POLE WINNER: Two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway Ron Hornaday recorded his 25th career pole, joining Jack Sprague and Mike Skinner as the only three drivers in Truck Series history to achieve this milestone. Hornaday trails Skinner by 25 pole wins, as Skinner leads the Truck Series with a career total 50 pole victories.
CONCRETE KING: Hornaday has been up for the challenge at the three concrete facilities that are currently on the Truck Series schedule. He has scored victories at each of the Truck Series concrete tracks, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway. He has two wins at the concrete half-mile of Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as one win at the one-mile Dover International Speedway. Last year he completed the trifecta at the concrete facilities winning at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway.
IN THE LOOP: According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, over the past four
Truck Series races at Dover International Speedway, Hornaday has gained more points that any other Truck Series driver. Hornaday has picked up a total of 771 points at the Monster Mile over the last four race events. Hornaday also holds the title of driver fastest early in a run at Dover.
ENDING THE STREAK: Looking to become the first repeat Truck Series winner at Dover International Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 Longhorn team will attempt to end their 16 race winless drought this weekend.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
IN PAST THREE RACES THE NO. 33 TEAM HAS REALLY COME ON STRONG. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE FROM THE FIRST TWO RACES OF THE SEASON?
“I really think that we have finally begun to come together as a team. I think a lot of people forget that we changed a lot of people over the off season. I have a new crew chief with Doug George and he only came on board with the No. 33 in Atlanta (when we cut a tire). Since then our set-ups have been really good and we gave one away two weeks ago at Kansas. Everyone on the No. 33 team works hard and we are just now coming to the time in the season where we’re racing week-in and week-out, so I think that is why we are just now really coming on strong. We had our two mulligan races. Now we have to focus, drive smart races and look at the big picture. A smart man told me a long time ago, ‘get out of your truck what it will give you’. We want to win every race, but sometimes getting the best finish you can is the most important thing.”
WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL AT THE CONCRETE TRACKS?
“I really like how smooth they are. I’m not really sure why I tend to do better there. I think at KHI we have a really strong program on all different types of tracks. I grew up short-track racing so it took me a long time to get better at 1.5-mile tracks. I think I’m just now getting the hang of it. I learn a little something every time I go to the racetrack even if I’ve been there a million times. I love racing at Dover because it’s fast and it reminds you of a big Bristol, so we are looking forward to having another solid run.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 040 to Dover International Speedway. Chassis No. 40 already has a storied career. KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick drove this truck to victory lane at the Truck Series season-finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway last season. Chassis No. 040 became a No. 33 truck for the 2010 season, and first saw action at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March when Hornaday experienced a cut tire on lap 24. It then returned to action last week at Kansas Speedway as Hornaday sat on the pole and eventually fought Johnny Sauter for the win as the two ended up in a four-wheel slide battling for the lead coming off turn four. Both trucks somehow straightened out after putting on a show that will be a highlight-reel favorite and finished the race one-two. The truck has again experienced a complete overhaul and will return this weekend at Dover International Speedway.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 team recorded their third top-five finish in the last three races after starting from the pole. Hornaday had a dominant truck, but the team was forced to overcome a left-rear tire rub and an on-track skirmish with Johnny Sauter to eventually finish second. Hornaday moved up two more spots in the Truck Series driver’s points standings to fourth 97 markers behind leader Timothy Peters.
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
May 14, 2010
Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Dover 200
Race length: 200 Laps/200 Miles
Banking/Turns: 24-degree turns;
9-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.0-mile
Shape: Oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Thursday:
Practice: 2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., EST
Friday:
Qualifying: 10:10 a.m., EST
TV: The Dover 200 can be seen via tape delay on SPEED beginning Friday at 8:00 p.m., EST.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 4:45 p.m., EST.
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 040
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Dover International Speedway
Starts: 5
Wins: 1 (2007)
Poles: 1 (2009)
Top Five’s: 3
Top 10’s: 4
Laps Led: 273
Average Start: 6.6
Average Finish: 8.2
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