Ron Hornaday overcame adversity while running in the 26th position late in the race to gain 18 spots and bring the No. 33 VFW Chevrolet Silverado home with an eighth-place finish in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, March 29, 2008. His eighth-place was the third consecutive top-10 finish for Hornaday in the 2008 NASCAR Truck Series season, and he remains in third place in the point standings.

"My hat is off to this No. 33 team and Rick Ren," Hornaday said following the race. "We had to come in and pit that time (to make the duct repair) and it put us toward the back of the field, but those guys didn't quit and we were able to get a top-10 finish."

After starting the race from the third position, behind pole-sitter and Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) teammate Jack Sprague, Hornaday quickly took the second-place spot away from Denny Hamlin as the field drove into turn one on the first lap. From there, Hornaday continued to chase down Sprague until he took the lead away from him on lap five. Sprague regained the lead again on lap six before Hornaday regained the lead on lap 30.

NASCAR officials informed the No. 33 VFW team they had to pit because part of the rear bumper bar was dragging the track after contact from another truck. Luckily, a caution came out on lap 80 and crew chief Rick Ren called Hornaday down pit road to take four tires, fuel and make repairs to the rear bumper. Hornaday caught a break and remained on the lead lap by coming in under caution and restarted the race from the 12th position on lap 91.

The sixth caution came out on lap 129 and Ren called Hornaday down pit road for a scheduled pit stop to take four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.

Just as Hornaday began to gain ground on the lead trucks, another caution came out on lap 137 and NASCAR again forced the No. 33 to come in to the pits to repair damaged air ducts on the nose of the truck. Crew members went to work and quickly made repairs and Hornaday restarted on lap 147 running in the 26th position.

In the final 100 laps, Hornaday fought hard to gain positions and dodge accidents to earn his way back into the top 10. On the final lap, he was running in the 10th position and was able to gain two spots when the trucks of Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson spun in turn four to cross the finish line in the eighth position.