Ron Hornaday
No. 33 Utz Snacks Chevrolet Silverado
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race 6 of 25 – Dover (Del.) International Speedway
IT’S TIME: There are a few tracks on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit that four-time champion Ron Hornaday does not know his way around. The “Monster Mile” of Dover International Speedway is not one of them. With a victory to their credit, the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet team is looking for their first win of the season during Friday’s Lucas Oil 200.
Hornaday led nearly half of the 200-lap event at the one-mile track back in June of 2007, while running for KHI’s first Truck Series championship. The No. 33 Chevrolet spent 196 laps inside the top-15 and made 17 green-flag passes to bring home the team’s second of four wins for the season.
UTZ SNACKS: The No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado will partner with Utz Quality Foods for three races during the 2011 season. The Utz brand will be kicking off their partnership with KHI this weekend at Dover International Speedway. Utz Snacks will also serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 33 truck next weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and again at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on August 6th.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 team will operate chassis No. 046 this weekend at Dover International Speedway. This chassis was utilized in the KHI stable for two races in 2010. Ron Hornaday piloted the chassis at Iowa Speedway in the No. 33 truck, and Ken Schrader steered the truck to a 10th-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in August.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: The No. 33 Steak-umm Chevrolet team earned their fourth top-10 finish of the 2011 Truck Series season bringing home a fourth-place finish during the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. The fourth-place finish moved Hornaday up one position in the championship point standings. The driver is in fourth, only five markers out of the lead, heading into this weekend’s event at Dover.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Ron Hornaday
What are your thoughts heading into Dover this weekend?
“I know that this No. 33 team is ready for a victory. We had it there at Nashville but came up short. The combination that we have together on this team with Jeff Hensley is great. Dover is a place where your track position and pit stops are crucial. I’m confident that we will unload with a great package and be able to start and stay up front.
“This weekend we have another new sponsor with Utz Snacks. We are looking forward to having them on the truck and being a part of our team here at KHI. The truck is really sharp looking and will look even better with chips all over it in victory lane.”
THOUGHTS FROM THE CREW CHIEF: Jeff Hensley
You have sat on the pole and won a race at Dover. Why are you successful at Dover?
“I really like Dover. It’s a track that I look forward to. I have sat on the pole twice with Mike Skinner and won the race with Brian Scott in 2009. The two things you are going to concentrate on at Dover is fuel and tires. I’ve seen this race go green for 150 laps and people are running out of gas. The drivers get comfortable and just race the track, so going green for a long time isn’t unusual. Your pit stops are critical at these times and our stops have been awesome this year. NASCAR will give us an extra set of right side tires because the wear is so bad. You will see a lot of teams take two tires on their last stop because track position is so important. I feel confident in our team with the experience that we have heading to the track.”
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 Katey Hawbaker at KHI: khawbaker@kevinharvickinc.com.