UNPRECENDENTED STREAK: Last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Ron Hornaday made Truck Series history winning four races in a row. Hornaday’s streak began at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile in June, followed by wins at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Kentucky Speedway and O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP). Hornaday will go for an unprecedented five wins in a row this weekend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
ALL-TIME CREW CHIEF: With last week’s win at ORP, Rick Ren is now tied with Dennis Conner as the all-time winningest crew chief in Truck Series history. Ren has tallied a total of 26 wins with five different drivers, three of which include Kevin Harvick Inc.’s very own Rick Carelli (KHI General Manager), Andy Houston (spotter for the No. 4 Truck team) and driver of the No. 33, Ron Hornaday.
LAP LEADER: Hornaday has now led 633 laps in 2009. Hornaday has led at least one lap in 12 of 13 races this season and he has led a lap in the last 11 consecutive race events. ORP marked the 10th race this season Hornaday has been awarded the Wix Lap Leader Award.
ONE OF THE FEW: Nashville Superspeedway is one of only eight tracks on the current Truck Series circuit where Hornaday has yet to tally a win. The others include: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
PASS TIME: Hornaday will be a featured guest on the SPEED TV show Pass Time, the ultimate drag racing game show. Hornaday will compete against fellow Truck Series driver Mike Skinner and Pass Time regular Ken “The House Herring” to determine who has what it takes to guess the fastest of the fast from the new zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. Hornaday’s episode is scheduled to air August 5th, at 9 p.m., EST.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
CAN YOU PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE WINNING FOUR RACES IN A ROW?
“No I really can’t. I’m not sure how we did it. These last two wins have been unbelievable. I’m just so lucky to be able to drive for owners like Kevin and DeLana (Harvick). They have put all the right people in the right places. Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys have done such a great job with these trucks. I am very fortunate to be in the position I am in right now. I am having more fun than I ever have.”
HOW IMPORTANT WOULD IT BE TO YOU TO FINALLY BREAK THROUGH AND GET A WIN AT NASHVILLE?
“I have been so close to winning at Nashville. In 2007, we had the thing won but ended up missing it by just a little and finishing second. I went by Sam Bass’s studio a few weeks ago to sign some prints for Longhorn, and he showed me his guitar collection. It was very impressive and I told him that I really wanted to win one of his specially designed Gibson guitars. I really like this track but have yet to be able to get in the right position to head to victory lane.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Longhorn team will bring chassis No.029 to Nashville Superspeedway. Chassis 029 was last on track at Kentucky Speedway where Hornaday and the No. 33 team recorded their fourth victory of 2009.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Hornaday and the No. 33 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) team made Truck Series history by winning their fourth race in a row, their fifth victory in 2009. The win marked Hornaday’s 44th career victory and extended his points lead to 174 points over Mike Skinner.
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 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 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
August 1, 2009
Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway
Toyota Tundra 200
Race length: 150 Laps/ 200 Miles
Banking/Turns: 14-degrees in 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: 5:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., EST
Final Practice: 6:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., EST
Saturday:
Qualifying: 3:15 p.m., EST
TV: The Toyota Tundra 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: 029
Engine: Pro Motors Engineering (PME)
Ron Hornaday
Truck Series Statistics at
Nashville Superspeedway
Starts: 4
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 2
Top 10’s: 2
Laps Led: 30
Average Start: 14.0
Average Finish: 13.0