Hornaday wins Milwaukee Busch race

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Posted 8:00AM on Sunday, June 27, 2004

WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN - Ron Hornaday Jr. won the Alan Kulwicki 250 Saturday night at the Milwaukee Mile, taking the lead with seven laps to go after rallying from a lap down. Hornaday passed Shane Hmiel on the inside, ending Hmiel's chance for his first Busch Series victory. Hornaday started in the 10th position, and dropped a lap behind when the first caution flag came out while he was in the pits. The two-time Craftsman Truck Series champion worked his way through the field and managed to steal the race from Hmiel and David Stremme, who exchanged the lead several times. They led a total of 170 laps before fading at the end. In all, eight racers led the 250-lap event - run under the lights for the first time - on the 1.032-mile track. It was Hornaday's fourth career Busch Series victory and first this season. Stremme finished second, followed by Jason Keller and Hmiel. Stremme was leading with 30 laps to go when he bobbled and slowed, allowing Hmiel to pass. Stremme won the pole position earlier in the day with a time of 29.375 seconds, which broke the track qualifying record of 29.394 set by Kevin Harvick in June 2001. But he led the race for just one lap before being passed by Kyle Busch. He dropped several more spots before regaining the lead by passing Hmiel on the 144th lap. Hmiel's second pit stop moved him ahead of Stremme briefly, but Stremme passed him again with about 50 laps to go. Hmiel led for 62 laps early, but lost position after the first caution on the 77th lap. Casey Atwood, who started third, hit the wall after being struck from behind by Johnny Sauter. Atwood was running sixth before his night ended. It wasn't the first contact Sauter made in the race while he aggressively tried to regain his position in the front. The Necedah, Wis.-native had the second-fastest time in qualifying, but replaced his engine before the race and was forced to start at the back of the field. Sauter managed to move into the top 10, but his night ended when he lost control and hit the wall on the 194th lap. The race drew 44,386 fans, about double what a Champ Car race drew earlier in the month. The Milwaukee Mile renamed the race to honor Kulwicki, the late Winston Cup champion who grew up blocks from the Milwaukee Mile.