Ron Hornaday wins World Camping Truck Series

Kevin Harvick could be heard screaming into his radio after the race that they had done it and this was a great way to end the 2009 Camping World Truck Series. Kevin has won the last two races of the Camping World Truck Series season and has three wins in his past six starts. It wasn’t looking very good when Harvick came into the pits on Lap 114 for more fuel, but once he got back out on the track, he turned things around and was back in the lead within eight laps. Over the remaining laps Harvick was able to increase his lead by over four seconds, before Ryan Sieg’s spin caused another caution to occur.

Kevin Harvick’s win played second fiddle to the real story of the day, as Ron Hornaday was able to finish eighth and secure the Camping World Truck Series title. Ron Hornaday has had a fast truck all year and this is a much deserved championship for Hornaday, who battled all year, despite his problems.

Matt Crafton finished second, just ahead of Colin Braun’s truck in the Ford 200 Camping World Truck Series race; while Timothy Peters was able to stay strong and consistent with a fourth place finish. Todd Bodine finished fifth in his Toyota, in front of Mike Skinner and his Toyota, and just ahead of David Starr and his Toyota. Ron Hornaday stayed out of trouble and obviously knew he didn’t need to win and just tried to finish as best he could, without putting himself in jeopardy of being taken out of the race. Johnny Sauter finished ninth and T.J. Bell rounded out the top ten in the Ford 200.

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Ron Hornaday Wins Camping World Truck Title

Sauter finally beat Hornaday and it must feel good

It must feel great to finally get his first victory in the Trucks, after spending last year doing start and parks in the Nationwide Series. He had nice speed all year in the Truck Series, but never quite finished the deal in a race, despite having a fast truck on the series for the last two months. This victory is a notable day in that Sauter became the first rookie to win in the Truck Series since Scott Speed accomplished the feat on May 30, 2008, while driving at Dover International Speedway. He was due since this was his fifth consecutive top five finish and the victory lifted him two spots to fifth in the points standings. His best finish this year before this one was a fifth place in his fifteenth race at Dover. What changed things for him during his the last five races? Apparently, it was the arrival on the scene of crew chief Joe Shear, who he had worked with before and apparently has a great respect for.

This victory was the third for ThorSport, which is owned and operated by Duke and Rhonda Thorson and based in Sandusky, Ohio, which makes it one of the few teams not based in the Charlotte, N.C. area.

Crafton still had a pretty good day, but just couldn’t match the speed of Sauter’s truck. He did manage to cut 20 points off of Ron Hornaday’s lead in the point’s standings, but still trails Hornaday by 197 points with just five races remaining on the schedule. Just the same it was a great day for the team and they pulled closer in the standings, so they can’t have much to complain about.

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Sauter Wins First Truck Series Race

Kyle Busch wins his third straight truck race

Harvick after the race stated that Hornaday’s failure to let him move past him during the closing laps prevented him from using his faster truck to catch Kyle Busch. He attributed this to lack of communication between crew chiefs and spotters and you can be sure he’s straightening this out, right now.

Kyle Busch said he wasn’t sure if he would have enough fuel after his brief stop, but decided to put the his foot down and see how far his car would make it. He made it over the line just .560 seconds ahead of Hornaday and ran out of gas as he was driving into Victory Lane to receive his rewards. This gamble allowed Busch to take the win when Hornaday took to long in pit row adding additional fuel.

Hornaday and Harvick were actually the dominant trucks all day long, but when Hornaday failed to respond to Harvick’s desire to get past him, Harvick was done. The heat between team owner and Hornaday appeared to be rising after the race as Harvick stormed over to Hornaday’s truck after the race and apparently had a little talk with his fellow racer and employee.

Hornaday stared after the race that communication problems definitely played a part in his two trucks not winning the race and they’ll work out the problems so this hopefully doesn’t happen again.

This was hardly a bad day for Harvick and his team, they still finished second and third, and he still leads in the series standings by 217 points over Crafton. Crafton for his part was obviously making an effort to race clean after last week’s race at Gateway that saw him getting black flagged. He did finish fourth, but never really challenged for the win.

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Kyle Busch Wins the Heluva Good! 200

Kevin Harvick races in the Food City 250 at 730 ET on ESPN 2

Kevin Harvick’s KHI has had a very strong season that included five straight wins for Ron Hornaday in the Camping World Truck Series, the longest winning streak in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car in 38 long years. Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte have also won a Nationwide Series race sitting behind the wheel of a Kevin Harvick Nationwide Series car. Harvick’s first win in March driving his own Nationwide Series car must have been special but a second win today would probably be like a double layer of icing on your cake.

Harvick and his wife DeLana built KHI up from the dirt to be more than just a hobby and the pressure has been on the last year to make KHI a success. This husband and wife combination is starting to see a little daylight in their journey and hopefully this is just the beginning of years of racing success for the team. They might be able to take a deep breath after the Food City 250 and release the pressure on the cooker that has been working for a year. KHI appears to be a team on the rise and if they can win today on a track that has always been a good one for Harvick, then they’ll have something that’s important with any sports athlete, confidence they can win.

