battling for position. This left the leaders attempting to navigate their way through heavily damaged trucks, while trying to stay out of harm's way.

Hornaday and his KHI owner/teammate Kevin Harvick spent a good amount of time racing side by side battling each other for position on the lead lap, along with Todd Bodine, Rick Crawford and Ted Musgrave.

When the caution flag flew on lap 84, Hornaday told crew chief Rick Ren that the truck was tight. Rick Ren brought Hornaday to pit road for a routine stop, telling the No. 33 crew to change four tires only and fuel. "The truck is balanced," said Ren. "The new tires should help clear up the tight condition." A few laps later, Hornaday radioed "much better."

On lap 125, Hornaday was trading paint with the lapped truck of Matt Crafton, trying to avoid going three-wide as he made his way to the fifth position.

Hornaday was in the fifth position on lap 185 when the caution flag flew. Rick Ren told his driver that the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado had enough fuel to go to the end and directed Hornaday to stay out and hold his track position.

With 40 to go, teammate Kevin Harvick successfully made the pass on Hornaday for the fifth position.

The Kroger 250 ended with a green-white-checkered finish with Mike Skinner in first, Hornaday in sixth and his KHI teammate, Kevin Harvick, finishing fourth.

In four races, Hornaday has three top-10 finishes and one top-five. Ron Hornaday is currently in fourth place in the championship point standings, a mere one point out of the third position.

Ron Hornaday Quotes:
"We came here with a different set-up than usual. After practice, our set-up was a little different than the bosses' truck (Kevin Harvick), and that's what we have to do. We have to make both trucks a little different so we know what to do and what not to do.

"Both KHI Chevrolet Silverados ran really good, but I would have liked to have been the fastest Chevrolet. The boss (Kevin Harvick) had the truck that we are going to Mansfield with, and he ran well in it.

"I'm looking forward to going to Mansfield. We have come a long way and we changed some things we shouldn't have changed. And we know it now, and we won't do it again."

Rick Ren Quotes:
"We really unloaded right from the hauler pretty darn good. We had a brand new tire, so we had to chase the tire and the racetrack a little bit. All in all, the changes we made were very minor and we made a couple more adjustments in the morning before qualifying, anticipating the racetrack being tighter, and it was.

"As far as Martinsville, I'm pleased with it and I think that Ron is pleased with it. I wish we could say we ran first or second, but coming out of Martinsville sixth after qualifying ninth -- it was a good day. Both of our KHI trucks ran good today.

"If the lapped trucks would have just raced instead of beating and banging to be the lucky dog, we would have run in the top five. Guys running 20th to 26th took out three of the front running drivers. I mean that is just ridiculous."