ONE OF THE FEW: Ron Hornaday has more starts (16) at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway than any other track on the current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule. However, Martinsville is one of only nine tracks on the current schedule in which Hornaday has yet to put a tally in the win column. The other tracks include: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Pocono (Pa.) International Raceway, Darlington (SC) Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: Hornaday is the Truck Series leader in short track victories leading the series with 22 wins on tracks less than one mile in length. Earlier this season, Hornaday scored his 22nd career short-track win when he visited victory lane at O’Reilly (Ind.) Raceway Park, his only win thus far in 2010.
SHOT CALLER: Beginning this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Hornaday will hear a new voice from atop the pit box. Butch Hylton will move over to the No. 33 truck for the remainder of the 2010, calling the shots as crew chief for Hornaday. Hylton previously severed as crew chief for the No.2 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet. In his 13 years serving as a crew chief in NASCAR’s three elite series, Hylton has accumulated 10 wins and one Nationwide Series owner’s championship with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter in 2003. In 2000, Hylton served as car chief for Bobby Labonte’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship season. Hylton also won the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona GT division race.
TICK TOCK I WANT A CLOCK: For the fall event at Martinsville Speedway, track officials decided it was time that the Truck Series winner be awarded a special trophy. In the Cup Series, the winner of the Martinsville Speedway event receives a grandfather clock prize that KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick (winner of the 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the track) proudly displays in his office at KHI. Not only does Hornaday want to mark a track off the list that he has yet to win at, he would really like to be the first Truck Series recipient of the grandfather clock trophy.
“I’ve been asked a lot in my career what certain wins mean to me,” said Hornaday. “I have to say a win at Martinsville would be one that would certainly stick out, only because it is the track that I have been to the most and haven’t been able to get a win at. We’ve been close so many times, and to be able to get the first grandfather clock would be awesome. I don’t race for the money, I race for the trophies, and that would be a prized possession to add to my collection.”
LUCKY CHARM? This weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Hornaday will carry the Armour Vienna Sausage/Kroger paint scheme. Since joining KHI in 2009, the Armour Vienna Sausage/Kroger paint scheme has raced four times, and four times the vehicle has ended the day in victory lane, including recording Kevin Harvick’s first Nationwide Series win in a KHI- owned vehicle at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2009. Thus far in 2010, the Armour Vienna Sausage/Kroger paint scheme has been to victory lane twice in the Nationwide Series at Nashville Superspeedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Hornaday hopes to keep the streak alive as he looks to take the No. 33 Armour Vienna Sausage/Kroger Chevrolet to victory lane in their Truck Series debut.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
IS THERE ANY ADDED PRESSURE KNOWING THAT THIS PAINT SCHEME IS UNDEFEATED IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES?
(Laughs) “No not really. There is just added pressure to get back to victory lane. We have been running well this year, but for some reason do not have the finishes to show for it. We have a good plan in place and I’m looking forward to the things we have in store for this weekend and the rest of the season. I think we have the opportunity to win all of the last five races in 2010 and I’m going to do my part to make that happen.”
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO FINALLY GET IN VICTORY LANE AT MARTINSVILLE?
“It would mean the world to me. I really have a goal to mark off all the tracks that we race at that I have yet to get a win at. They are just places we either have not been to that many times or have had bad luck at. Martinsville is just that elusive track that I have ran so well at, but twice we have stared at Kevin’s [Harvick] back bumper as he takes the checkered flag. There are only a few tracks on the schedule that we can say that KHI has run one-two, Martinsville is one of those. I’m just glad we’ve been competitive there, and it’s a tough track to learn and you have to have an almost perfect day in Martinsville to get a good finish. I’m looking forward to this year’s race to see if we can get that first grandfather clock.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Armour Vienna Sausage/Kroger team will take chassis No. 048 to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. This will mark the fifth time in 2010 that Hornaday will climb behind the wheel of chassis No. 048. Hornaday earned a sixth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway a pair of third-place finishes at Darlington (SC) Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway. Most recently, Hornaday posted a 29th-place finish in the chassis at Kentucky Speedway in September following a flat right-front tire late in the 150-lap event.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Four weeks ago the Truck Series made their annual visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hornaday qualified seventh for the 146-lap event, led 23 laps, but lost the handling on the No. 33 truck as the race wound down to finish in the 11th position.
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.
QUICK NOTES
Race Info:
October 23, 2010
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Kroger 200
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 048
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Track Layout:
0.526-mile Oval
Race length: 200 Laps/105.2 Miles
Banking/Turns: 12-degree turns; 0-degree straight-a-ways
Weekend Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m., EST
Final Practice: 1:10 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., EST
Qualifying: 4:40 p.m., EST
TV: The Kroger 200 can be seen live on SPEED beginning Saturday at 12:30 p.m., EST.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 12:45 p.m., EST.
Ron Hornaday
NASCAR Truck Series Statistics at
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Starts: 16
Wins: 0
Poles: 1 (2008)
Top Five’s: 7
Top 10’s: 10
Laps Led: 240
Average Start: 8.4
Average Finish: 10.1