Kevin Harvick isn’t the only car to be watching for if you’re out on the track of Bristol today. You should also look for the No. 5 of Ryan Newman, who has five to ten finishes after just six races at Bristol. The No 18 of Kyle Busch will be out on the track of Bristol, as well as the No 88 of Brad Keselowski, last week’s surprise winner over Busch and Vickers.

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Kevin Harvick and Bristol Motor Speedway

Ron Hornaday pulls even with a few iconic drivers in NASCAR history with this victory

Hornaday is standing front grill to front grill with Richard Petty and Bobby Allison in NASCAR’s record books, both of these unforgettable racers accomplished this feat in 1971 while competing in the Cup Series. Richard Petty set the current standard for consecutive wins on the national series with ten consecutive victories during the 1967 season and is also tied for second on this list with Bobby Allison and now Ron Hornaday after his victory in the Toyota Tundra 200. Winning five consecutive races in the national series is something that has been a rare animal to see in NASCAR and for some racers it’s hard to believe that a racer could actually accomplish this. Ron Hornaday is of a rare racing-breed and we’re fortunate to be able to witness his brilliance on the track.

Hornaday was in the lead for 115 of 154 laps in the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet and was in the lead for the final 63 laps. He looked so comfortable behind the wheel of his race car you might think he was out for a Sunday drive. This win is his sixth win of the season and 45^th of his Truck Series career, which leaves him on the top of the list for all time wins in this category.

Nashville hasn’t been a race venue that has been a good one for Hornaday and he must be glad to finally win after thirteen races on the 1.33-mile concrete surface of Nashville. After eight races in the Nationwide Series and five driving a truck, he finally gets to take home Nashville’s trademark trophy, a Gibson guitar painted by artist Sam Bass.

Hornaday’s crew chief Rick Ren also set a NASCAR record with this 27^th victory, breaking the old record of 26 wins by Dennis Connor, with Hornaday’s victory. This extra bonus definitely makes it a day to remember for both these gentlemen and one that is now written in the annals of NASCAR’s history books and will always be remembered.

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Ron Hornaday Wins the Toyota Tundra 200

Ron Hornaday wins the Built Ford Tough 225 World Camping Truck Series competition

Ron Hornaday has been running hot and fast on the Camping World Truck Series lately. Saturday night he continued his winning ways on the series by taking his third consecutive victory in the Camping World Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 held at Kentucky Speedway. This win is the fourth of the Camping World Truck Series for Hornaday and extends his overall lead in the series over second place racer Matt Crafton to 96 points. Hornaday was patient and waited for his moment

and then with 24 laps remaining he made his move. The race had to be restarted on lap 127 of this 150-lap competition on a 1.5

mile track that has seen its share of winners and losers. Hornaday’s crew chief made a few more changes during this stop to fine tune a few things he had started tinkering with during the last pit stop and the changes made a difference as Hornaday’s truck was definitely faster after the last stop. Hornaday restarted sixth after the restart and used his racing ability and faster truck to pass Tayler

Malsam on the inside of Turn 2 and then Aric Almirola on the inside of Turn 4 to move into the lead with just 18 laps left in the Built Ford Tough 225.

Mike Skinner stayed close to the leaders in front of him until he saw his opportunity. He was able to pass his Randy Moss Motorsports teammate Malsam with just nine laps remaining and then lady luck helped him out when Todd Bodine had mechanical problems that allowed him to move into second place. Pulling close to Hornaday with just two turns left, he made his attempt to pass, but was unable to get past him on the outside.

Matt Crafton finished third in his Chevrolet, Timothy Peters managed to hang on for fourth, and Aric Almirola took fifth, while Brian Scott finished sixth. Ricky Carmichael had a good race and despite having a car that seemed slow, he managed seventh place, James Buescher finished eighth, David Starr ninth, and Dennis Setzer rounded out the top ten in the Camping World Series Built Ford Tough 225.

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Ron Hornaday Wins the Built Ford Tough 225

Ron Hornaday wins second straight truck race

Hornaday grabbed the lead at the start and never looked like he was going to give it up, until a smart pit stop put Brian Scott briefly in the lead. Scott was able to stay in front of Hornaday for 18 of the next laps, until Hornaday dropped inside of Scott in Turn 1 of Lap 135. The pair raced side by side up the track until they reached Turn 3, when Hornaday was able drive to the inside of a lapped truck and grab the advantage over Scott, who had to try to take the outside lane. In the final analysis Hornaday lead for 180 of the 200 laps, including 108 of the first 114, a truly dominant driving performance that must have his competition worried he’s going to run away with the 2009 season. This third win of the season expands Hornaday’s lead to 76 points over Matt Crafton, gives him 42 career wins in the series, which is tops all-time in the history of the series.

Brian Scott should hold his head high; he had a good race, but lost to the best in the business at the moment, and has a lot to look forward to in the future. He certainly had his problems with lapped traffic that slowed him down, but then this is where the experience and skill come in. Hornaday looked faster all day, and Scott probably wouldn’t have been able to stay in front of Hornaday, even if he hadn’t been slowed by traffic.

