TRUCK SERIES ROOKIE: Very few times can one call Ron Hornaday a “rookie” in the Truck Series but the 46-time Truck Series winner will be this weekend as the Truck Series makes their inaugural trip to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Even though Hornaday has not made laps around the ‘tricky triangle’ in a truck, he has competed at the 2.5-mile facility in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. In 2001, Hornaday competed for legendary Indy Car driver AJ Foyt full-time in the Sprint Cup Series. During that season, Hornaday made two trips to Pocono recording an average finish of 32nd.
WELCOME TO THE TRUCK SERIES: Not only will Hornaday be making his Truck Series debut at Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania based Ollie’s Bargain Outlet will join Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Truck Series program this weekend. The yellow and red Ollie’s colors will race across the side of the No. 33 truck for the first time in 2010. Kevin Harvick ran the Ollie’s colors earlier this season at Dover (Del.) International Raceway as he piloted the No. 33 Nationwide Series car to a sixth-place finish.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Two of the No. 33 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet team members call Pennsylvania home. Tire specialist Scott Haller grew up just down the road from Pocono Raceway in Effort, Pennsylvania. Haller is a former Goody’s Dash Series driver who moved to North Carolina six years ago to fulfill his dream of working on race cars.
Shock specialist Josh Lesondak hails from New Market, Pennsylvania. Last season, Lesondak worked with the No. 33 Nationwide program. In 2010, he now builds and adjusts shocks for both the No. 33 and No. 2 Truck Series programs.
BREAKING THE STREAK: Last weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Hornaday broke his 22-race winless streak by recording his first victory of 2010, his fourth win at the 0.626-mile short-track. The win also marks the longest Hornaday has gone into a Truck Series season before recording a victory (ORP was the 12th race of the season). Prior to 2010, Hornaday had recorded a win by the seventh race of the season.
FOUR! – Prior to this weekend’s event Hornaday will join other driver’s and celebrities in the first annual “Onion Slice Open” a charity golf tournament presented by Todd Bodine at the Blue Ridge Top Golf Course in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. The event will raise money for the John Heinz Medical Center.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TRUCK SERIES ADDING POCONO TO THIS YEAR’S SCHEDULE?
“I think it is great. I remember when I started in the Truck Series in 1995; NASCAR had a 10- year plan of where they wanted to be. The series out grew that plan in the first year and now we are going to the bigger tracks that the Cup Series has been racing on for years. I think adding Pocono is great for the series, by making it a 50-lap race, you are sure to see a lot of action. I know that going down in to turn one you better have a good spot because we will probably be four or five wide.”
WHAT IS YOUR OPINON ON THE NEW STYLE QUALIFYING THE SERIES HAS INSTITUTED FOR POCONO?
“In my opinion, that is probably the only style of qualifying that will work at that track in the amount of time we have to complete qualifying. Traditionally, qualifying is not too exciting at Pocono, so I think it will give the fans something to watch and it will help keep the drivers on their toes and really make you want to run well in practice so you can get a late qualifying draw.”
DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE SINCE YOU’VE BEEN TO POCONO BEFORE?
“It will certainly help that I have been to Pocono before, but it’s been awhile for me. Plus, I was driving a Cup Series car which is pretty different from these trucks. I’m going to have to get used to the new curbs that have been installed and remember how to get around the track. I think the only advantage will be that I have some sort of an idea (off the track) so I might be able to get up to speed faster than some of the driver’s who haven’t been to the track before, but I really don’t think it’s going to be that much of an advantage.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet team will take chassis No. 040 to Pocono Raceway. The No. 33 team last ran truck No. 040 at Texas Motor Speedway where they recorded a ninth-place finish. In total, chassis No. 040 has competed four times in 2010 with Hornaday behind the wheel at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last weekend at O’Reilly (Ind.) Raceway Park, Hornaday scored his first victory of 2010 leading 129 of 200 laps. The win marked the four-time Truck Series champion’s fourth victory at the 0.626-mile track. Hornaday is the first Truck Series driver to record four victories at ORP.
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 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, founded in 1982, is the largest retailer of closeouts, salvage and surplus merchandise in the region. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s offers a huge variety of famous brand name merchandise at savings from 30-percent to 70-percent off the regular retail price, and the assortment is always changing. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet operates over 81 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, New York and North Carolina.
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:
July 31, 2010
Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
Pocono Mountains 125
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 040
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Track Layout:
2.5-mile Tri-oval
Race length: 50 Laps/125 Miles
Banking/Turns: 14-degrees turn one;
8-degrees turn two; 6-degrees turn three; 2-degree straight-a-ways
Weekend Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., EST
Final Practice: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., EST
Saturday:
Qualifying: 10:10 a.m., EST
TV: The Pocono Mountains 125 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 12:30 p.m., EST.
Ron Hornaday
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics at
Pocono
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top Five’s: 0
Top 10’s: 0
Laps Led: 0
Average Start: 33.0
Average Finish: 32.5