FILL IN: These days Ron Hornaday is usually referred to as a veteran however this weekend at Iowa Speedway he might be considered a rookie. Hornaday has made a few laps at the 0.875-mile facility, but not in a Camping World Truck Series machine. Hornaday's boss and Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) co-owner Kevin Harvick drove a Camping World East/West Series showdown race at Iowa Speedway back in 2007. All East and West division cars raced together that day. Hornaday was able to make four practice laps in the car before Harvick flew in and assumed the ride. Harvick would dominate the race, capturing the pole and leading 108 laps, however he finished second to Joey Logano. Logano won the overall race and was credited with winning for the East division. Harvick went to victory lane that day for the West Series.
"I really liked the track, said Hornaday. When I first started out they had the car really loose. Everyone says Kevin likes to drive a loose car but even he would have struggled in that one! From what I could tell in that car the track is very unique and will be really fun to drive in a truck."
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: Hornaday currently holds the record for most short-track victories in the Truck Series. He has visited victory lane 20 times in his career on tracks less than one mile in length. In 2009, he has recorded two short-track victories at Memphis Motorsports Park and O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP).
MEET RON HORNADAY IN IOWA: Hornaday will make a special appearance at Casey's General Stores on Thursday September 3rd. Hornaday and KHI teammate Ricky Carmichael will be signing autographs at the Casey's in Newton located at 3104 1st Ave East from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IOWA SPEEDWAY?
"To me it has the characteristics of Richmond. The trucks used to put on a great show there and I always enjoyed racing there. It looks like Richmond, but every track has its own style. From what I understanding talking with Kevin (Harvick) and Cale (Gale) who drove the Nationwide car there earlier this year the track is developing some bumps that you really have to get over in order to have your vehicle handling well."
HOW DO YOU APPROACH A NEW TRACK?
"I really ask a lot of questions. I try and figure out what track it is close too and sort of go off that. You just have to go in there with an open mind and feel it out the first few laps of practice. NASCAR has made a really good schedule with four practice sessions on Friday, so that should give us enough time to figure out what line to run, what the truck needs, who is going to be fast, and what adjustments we will need to make."
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 029 to Iowa Speedway. Chassis 029 made its debut earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway where Hornaday went to victory lane for the first time at that track in his career and scored the No. 33 team's fourth win of the season. The team then brought chassis No. 029 to Nashville Superspeedway where it again found victory lane at a track Hornaday had yet to win at. Hornaday made history in Nashville joining Richard Petty and Bobby Allison to win five consecutive races.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last week at the inaugural race at Chicagoland Speedway Hornaday and the No. 33 team recorded an 11th-place finish. The team was caught one lap down to the leaders on a round of green-flag pit stops. A caution with six laps remaining gave Hornaday the "lucky dog" award placing him back on the lead lap. Hornaday was able to gain two positions late in the race to record the team's 14th top-15 finish of 2009. Hornaday remains the Truck Series point's leader by 220 points over Matt Crafton with nine races remaining.
