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: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
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.
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 SWEDISH MATCH:
Swedish Match is a global Group of companies with a broad assortment of market leading brands in smokeless tobacco, cigars and pipe tobacco, matches and lighters. Some of our well known brands include Red Man, Timber Wolf, Longhorn, Macanudo, Partagas, Cohiba and Borkum Riff. Swedish Match North America is headquartered in Richmond, VA, with manufacturing facilities in Owensboro, KY, Dothan, ALA, and the Dominican Republic. For more information visit the website at www.SwedishMatch.com
ABOUT KEVIN HARVICK INC.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001, is a 70,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. KHI houses two full-time Truck Series teams, including the 2007 series champions. The No. 33 team is led by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and the No. 4 KHI All-Stars team is comprised of Ricky Carmichael, the most successful motocross racer in American history, J.R. Fitzpatrick and a variety of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Nationwide Series team competing full-time with drivers Kevin Harvick (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, Ron Hornaday, Cale Gale and Kelly Bires. The 2009 season marks KHI’s sixth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.
QUICK NOTES
Race Info
September 12, 2009
Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway
Copart 200
Race length: 160 Laps/ 200 Miles
Banking/Turns: 11-degrees turns one and two, 9-degrees turn three and four; 3-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout:1.25-mile
Shape: Oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 3:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 7:15 p.m. – 8:15 p.m., EST
Saturday:
Qualifying: 11:05 a.m., EST
TV: The Copart 200 can be seen on SPEED at 2:00 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 2:00 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 027
Engine: Pro Motors Engineering (PME)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Gateway International Raceway
Starts: 6
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 3
Top 10’s: 3
Laps Led: 12
Average Start: 7.0
Average Finish: 11.8