David Starr finished third, Aric Almirola fourth, while Matt Crafton finished in fifth position. Mike Skinner took sixth place, Timothy Peters seventh, Johnny Sauter eighth, Colin Brawn ninth, and the top ten was completed by Todd Bodine.

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Ron Hornaday Wins MemphisTravel.com 200

Ron Hornaday wins the Copart 200

Truly a cool day for this young-at-heart competitor, who when asked about his age commented, “I’m in my 50s, now, I guess.”

The victory was the 41^st career Camping World Truck win for Hornaday and his second win of the 2009 Camping World Truck Series and at Milwaukee, where he won in 1997. Ron was in front of the pack for 180 of the scheduled 200 laps around Milwaukee and he was one second ahead of second place finisher Dennis Setzer at the end.

The race started with Hornaday grabbing the lead from Matt Crafton on the third lap and then increasing his lead with every lap, until Aric Almirola’s disastrous spin on lap 127. Hornaday used the caution provided by Aric’s spin to pit and prepare his No. 33 Chevrolet to run the final laps. Hornaday was fast enough to stay on the lead lap after his pit and then when the seven racers in the lead pitted, Hornaday was back in the lead.

Hornaday continued to lead until a late caution flag brought the field back together for a restart with only 8 laps remaining in the race. He jumped ahead after the green flag fell and stayed ahead of Dennis Seltzer for the final 8 of laps. This win puts Hornaday 36 points ahead of Crafton for the series lead, with half the season left to go.

Brian Scott finished third in the Copart 200, Todd Bodine took fourth, and James Buescher was able to finish fifth. Stacy Compton finished sixth, Tayler Malsam took seventh place, Colin Braun was able to take eighth, David Starr was in ninth, and the top ten was rounded out by Terry Cook in his Toyota.

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Hornaday Wins Copart 200

Saturday’s running of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was an historic night for the Nationwide Series, and NASCAR in general. As the rainy weather crept its way onto the tracks, the race was red flagged, and for the first time ever in a NASCAR points race, the teams switched over to grooved tires to run the remainder of the race.

The rain was eventually stopped 26 laps short due to poor visibility, and in the end, it was Canadian native, Ron Fellows, out in front of the pack when the race was officially called. Throughout the majority of the race it appeared as though Marcos Ambrose was going to run away with things, leading a race high 27 laps, but a late pit road speeding penalty cost him, and Fellows was there to take advantage.

For Fellows, who was driving the no. 5 entry for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned JR Motorsports, it was his fourth career road course victory in 13 Nationwide Series starts, and he also became the first Canadian to ever win a major NASCAR event in Canada.

Fellows was followed to the line by another Canadian native, Patrick Carpentier, who finished 2nd. Ambrose was able to recover from his earlier mistakes on pit road and came back to finish 3rd. 4th place went to Ron Hornaday, and 5th was Boris Said.

Carl Edwards – now 2nd in points – finished 6th, while the series points leader, Clint Bowyer, crossed the finish line in 9th. Brad Keselowski dropped the 2nd position in the points race to Edwards with a 12th place run, dropping Brad down to 3rd overall.

Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano dropped about 10 positions in the running order each when they wrecked into other cars during the final caution period.

“I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was,” Logano said. “I couldn’t see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! … It’s just not right.”

They each went onto finish 16th and 17th respectively.

It should be noted, however, that the accidents during the final caution were caused by poor visibility, and were not tire-related. In fact, there were really no tire issues the whole race, which should serve as a huge pick-me-up for Goodyear after the debacle that they went through last week at Indy.

Complete Results of the NAPA Auto Parts 200     /     Current Nationwide Series Points Standings

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Ron Fellows Beats the Rain in Canada

NASCAR veteran, Johnny Benson, held off Ron Hornaday in a two-lap shootout for the checkers to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 on Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Hornaday took the lead from polesitter Bobby East back on lap 5 and went onto lead a race high 153 laps before surrendering the lead to the charging Benson on lap 162.

There were a record-tying 11 cautions during the event, the last of which came on lap 195 when Benson’s Bill Davis Racing teammate, Michael Annett, spun while trying to race Rick Crawford for position inside the top-five. The accident setup a restart on lap 198 of the 200 lap race, with Hornaday still running in second. Hornaday attempted a final charge, but he slipped high up on the track, and Benson pulled away for the victory. Hornaday went onto finish 2nd, followed by Erik Darnell, Matt Crafton, and Shelby Howard completing the top-five.

Other Notables:
Kyle Busch finished 8th in the race after stirring up a bit of controversy earlier in the evening, sending Chad McCumbee into the wall back on lap 136 as the two raced for position. Mike Skinner rounded out the top-ten in 10th place. Rick Crawford finished 12th. Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate, Jack Sprague, was 17th.

Johnny Benson’s victory now opens up a 15 point lead over Hornaday in the points standings. Hornaday jumped past Matt Crafton to take the 2nd spot in the standings as Crafton drops down to 3rd. There were no other changes through the top-six in points. For Benson, the win gave him his second in a row, and his third in the past four weeks.

Complete Power Stroke 200 Results

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

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Benson Wins For Second Week in a Row