Seventh-Place Finish for Hornaday at Pocono

NASCAR Truck Series – Pocono Mountains 150
August 2nd, 2014 – Pocono Raceway

Ron Hornaday Jr. made his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at Pocono Raceway this weekend, looking for his first win at one of the few tracks he had yet to conquer. After top-15 times in the weekend’s two practice sessions, Hornaday made it to the second round of knockout qualifying in the No. 30 Rheem Comfort Products Chevy, earning the 14th starting spot. After several late-race cautions leading to an overtime green/white/checkered shootout, Hornaday was able to work his way up from 15th in the closing laps to take the checkered flag in the seventh position for Turner Scott Motorsports.

As cloudy skies loomed over the three-turn tri-oval, Hornaday took the green flag for 60 scheduled laps around the Tricky Triangle. Hornaday radioed in on lap 15 that his Rheem Comfort Products Chevy was “loose, loose, loose” everywhere. Hornaday had his first chance to bring his Silverado to pit road when the first caution flag of the day waved on lap 18, and crew chief Doug George made the call for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to tighten up the No. 30 machine. Hornaday restarted in the 15th position and settled in for the long green-flag run that followed. As green-flag pit stops began to cycle through on lap 35, Hornaday advanced through the field, taking over the lead 11 laps later. With one more pit stop necessary to make it to the end on fuel, Hornaday came down pit road during the second caution of the race on lap 48. Hornaday relayed to his crew that he needed a little more help with his handling for the closing laps of the race. After four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment, Hornaday restarted in 15th position. With back-to-back late-race green/white/checkered restarts bringing the event into extra laps, Hornaday was able to battle his way through the four-wide melee, passing eight trucks on his way to a seventh-place finish in the No. 30 Rheem Comfort Products Chevy.

I’m glad to have a top-10 finish after being on the outside looking in at the beginning of the weekend. I started off really, really loose at the beginning of the race, but my Turner Scott Motorsports team worked hard on this truck all day and we finally got it right in the second half of the race. I have to thank everyone at Rheem Comfort Products for all that support this season, and I’m glad we’re able to keep them in this points race. We’ll take that; not bad at all. – Ron Hornaday Jr.

Start – 14, Finish – 7, Laps Led – 2, Points – 38

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