ONE OF THE FEW: Iowa Speedway is one of nine tracks on the current Truck Series schedule where four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday has yet to score a win. During last season’s inaugural race, Hornaday qualified in the 15th position and went on to record his first top-five finish at the 0.875-mile track, crossing the start-finish line in the fourth position. The eight other tracks where Hornaday has yet to score a win include: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
WELCOME TO THE TEAM: Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) is proud to welcome Karl Chevrolet to the KHI family of partners. Karl Chevrolet is the United States third largest Chevrolet dealership and is located a few miles away from Iowa’s capital of Des Moines in Ankeny, Iowa. Ron Hornaday and KHI teammate Ken Schrader will be at Karl Chevrolet on Friday July 9th from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. CST for the dealerships fan fest.
ESPY NOD: On Thursday June 24th the nominations for the 2010 ESPY awards were announced. Hornaday has been chosen as one of the potential recipients of an ESPY award in the category of ‘Best Driver’. He is up against NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, as well as Indy Racing League competitor Dario Franchetti and Funny Car legend Tony Schumaucher. The nomination marks the first time a Truck Series driver has ever been nominated for an ESPY. The public is encouraged to vote for their pick at www.espn.com/espy or on facebook at www.facebook.com/espn.
PASS TIME: Mike Skinner dominated last year’s Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway, leading 180 of the 200-lap event. While Skinner was leading, Hornaday was passing. According to NASCAR Loop Data Statistics, Hornaday made more quality passes (passing a truck while running in the top 15 under green-flag conditions) than any other driver. Hornaday’s 15th-place starting position only lasted one lap as he steadily moved up through the field, making 22 passes under green. Hornaday was one of seven drivers who remained in the top 15 throughout the entire race.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM LAST SEASON’S FIRST TRIP TO IOWA SPEEDWAY?
“To be quite honest, the No. 33 team struggled more than we thought we would. We had all the notes from the KHI Nationwide Series team that we went off of and we took two different styles of trucks. We really weren’t sure what we were going to have, but we were sure we would have a good truck. We chose a truck that we had run on several 1.5-mile tracks last year and it just did not drive like it should have. The No. 33 team changed everything but the driver during practice, but we still fought tight, then loose conditions. The truck was just evil. Finally, when the sun went down and we started racing under the lights, the truck came to life. I think we had the wrong style truck, but we have a lot of notes and things we learned about from last year. I’m looking forward to going back to Iowa. The fans there are great and everyone is so happy to have us there. I’m also excited to premier our new sponsor Karl Chevrolet. It’s always pretty cool to have a hometown sponsor on the side of the truck that everyone in the stands can relate to.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 046 to Iowa Speedway. Chassis No. 046 is a brand-new chassis that produced excellent wind tunnel numbers when tested recently. In 2009, Hornaday won two out of six races with new chassis.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Two weeks ago at Michigan International Raceway (MIS), Hornaday scored his career-best start and finish at the 2.0-mile speedway. Hornaday started the 100-lap event from the second position. A pit-road penalty, dropped lead the No. 33 team to the tail end of the longest line and Hornaday climbed from the 27th position to end the day with a career-best fourth-place finish at MIS.
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 Karl Chevrolet
Since 1978, Karl Chevrolet has enjoyed continued growth in all aspects of their business including new and pre-owned vehicle sales, parts and accessory sales, along with service and collision center work. Karl Chevrolet ranks annually as one of the top General Motors and Chevrolet brand sales leaders, ending 2009 as the third largest volume Chevrolet dealer in the United States; including being the #1 GM Certified Pre-Owned dealer in the Nation for the fourth consecutive year. More information on Karl Chevrolet can be found at www.KarlChevrolet.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
July 11, 2010
Iowa Speedway
Lucas Oil 200
Race length: 200 Laps/175 Miles
Banking/Turns: 12-14-degree 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
Saturday:
Practice: 12:45 p.m. – 1:50 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., EST
Qualifying: 7:30 p.m., EST
TV: The Lucas Oil 200 can be seen live on SPEED beginning Sunday at 1:30 p.m., EST.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 1:30 p.m., EST.
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 046
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Iowa Speedway
Starts: 1
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 1
Top 10’s: 1
Laps Led: 0
Average Start: 15.0
Average Finish: 4.0