BACK-TO-BACK: Ron Hornaday looks to become the first back-to-back
Truck Series winner at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway if he should win the
Copart 200. Ted Musgrave became the first repeat winner at the track going to
victory lane in 2001 and 2005.
SMALL WORLD: How times have changed. Eleven years ago at Gateway
International Raceway Hornaday was battling rival Rick Carelli for the inaugural
win. Hornaday fell 0.351 seconds short as Carelli cruised to his second career
Truck Series victory. These days Hornaday hears Carelli's calming voice over the
radio each and every race weekend, as Carelli now serves as spotter for the No.
33 Longhorn team as well as General Manager for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI).
"Gateway is a tough little place," Carelli said. "You really gain your speed in
turns three and four. I remember the race in '98 well; I moved (Greg) Biffle out
of the way and had a great race with Hornaday. It was cool to go back there last
year and finally see Hornaday get a win."
IN THE LOOP: Hornaday leads several of NASCAR's Loop Data statistical
categories at Gateway International Raceway. Over the last four races at Gateway
Hornaday leads the driver rating category which takes into account wins,
finishes,top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average
speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. For any
given race the maximum points that can be earned is 150. Hornaday has a driver
rating of 116.1 at Gateway, despite having an average finish of 12th and has
finishes of 30th, 15th, second and first respectively. Hornaday has also led the
most laps (207) at Gateway over the last four races.
HOME TRACK FOR REN: Rick Ren, crew chief for the KHI's No. 33
Longhorn team, hopes to make this weekend's trip to Gateway International
Raceway a happy homecoming. Ren is a native of Danville, Illinois, approximately
211 miles northeast of Madison, Illinois, where the race track is located.
Notes from the Professor:
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT RACING AT GATEWAY? "Gateway is very
different from other tracks we race on because of the corners. Turns one and two
are tight and banked and three and four are wide and flat. We had a good day at
Gateway last year; we started second and led the most laps in route to my first
win at the track. We need to do the same thing this year. I am really looking
forward to heading back there to defend the title."
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 027 to
Gateway International Raceway. Chassis No. 027 has taken to the track three
times thus far in 2009. Hornaday raced this truck at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
where he finished second to KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick. The No. 33 team also
went to victory lane with this truck at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile and Memphis
(Tenn.) Motorsports Park this year.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Hornaday and the No. 33 team finished fourth in the
inaugural race at Iowa Speedway. The team struggled all weekend with an
ill-handling truck. Starting from the 15th position, Hornaday was able to
utilize restarts and work his way up through the field to battle the leaders and
score his 11th top-five finish of 2009. With only eight races remaining Hornaday
holds a 225 point lead over Matt Crafton.
