PFLUGER WINS OVER NASCAR'S RON HORNADAY

Heat race action saw everyone in the house on their feet as Hornaday demonstrated why he has won 3 Truck Championships. Relegated to staring in last position, by lap 3 Hornaday, driving the #15 car of Rueschenberg had blown by the pack to take the win with Duane Hunt and Pfluger trailing behind.

Pfluger was slated to start the 75 lap race from the 8th position in the 18 car field. In the first 10 laps of the wild race Hornaday had climbed to the 7th spot as Paladenic lead the pack over Mat Williams. It was a 3-way battle for the next 15 or so laps as Pfluger, Rueschenberg and Hornaday were locked in a side by side struggle. At lap 22 a caution would come out letting the field bunch up again. Hornaday took this opportunity to close the gap on the leaders.

Halfway through the 75 laps saw Paladenic, Hornaday, Pfluger and Rueschenberg out front in a race of their own while half a straightaway behind the rest of the drivers were hoping for a chance to slip by Mat Williams.

Lap 45 saw a dramatic turn of events: Hornaday executed a strategic move to avoid contact with a lapped car which domino-ed to Pfluger who spun and to Cassie Gannis whose involvement created a fire under the hood. This situation brought out the red flag and field reverted to the previous lap with Hornaday and Pfluger retaining their spots.

The race went green with Paladenic out front, Hornaday in second and Pfluger in third. In just a few laps Paladenic's and Hornaday's cars were beginning to suffer from tire wear. It was on lap 61 that Pfluger saw his opportunity to make his move on Hornaday and he and Rueschenberg charged to the front.

The side-by-side battles continued and with only two laps to go the pack began to frantically swap positions as Hunt would get by Rueschenberg for second and in the final dash to the checkered Harrington would get by Hornaday for fourth. During all this Victor held his ground and took the win in the biggest race of his career at Tucson Raceway Park.

Pfluger, who won the ASA Speed Truck Championship last year, ran virtually door to door with the veteran Hornaday for more than 30 laps. Many of these laps were actually three wide with Rueschenberg tagged on one side of the other. "Racing in traffic like that is fun - and it gets a bit hairy - but the excitement of racing against one of my all-time heroes was just amazing and it helped me concentrate on driving hard, but steady. " Said Pfluger.

"Hornaday was an awesome competitor, a very personable and gracious guy." Said team owner Art Pfluger. In the Winner's circle Hornaday signed Victor's trophy and told him what a great job he had done.

Scott Rueschenberg also ran a great race and as always a formidable competitor. He too came over to congratulate Victor on his win.

"We tried a new setup because we hadn't as done well the last 2 races. The new setup helped, but we will continue looking to make the car better for each race." Said Pfluger still reeling from the victory.

For more information about Victor Pfluger visit his website at: www.VictorPfluger.com

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