RECORD BREAKER: In 2009 Ron Hornaday joined Richard Petty and Bobby Allison as only the third driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive races. Hornaday’s streak began at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile and ended with his first trip to victory lane at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Hornaday returns to Nashville in 2010 with a mission to beat the boss (Kevin Harvick) and become the Truck Series first back-to-back winner at the 1.333-mile D-shaped oval.
HITTING A HIGH NOTE: Hornaday has 45 career Truck Series wins, the most of any driver in the series. Hornaday’s last Truck Series win came in August of 2009 at Nashville Superspeedway.
GUITAR GOODNESS: As the two-time Truck Series most popular driver, Hornaday has quite a fan following throughout the 25 venues the Truck Series visits annually. For three years one dedicated fan traveled to The Milwaukee Mile and given Hornaday an acoustic guitar. In 2009, Hornaday made one request.
“I told the guy I really appreciated it and that I loved the guitars but, I had never won at Nashville and I wanted one of Sam Bass’ guitars. I was fortunate enough to be able to break through and get the win. Now, the only guitar hanging in my trophy room is the one from Nashville. I’m a pretty superstitious guy so maybe the Sam Bass guitar needed its own special place in my house and it wasn’t going to happen until I took all the acoustic ones down. Not sure, but it worked!”
CONCRETE KING: Hornaday has been up for the challenge at the three concrete facilities that are currently on the Truck Series schedule. He has scored victories at each of the Truck Series concrete tracks, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway. He has two wins at the concrete half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway as well as the one-mile Dover International Speedway. As previously mentioned, last year he completed the trifecta at the concrete facilities winning at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT MAKES DRIVING ON CONCRETE DIFFERENT THAN ASPHALT?
“Concrete is just more sensitive than asphalt. If the temperature takes a dramatic shift then you will have to adjust your set up, but for the most part, the tracks just seem to have more grip than asphalt tracks.”
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BACK-TO-BACK WINNER AT NASHVILLE DO YOU THINK YOU COULD BE THE FIRST?
“There is no doubt the No. 33 Longhorn team has a good shot at it. Last year we really improved our mile and a half program. I think I have learned a lot about driving those types of tracks and I’m excited to head back to Nashville and defend our win. This will be the Truck Series first time going there in the spring, so we’re not sure what challenges we’re going to have. Either way, we will approach it like we do every week. Prepare the best we can at the shop, get a game plan and stick to it. As long as we are near the front with 10 [laps] to go, we will definitely be contenders.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will take chassis No. 037 to Nashville Superspeedway. Chassis No. 037 last competed at Phoenix International Raceway at the end of 2009 as Hornaday solidified his record setting fourth Truck Series championship with a fourth-place finish. Chassis No. 037 also competed in 2009 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Hornaday recorded a second-place finish. Chassis No. 037 has strong statistics to back up its past performance with an average starting position of 3.0, an average finishing position of 3.0 and a total of 101 laps led.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last week at Martinsville Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 recorded their first top-five finish of 2010. Hornaday finished second behind KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick. Harvick won his fourth consecutive Truck Series event that he has been entered in and now has two wins out of the three Truck Series events this season. Hornaday jumped 16 positions in the Truck Series point standings moving into 12th.
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 LONGHORN MOIST SNUFF: The Longhorn brand offers the best value to consumers by delivering a simple combination of premium quality and really great price. Introduced in 2003, Longhorn is a low price leader in the moist snuff category, manufactured in the same fine tradition as some of our other tobacco products including Red Man, Timber Wolf and White Owl. Longhorn moist snuff gives you the taste you demand at the price you want. For more information on Longhorn, visit our website at www.longhornsnuff.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
April 2, 2010
Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway
Camping World Truck Series 200
Race length: 150 Laps/200 Miles
Banking/Turns: 14-degree turns;
9-degree front straight-a-way; 6-degree back straight-a-way
Track layout: 1.333-mile
Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., EST
Qualifying: 5:00 p.m., EST
TV: The Camping World Truck Series 200 can be seen on SPEED Friday at 8:00 p.m., EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 8:00 p.m., EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 037
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Nashville Superspeedway
Starts: 15
Wins: 1 (2009)
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 3
Top 10’s: 3
Laps Led: 145
Average Start: 12.0
Average Finish: 10.6