GOING BACK-TO-BACK: In 2010 Ron Hornaday will once again try and place his name in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record books by attempting to become the first back-to-back Truck Series champion. He has the opportunity to repeat the history he made in 2009 turning his four current championships (2009, 2007, 1998 and 1996) into five. If he is able to win a fifth championship he would join Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the third driver to ever win five championships in any of NASCAR’s three elite divisions.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU TO GET YOUR FIRST SUPERSPEEDWAY WIN AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY?
“Since I first sat behind the wheel of a race car I wanted to go to Daytona. I know a lot of drivers say that, but driving through the tunnel at Daytona always gives me chills. To win a race at Daytona would fulfill a dream. It would be a great accomplishment.”
ARE YOU PLEASED THAT THE PIT STOP RULES ARE DIFFERENT FOR 2010?
“Last season the new rules were definitely a challenge for our team, but in the end we figured it out. I personally like making one stop for fuel and tires, but I commend NASCAR for trying something different to try and help teams save on costs. We will just have to see how the new fuel cell works out.”
UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP: Dave Fuge has joined KHI and the No. 33 team as crew chief for the 2010 season. Hornaday and Fuge have a storied history dating back to the NASCAR Southwest Tour days when Fuge’s chassis were the ones to beat week in and week out at Hornaday’s home track Sagus (Calf.) Speedway. In 2002, Hornaday drove for Fuge when he jumped behind the wheel of a second truck for IWX Motorsports at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway for only his second Truck Series start of the season. Hornaday won the race, his first and only to date at Homestead, while teammate Mike Bliss won the 2002 Truck Series championship.
Quotes from Crew Chief Dave Fuge:
DO YOU FEEL ANY ADDED PRESSURE JOINING THE REIGNING CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM?
“Not any more pressure than I put on myself. I think from the outside there is some pressure placed on me and this team to see if we can repeat last year’s success but everyone at KHI expects a lot and I expect the same. We have all the resources we need in the driver, team and equipment to be successful.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WORKING WITH FOUR-TIME TRUCK SERIES CHAMPION RON HORNADAY AND KHI?
“I’ve known Ron forever; I’ve raced with and against him for over 20 years so we know each other pretty well. Kevin [Harvick] and Ron are West Coast guys like myself and we all have the same mentality when it comes to winning and we aren’t going to let anything get in our way to get there.“
RECORD HOLDER: Hornaday holds an abundance of records in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series most notably he is the championship record holder with four championships (2009, 2007, 1998 and 1996). He also holds the record for most wins in the series with 45. He is also the all-time short-track winner with 20 of his 45 victories coming at tracks less than one-mile in length. At the end of 2009 members of the media named Hornaday Truck Series driver of the decade. He was also named the third quarter driver of the year and inducted into the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association 40th All-American team as a first team selection. In 2009, he also won five consecutive races, the first Truck Series driver to ever accomplish this feat. Hornaday wrote his name in the record books along side Bobby Allison and Richard Petty as only the third driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive races. He also possesses the record for highest top-10 finishing average. In 1996, Hornaday had a 95.8 percent top-10 finish average, out of 24 starts Hornaday finished in the top 10 a record 23 times.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 026 to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Chassis No. 026 is the same truck that Hornaday competed with at Daytona last season when he scored his career-best finish of fifth in the season opener.
ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams by following at http://twitter.com/KHI_TruckSeries. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Nationwide Series team at http://twitter.com /KHI_NNS. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick at http://twitter.com/kevinharvick and http://twitter.com/delanaharvick.
MEDIA ACCESS: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Jessica Stroupe at KHI: jstroupe@kevinharvickinc.com.
ABOUT LONGHORN MOIST SNUFF: The Longhorn brand offers the best value to consumers by delivering a simple combination of premium quality and really great price. Introduced in 2003, Longhorn is a low price leader in the moist snuff category, manufactured in the same fine tradition as some of our other tobacco products including Red Man, Timber Wolf and White Owl. Longhorn moist snuff gives you the taste you demand at the price you want. For more information on Longhorn, visit our website at www.longhornsnuff.com
About Kevin Harvick Inc.
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.
QUICK NOTES
Race Info
February 12, 2010
Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
Nextera Energy 250
Race length: 100 Laps/ 250 Miles
Banking/Turns: 31-degree turns;
3-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout: 2.5-mile
Shape: Tri-oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Wednesday:
Practice: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30p.m., EST
Thursday:
Practice: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., EST
Qualifying: 6:10 p.m., EST
TV: The Nextera Energy 250 can be seen on SPEED Friday at 7:30 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 7:30 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 026
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 6
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 1
Top 10’s: 2
Laps Led: 18
Average Start: 12.3
Average Finish: 16.3