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 Tuesday, July 18
Hornaday earns first Busch victory
 
 ESPN.com news services

NAZARETH, Pa. -- Former NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion Ron Hornaday captured his first career Busch Series victory Sunday at the Econo Lodge 200 at Nazareth Speedway.

Hornaday, 42, the two-time Craftsman Truck Series champion who drives the No. 3 Chevrolet for Winston Cup star Dale Earnhardt, was winless in 18 starts this year.

"When you start off with the No. 3, they expect you to win a lot," Hornaday said. "With the new Chevrolet body, the new tires Goodyear came out with and me used to all the horsepower from the trucks, it took me a while to figure out what this thing needs.

"About three weeks ago, we hit on something when we tested down at Greenville-Pickens. It's been showing. We've been going pretty good. We finally got a finish where this thing needed to be running. I'm so proud of crew chief Gere Kennon, team manager Steve Himel and this whole team. They've been working their guts out."

Hornaday, who led twice for a total of 104 laps, averaged 89.131 mph on the unique mile tri-oval. The race was slowed by seven caution periods covering 38 laps.

Jason Keller finished third, followed by series leader Jeff Green, Winston Cup regular Kyle Petty, Jeff Purvis, Casey Atwood, Randy LaJoie, Kevin Grubb and Jay Sauter.

Green, who has 11 straight top-10 finishes, has a 499-point leader over Keller in the season standings. Green pitted for four fresh tires on lap 173, hoping to power to the front. But the winner of three of the previous four Busch races fell back and had to battle his way back for a top-five finish.

 


ALSO SEE
Econo Lodge 200 results



AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Ron Hornaday talks about his weekend Busch Series win with RPM 2Night's John Kernan.
RealVideo: 28.8

 Ron Hornaday takes the checkered flag to win the the Econo-Lodge 200.
avi: 932 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

audio
 Ron Hornaday says Sunday's win was a long time coming.
wav: 336 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 Ron Hornaday says his team is not finished yet.
wav: 290 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 Elton Sawyer doesn't think his team needs to change anything.
wav: 216 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6