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.
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 5, 2009
Iowa Speedway
Lucas Oil 200
Race length: 200 Laps/ 175 Miles
Banking/Turns: 12-14-degrees compound banking in turns, 10-degree front straight-a-way; 4-degree back straight-a-way
Track layout:0.875-mile
Shape: Tri-oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 11:10 a.m. - 12:20 p.m., EST
Practice: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., EST
Practice: 4:30 p.m. – 5:20 p.m., EST
Practice: 7:10 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., EST
Saturday:
Final Practice: 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., EST
Qualifying: 6:45 p.m., EST
TV: The Lucas Oil 200 can be seen on SPEED at 9:30 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 9:15 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 029
Engine: Pro Motors Engineering (PME)