Chevy Race Notes: Kentucky

07-08-2006 | TruckSeries.com Report

Ron Hornaday, Jr., No. 33 Kevin Harvick, Inc. Silverado, scored his second victory of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) and the third for Chevy Silverado at Kentucky Speedway. The two-time NCTS champion's victory was the 29th of his career, all behind the wheel of a Silverado race truck.

Hornaday took the lead for the final time on lap 129 and took the checkered flag with a .586 second margin of victory.

The win moved the Hornaday up four positions in the standings to sixth with 13 of the 25 races completed.

Manufacturers' standings are as follows:
Toyota - 89 Points, 6 wins
Ford - 82 Points, 4 wins
Chevrolet - 65 Points, 3 wins
Dodge - 48 Points, 0 wins

The next event Team Chevy Silverado is the O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park on July 15, 2006.

Ron Hornaday JR., No. 33 Kevin Harvick, Inc. Silverado, Qualified 22nd, Finished 1st:
Q - How special is this win tonight?

A - "We've been working real hard and we did everything we could to the front of the truck and did the best we can got this thing turned around. Our guys talked to Wally Rogers again and we did some weird stuff to the splitter truck arm stuff and did what we had to do. The thing was I just couldn't believe how tight it was and we were floating the nose but once we started running that Silverado truck was bad tonight. I've really got to thank Kevin and Delana Harvick and RCR. Wow, what a motor we had tonight. These guys changed manifolds for me and I told them that it just wouldn't run and the RCR guys changed it and they know what it needs and really fixed (the motor) up for us tonight. Its pretty awesome to see this Silverado in victory lane."

Q - Once again it looked like you had some good restarts that were big for you and you were able to get away from the rest of the pack there at the end of the race.

A - "Well, the guys gave me a good truck and it wasn't free, loose or whatever. Like in the corner the nose stuck and it didn't feel like it was going to spin out. It was really good around other trucks and would just really dig and cut. We also got to thank the lord and MRO for such a good church service and Jim Lanning for everything they do for us. I just really got to thank everybody for believing in me and giving me a good Silverado race truck every week."

Q - It was another rough week for you as your son Ron Hornaday the third lost his father-in-law this week and how sweet was it to get this victory this week?

A - "Yeah, my thoughts and prayers are with Cammy tonight and its tough for all of us but I hope this helps things out a little bit. This is really, really cool and my kid (Ron Hornaday III) came over to me this afternoon and he asked me if my truck was really that bad or if I was sandbagging. In qualifying we were really free and I knew that we were going to have a good truck for the race. Our pit strategy scared me but what a great call to come in early."

Q - Tell us about the end there. You had a couple of guys knocking on your door and going three-wide to try and catch you there in the end. What was that like?

A - We were really worried there for a while because we knew some of them had a little fresher tires than us but they just got to fighting back there behind us let us get away. I got a good restart there and got through turns one and two and never lifted and man it feels good to get the win here in Kentucky. Its a great track, great facility and the weather was fantastic. I'm really proud of our guys tonight and proud for Chevrolet because we really wanted to get our Silverado into victory lane here tonight."

Q - What about winning the second-biggest purse here at Kentucky tonight? I bet Kevin and Delana are going to love that?

A - "I didn't even think about that. When you win the races, the points and the money come. I don't really worry about the money I just care about the souvenirs and putting those trophies on my mantle. Again, I just have to thank Kevin and Delana for the opportunity. I also appreciate what Rick Carelli has done and Stacey Compton and all these guys that helped us win tonight. You know, we don't have a sponsor yet, but I got to thank Snap-On and everybody that supports our team because it takes the whole big picture to perform like this and these guys just keep on digging."

Q - Ron this was your second win of the season and first win at Kentucky Speedway. You took the lead about mid way through the race for the first time, started twenty-second, walk me through the way you cut your way through the field tonight?

A - "It wasn't anything special. We just had some good pit stops; good calls in the pits and really worked hard on the truck yesterday in practice to get it good for the race tonight. Our guys talked to my old crew chief Wally Rogers to get some ideas for a set up and we did some different things to the truck arms and the front end. We knew that when the green flag dropped we had a good truck and we made some adjustments on the stops and gotta thank Rick Carelli and Stacy Johnson for what they did to the truck tonight because they really got this number thirty-three Silverado turning in the corners. Also whatever the RCR guys did to the intake was perfect and I have to thank Goodyear for a great tire tonight because we went a long way on them tonight and they didn't drop off all that bad. I am really proud of these guys because most of them are a bunch of young kids and I'm really thankful for all they do."

Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menards/Energizer Silverado, Qualified 17th, Finished 7th:
"To come out of here seventh, with a truck that was as bad as it was, I am not going to complain. Actually, on the last pit stop, I told the guys that I would rather be lucky than good, because we were lucky tonight. We were decent on the long, green runs, but we weren't as good as we needed to be. All-in-all, I am happy, the guys worked their tails off, and made a bunch of changes during the race, and we just made headway on it."

Mike Bliss, No. 16 Xpress Motorsports Silverado, Qualified 26th, Finished 15th:
"Yeah, I thought we had a flat, but it wasn't and that screwed us up. We had to pit earlier than we wanted to and got two laps down, and we just missed it. We were good earlier in the day, and the darker it got, the worse handling we got. When you only have two sets of tires, it is hard to play with the truck. You put fuel in and stay on the same tires, but it was just hard to pass and to get going anywhere."

Chad McCumbee, No. 08 U.S. Restoration Silverado, Qualified 18th, Finished 18th:
"We showed we were fast, we were the best guy one lap down. The pit strategy hurt us a bit, and that was nobodies fault. It was a really fast truck out in clean air by itself and I really think that we could have contended for a really good finish. It was just when I got into traffic that I think I have some work to do. This truck went really good on the banked track, and I was afraid that if we went to a flat track like this, maybe we are lacking on some things. We will go to work on it, and like I said, for a rookie to finish 18th, isn't too bad. When you can say that that is a bad day, I just think that the pit strategy hurt us. But we will go to work, and get this Silverado into clean shape and see if we can't go after them next week in Memphis."

Aric Almirola, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado, Qualified 16th, Finished 22nd:
"It just seemed like we didn't do anything right tonight. We decided to come down pit road and we figured we were about two laps shy of running out of fuel, and if we would have caught that caution we would have been on the lead lap. We can't do anything right, I just don't get what we have to do to change our luck."

Kraig Kinser, No. 46 CENTRIX Auto Finance Silverado, Qualified 27th, Finished 35th:
NOTE:
Kinser spun coming out of the fourth turn on his second qualifying lap damaging the right side of the truck. The crew was able to make repairs but Kinser will start in the back of the 36-truck field. NOTE: Kinser was involved in a multi-truck accident on lap one of the race. There was too much damage to the truck to make repairs and return to action.

"I just lost the back end coming through four and it came around on me. I feel terrible for Randy Goss (crew chief) and everybody on our No. 46 Morgan Dollar team. They all have worked so hard this year for me."