INAGURAL WINS: Ron Hornaday holds the Truck Series record for most career wins with 45 over Jack Sprague's 28. Of those 45 wins, 10 of them have come in inaugural events. Hornaday won six races during the Truck Series inaugural year in 1995 recording victories at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park, Mesa Marin, Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway, Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.), Flemington (N.J.) Speedway and Infineon (Calf.) Raceway. In 1996, the series added Watkins Glen and Loudon to the Truck Series schedule; Hornaday took control and added those venues to his win record on his way to his first Truck Series championship. Two years later, in 1998 he would win two more inaugural races at Pikes Peak and Memphis in route to his second series title.
Of the races left in 2009 Hornaday has recorded wins at five out of the nine tracks; two of those nine races will be inaugural events including this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway and next week at Iowa Speedway.
QUALIFIER: Hornaday has not qualified outside the top 10 in 26 races, dating all the way back to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in 2008, when he started from the 12th position.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACING AT CHICAGO FOR THE FIRST TIME? "I'm really excited to go to Chicago. We tested there some last year and I really liked the track. We have run pretty well at the 1.5-mile tracks this season. I know Rick Ren (crew chief) has been pouring over notes from all of the tracks we have run this year and test notes from last year. I'm confident we will have a good set-up when we unload, but it will take a few laps to find out where the grip is and what line my truck wants to run in."
CAN YOU COMPARE CHICAGO TO ANOTHER TRACK? "It's hard to make a comparison because each track has its own unique characteristics, but I guess the closest one is Kansas Speedway. The track is still pretty smooth. It's going to take us running a race though for me to be able to put it in its own category. I'm interested to see what everyone fights, I think we will be tight, but I'm not sure just yet. "
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Turtle Wax team will take chassis No. 034 to Chicagoland Speedway. Chassis 034 is a brand-new chassis that has not completed a single lap on track. The last two times the No. 33 team has debuted a new chassis, they have gone to victory lane. The team brought chassis No. 029 to Kentucky Speedway, going to victory lane for the fourth time in 2009, the following week the team debuted chassis No. 033 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, making Truck Series history winning four consecutive races.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 team ended their five-race winning streak after finishing third. However, the team was pleased with their 10th top-five finish of 2009. Hornaday made his only pit stop of the night on lap 36. The team brought the No. 33 truck back to pit road the following lap for fuel, however Hornaday did not remain on pit road, instead he made another lap on the track before returning to pit road, miring him deep in the field. Methodically, he worked his way back up through the pack, but ran out of time to catch eventual winner Kyle Busch. Hornaday continues to lead the championship point standings by 211 makers over Matt Crafton.
