CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE: Following a fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway, the No. 33 team climbed into the second position in the point standings, only 25 markers behind Mike Skinner. After five races in 2007, on the way to KHI’s first Truck Series championship, the team sat fourth in the standings while last year the team led the points battle following a win at Kansas. In his 2007 championship season, Hornaday didn’t score his first victory of the season until the fifth race of the year at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
BATTLE OF AGES: There have only been eight victories ever recorded by a driver over the age of 50 in Truck Series history. Hornaday claims four of those victories, while rival Skinner claims the other four.
“All I have to say is that Skinner is older than I am and he always will be,” laughed Hornaday. “I’m just happy that Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] give this old guy the equipment to go out there and compete for wins. Now I guess I have to go do some more winning to beat Skinner!”
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
IS THERE ADDED PRESSURE TRYING TO WIN A RACE AT LOWE’S SINCE IT IS SO CLOSE TO HOME?
“No, not really. To me it is all just racing. It’s tough to pull off a win anywhere with the Truck Series being as competitive as it is right now. We’ve traditionally had some good races at Lowe’s. We had a top-five run there in 2006 and won in 2007. We had a shot at the win last year but got into a deal with Todd [Bodine] late in the race. Lowe’s is a lot like Atlanta and Texas where you can carry really good speed out of the turns. We have a lot of momentum going into this race and we’re looking for another strong run and our first win this season.”
TWO WEEKS AGO YOU WENT FISHING WITH YOUR LONGHORN TEAMMATE BASS ANGLER JEFF KRIET. DID YOU CATCH ANYTHING?
“It was really cool meeting Jeff. I’m really not that much of a fisherman, but my wife Lindy is. I didn’t catch anything but rocks! Lindy caught a handful of fish and Jeff gave her some tips. After she went out with him on the lake, she spent two days on the dock at our house practicing. It’s really neat when you can hang out with someone who is very similar to you. Funny thing about it is, after talking to Jeff we found out that fishing and racing are a whole lot alike. They are both time consuming sports, they require a lot of mental focus, and you can have a good day or bad day depending on the weather!”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will bring chassis No. 24 to Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS). This chassis last competed at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago, finishing fourth in the rain-shortened race. Truck No. 24 is the same truck that competed at LMS last spring, running in the top two spots the majority of the race until an incident with Todd Bodine sent Hornaday spinning through the infield grass and relegated him to a 23rd-place finish.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway, the Truck Series endured their second rain-delayed race of 2009. The event began on Saturday as the No. 33 team scored their first pole of 2009. The race was red-flagged at lap 52 and postponed until Monday due to torrential rains and tornado warnings. The race restarted on Monday, but the threat of rain still loomed in the Kansas City area. The No. 33 team ended the rain-shortened event in the fourth position. The run marked the third top-five finish for the No. 33 team in 2009.
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 Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and the No. 4 KHI All-Stars Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ricky Carmichael and a variety of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Chevrolet Impala competing full-time in the Nationwide Series, with drivers Kevin Harvick (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), Hornaday and Cale Gale. 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
May 15, 2009
Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway
North Carolina Education Lottery 200
Race length: 134 Laps/ 201 Miles
Banking/Turns: 24-degrees in turns,
5-degrees straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5-mile
Shape: Quad-oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., EST
Final Practice: 10:20 a.m. – 11:50 a.m., EST
Qualifying: 3:35 p.m., EST
TV: The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 can be seen on SPEED at 7:30 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 7:30 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 024
Engine: Pro Motors Engineering (PME)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Starts: 4
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 2
Top 10’s: 2
Laps Led: 99
Average Start: 5.8
Average Finish: 10.0