Hornaday Claims Blue Grass Victory
07-18-2009 10:18 pm

Ron Hornaday Jr. won Saturday night's Ford Tough 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Race at Kentucky Speedway, earning his third consecutive race victory over a highly competitive field.

Hornaday held off Mike Skinner through a spate of late-race cautions to win for the fourth time for the season.

Pole-sitter Hornaday and second qualifier Brian Scott waged a terrific battle for the lead from the drop of the green flag, with Scott's Albertson's Toyota Tundra taking over the point from Hornaday's Longhorn Chevrolet Silverado on Lap 2.

At Lap 25, Scott led Hornaday, Timothy Peters in the Strutmasters/Red Horse Racing Toyota, Stacy Compton's Safe Auto Insurance Toyota and Brian Ickler's No. 51 Red Top Auto Auction Toyota out of the Billy Ballew stable.

By Lap 30, the leaders were in lockstep up front, with Hornaday quickly reassuming the lead for the first time since the opening lap. And once he got out front, Hornaday's Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevy took off like it was shot out of a cannon.

But Scott's night turned into a nightmare, a blown right-front tire on Lap 34 sending him first into Compton, who spun around and crashed, and then in into the Turn 3 wall. As a result, Scott, one of the hottest drivers on the circuit in recent weeks, saw his hopes of victory dashed early on.

Under the ensuing pit stops during the first caution of the night, Chad McCumbee took fuel only in the No. 07 tiwi Chevy and took the lead ahead of Hornaday, Tayler Malsem's One-Eighty Toyota, Bodine's Copart Toyota, Peters, Ickler and Ricky Carmichael's Monster Energy Chevy.

On the Lap 42 restart, Hornaday immediately took the lead with one of his patented great restarts. But five laps later, Malsem passed Hornaday to assume the point for the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career, with Peters taking second and Bodine third, as Hornaday's truck was way loose and fell back to fourth.

J.J. Yeley crashed to bring out the second caution on Lap 54.

Malsem had a terrible restart on Lap 58, falling to third behind Bodine and Hornaday, with Peters fourth and then Skinner.

At Lap 75, the midway point of the race, the order was Bodine, Malsem, Peters, Hornaday, Skinner, Terry Cook, Colin Braun, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. By this point, 13 of the 36 trucks in the field were out of the race.

Green-flag pit stops began on Lap 99, Malsem the first of the leaders in, taking fuel only. Soon the rest of the field began coming in, leader Bodine making his stop on Lap 102.

Crafton took the lead ahead of Scott, his Toyota heavily taped up after his earlier crash. At Lap 110, the order was Crafton, Scott, Dennis Setzer, Bodine and Malsem.

Crafton hit pit road just as another caution came out, as Norm Benning's truck slowed on track. Crafton drove through pit road without stopping. The leaders all stopped under yellow, Almirola taking the top spot over Ickler, Bodine, Peters, Malsem, Skinner, Braun and Hornaday as the race restarted with 33 laps to go. Crafton got busted for speeding, which sent him to the rear of the field, restarting 14th.

Caution flew again with 28 laps to go, with flames erupting from under T.J. Bell's Toyota. Up front were Almirola, Malsem, Ickler, Bodine, Peters, Hornaday, Skinner, Braun, Scott and Cook.

The race restarted with 24 laps to go, Ickler making an illegal pass and forced to serve a drive-thru penalty. That made it Almirola, Malsem and Hornaday up front, but two laps later, the track went yellow again for fluid in Turn 1.

When the green flew again with 18 laps to go, the order was Almirola, Malsem, Hornaday, Bodine, Braun, Skinner, Peters, Cook, Scott and Crafton.

Almirola made a great restart, but Malsem was slow, allowing Hornaday to get by him on the restart. Hornaday took the lead within a lap, but Cook, Ickler and Braun crashed on Lap 134, bringing out the sixth yellow flag of the race.

At the restart on Lap 139, the order was Hornaday, Almirola, Malsem, Bodine and Skinner. Bodine quickly worked his way to second and closed in on leader Hornaday.

With 10 to, Almirola pancaked the wall and Peters got sideways, too, with Malsem flattening both his left-side tires to bring out a caution a lap later.

That juggled the order again, with Hornaday, Bodine, Skinner, Crafton, Peters, Almirola and Setzer leading. But under yellow, Hornaday was complaining of new fuel pressure and Bodine said his engine was blowing up.

The race restarted with five laps to go, Bodine quickly slowing, as Skinner moved to second ahead of Crafton and Peters. With two laps to go, Skinner closed in on Hornaday, but the three-time champion held on to win his third straight race, followed by Crafton, Peters, Almirola, Scott, Carmichael and James Buescher.

One footnote to the race: Hornaday's truck was caught in pre-qualifying inspection with an offset rear-end housing. NASCAR may well penalize Hornaday and KHI next week, which would significantly diminish his points lead.