HORNADAY: Can Nashville Be The Fifth?
07-27-2009 6:14 pm
Last week at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Ron Hornaday made Truck
Series history winning four races in a row. Hornaday's streak began at The
Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile in June, followed by wins at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports
Park, Kentucky Speedway and O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP). Hornaday will go for an
unprecedented five wins in a row this weekend at Nashville (Tenn.)
Superspeedway.
ALL-TIME CREW CHIEF: With last week's win at ORP, Rick Ren is now tied
with Dennis Conner as the all-time winningest crew chief in Truck Series
history. Ren has tallied a total of 26 wins with five different drivers, three
of which include Kevin Harvick Inc.'s very own Rick Carelli (KHI General
Manager), Andy Houston (spotter for the No. 4 Truck team) and driver of the No.
33, Ron Hornaday.
LAP LEADER: Hornaday has now led 633 laps in 2009. Hornaday has led at
least one lap in 12 of 13 races this season and he has led a lap in the last 11
consecutive race events. ORP marked the 10th race this season Hornaday has been
awarded the Wix Lap Leader Award.
ONE OF THE FEW: Nashville Superspeedway is one of only eight tracks on
the current Truck Series circuit where Hornaday has yet to tally a win. The
others include: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway,
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Chicagoland
Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.)
Superspeedway.
PASS TIME: Hornaday will be a featured guest on the SPEED TV show Pass
Time, the ultimate drag racing game show. Hornaday will compete against fellow
Truck Series driver Mike Skinner and Pass Time regular Ken "The House Herring"
to determine who has what it takes to guess the fastest of the fast from the new
zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. Hornaday's episode is scheduled to air August 5th,
at 9 p.m., EST.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
CAN YOU PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE WINNING FOUR RACES IN A ROW? "No I
really can't. I'm not sure how we did it. These last two wins have been
unbelievable. I'm just so lucky to be able to drive for owners like Kevin and
DeLana (Harvick). They have put all the right people in the right places. Rick
Ren (crew chief) and the guys have done such a great job with these trucks. I am
very fortunate to be in the position I am in right now. I am having more fun
than I ever have."
HOW IMPORTANT WOULD IT BE TO YOU TO FINALLY BREAK THROUGH AND GET A WIN AT
NASHVILLE? "I have been so close to winning at Nashville. In 2007, we
had the thing won but ended up missing it by just a little and finishing second.
I went by Sam Bass's studio a few weeks ago to sign some prints for Longhorn,
and he showed me his guitar collection. It was very impressive and I told him
that I really wanted to win one of his specially designed Gibson guitars. I
really like this track but have yet to be able to get in the right position to
head to victory lane."
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will bring chassis No.029 to
Nashville Superspeedway. Chassis 029 was last on track at Kentucky Speedway
where Hornaday and the No. 33 team recorded their fourth victory of 2009.