ONE OF THE FEW: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) finds itself on a short list of tracks that Ron Hornaday has been unable to conquer in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). LVMS is one of seven tracks on the current NCWTS schedule the 45-time Truck Series winner has yet to tally a victory. The others include: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
WHERE IT ENDS: From 1996-1998 LVMS was the site of the Truck Series season finale. Hornaday was crowned the Truck Series champion twice at LVMS in 1996 and 1998. Hornaday is no stranger to last-race battles. In 1998, rival Jack Sprague won the race at LVMS and Hornaday finished second, winning the title by a slim three points.
COPART CHALLENGE OF CHAMPIONS: Hornaday and Todd Bodine continue to collect points in the Copart Challenge of Champions competition. Each driver will be in a Copart sponsored truck for four races in 2009. When in a Copart truck the driver points earned during that race are applied toward the Copart Challenge of Champions title. Hornaday has driven the No. 33 Copart Chevrolet for two races in 2009. He has recorded one win at the Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile and finished second last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, thus far in the challenge Hornaday has collected a total of 375 points. Bodine still leads the challenge with 424 points. Bodine has completed three of four races he will compete in a Copart sponsored truck. Hornaday has two more chances to catch Bodine, this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and during the championship finale at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on October 31st.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON GOING TO LVMS?
“I have come really close to winning at Vegas. This year we have a really good shot at it. We have run pretty well at the 1.5-mile tracks. I’m really excited to get back there. This has sort of been the year of marking tracks off my list. I was finally able to win at Kentucky (Speedway) and Nashville (Superspeedway) earlier this year. I hope that we can put on a good show for the fans and continue to do well.”
WHERE DOES LAS VEGAS RANK AMONG ALL THE TRACKS THE TRUCK SERIES VISITS?
“Las Vegas is a special place. I always say that my favorite race tracks are the ones I win at, but this one ranks up there very close. I have been so fortunate in my racing career. In the mid to late 90’s, Sprague and I had a good battle going. I won the first championship, then he won one, then I won my second. The cool part was every year I won the championship he won the race here in Vegas. I have some really good memories from there.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Copart team will take chassis No.034 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Chassis No. 034 was last on track at Chicagoland Speedway where Hornaday led two laps and ran second most of the day until pit strategy late in the race trapped the No. 33 a lap down. Hornaday was able to regain his lap and finished 11th.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 team lead 101 of the 200 laps in the Heluva Good! 200. The second half of the race went caution free, causing teams to come to pit road under green for a splash of fuel to the finish. The No. 33 team needed five seconds to ensure enough fuel to make a green-white-checkered scenario, but eventual winner Kyle Busch only needed four seconds leaving Hornaday to make up a second with over 100 lap old tires. A late caution on lap 188 left Busch, Hornaday and Harvick bumper-to-bumper for a seven lap shoot out. Busch took off leaving Hornaday and Harvick to battle for second. Hornaday held off the boss to record his 12th top-five finish of 2009. Hornaday remains the points leader by 217 markers over Matt Crafton with six Truck Series 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 COPART:
Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day.
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 26, 2009
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Qwik Liner Las Vegas 200
Race length: 146 Laps/ 219 Miles
Banking/Turns: 10-degrees turns; 9-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5-mile
Shape: D-shaped oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Saturday:
Practice: 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., EST
Qualifying: 6:30 p.m., EST
TV: The Qwik Liner Las Vegas 200 can be seen on SPEED at 9:00 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 9:00 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 034
Engine: Pro Motors Engineering (PME)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Starts: 8
Wins: 0
Poles: 1 (2008)
Top Five’s: 5
Top 10’s: 6
Laps Led: 95
Average Start: 10.1
Average Finish: 7.9