Ron Hornaday

MONTREAL (August 4, 2008) — Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Camping World Chevrolet started the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve from the 12th position and earned a fourth-place finish when heavy rain forced NASCAR to call the race with 48 of the 74 laps complete.

With dark clouds and the threat of rain in the area, NASCAR started Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in Montreal prepared to switch to rain mode, including the use of rain tires for the first time in a point race in Nationwide Series history.

“The Camping World Chevrolet was good today,” said Hornaday. “We ran well and I was starting to get the hang of it (racing in the rain) near the end. We’ll take the fourth-place finish.”

The rain began to fall six laps into the scheduled 74-lap race and NASCAR made the decision to wave the caution flag for a mandatory stop to allow all teams to prepare the cars to race in the rain. The No. 33 team changed to rain tires and opted to use RainX on the windshield rather than add a wiper blade. After a short red flag and several caution laps, the race restarted on lap 13 with Hornaday in the ninth position.

Hornaday was in the 13th spot when the second caution waved on lap 20. Crew chief Rick Ren asked what the team could do to help, and Hornaday replied, “I have no idea. I’ve never run in the rain here, so I’m just learning as I go.” The team pitted on lap 22 for fuel and to add more RainX to the windshield.

Continuing to gain positions, the Camping World Chevrolet moved into the 10th position on lap 33. With pit strategies coming into play, teams began pitting on lap 36 for fresh tires and fuel. As the rain increased and visibility became an issue, teams voiced concerns of continuing the race. On lap 45, NASCAR threw the caution flag, and then with conditions not improving, threw the red flag to stop the cars on pit road on lap 48. As conditions worsened, the race was made official with Hornaday in the fourth position, the seventh top-five finish for the No. 33 team this season.