Hornaday finishes 13th at Chicagoland Speedway

Aiming to continue his strong success at Chicagoland Speedway, Ron Hornaday and the No. 9 Anderson's Maple Syrup/Jewel-Osco Chevrolet Silverado team qualified in the 17th position for the EnjoyIllinois.com 225.

Ron Hornaday Jr

Photo by: Philippe Champoux

The race slowed for a caution on lap 47 and the team opted for a routine stop sending Hornaday back to the track in the 12th position. Quickly moving into the top 10, Hornaday found himself in a close battle with teammate Austin Dillon in the No. 24 Qore-24 Chevrolet Silverado on lap 55 while looking to take over the ninth position. Making progress on the top 10, Hornaday took over eighth on lap 61 before the caution was again displayed on lap 67.

The team called Horanday to pit road from the ninth spot for fuel only and he restarted the race on lap 72 from 10th. As soon as the race was restarted, it was quickly slowed for a caution on lap 74. Hornaday opted to stay out and restarted the race on lap 81 from 12th.

Struggling to advance in the field, Hornaday found himself shuffling between the 11th and 12th positions when the final caution flag waved on lap 99. Cook called Hornaday to pit road for his final stop of four tires, fuel and a round of adjustments. The race restarted on lap 107 with Hornaday running 12th.

Slipping to 16th on lap 113, Hornaday returned to the top 15 on lap 120 and found himself searching for track position over the final laps of the 150-lap event. Gaining several spots, Hornaday crossed the finish line in the 13th position and recorded his 12th top-15 finish of the season with 16 races complete in the 2013 season.

Ron Hornaday: "The Anderson's Maple Syrup and Jewel-Osco truck was the best I've had all season. Chicagoland Speedway is a track that I've wanted to win at for a long time, so our 13th-place finish is not what we wanted. We know what we need to do for the next race and we will be back stronger at Las Vegas."

NTS Motorsports