Ron Hornaday junior
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| status | active | ||||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series statistics | |||||||||
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| Best placement | 38th - (2001) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 3rd - (2003) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 1. - (1996, 1998, 2007, 2009) | ||||||||
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| Data status: April 18, 2011 | |||||||||
Ron Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958 in Palmdale , California ) is an American racing driver . He is the father of racing driver Ronnie Hornaday and the son of former NASCAR pilot Ron Hornaday senior . He is currently driving the # 33 truck from Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series . In 1996, 1998, 2007 and 2009 he won the Camping World Truck Series drivers' championship.
Career
Beginnings
Hornaday started his career on karts and motorcycles. After a few years he moved to Stock Cars and drove in a local racing series at the 0.33 mile Saugus Speedway. Hornaday won several championships on this route. In 1992 he became a champion in the NASCAR Southwest Series. He was also voted Most Popular Driver. In the 1993 season he was able to win the championship again. Hornaday is the only driver to have won the championship in the NASCAR Southwest Series for two consecutive years.
Hornaday made his debut in the Winston Cup , today's Sprint Cup, in the Save Mart 300K in 1992 . He drove a number 92 Chevrolet and finished the race in 32nd place. Until 2000, Hornaday never drove more than two races per season in the Winston Cup. However, he was one of the drivers who started in the newly founded Craftsman Truck Series in 1995.
1995 to 2000
In the 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series season , Hornaday drove the # 16 Chevrolet Silverado from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. It won six times, made it into the top 5 ten times and made it into the top 10 14 times in 20 races. With these performances, Hornaday was able to end the season in third place in the overall standings. In 1996, Hornaday also drove in the Truck Series. He won only four instead of six races as in the previous year, but made it into the top 10 in 23 of the 24 races and thus became champion of the Craftsman Truck Series. The first two years of the series were marked by the exciting fights between Ron Hornaday junior and Mike Skinner , who, however, moved to the Winston Cup in the 1997 season.
Hornaday stayed in the Craftsman Truck Series and won seven times in the 1997 season , but was only fifth overall. In the 1998 season it was enough for the title again, which he owes to his persistence. Once again he was able to reach the top 10 in almost all races. After he performed well again in 1999 and finished seventh overall, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. gave him a place in the Busch Series , where he was allowed to drive a number 3 Chevrolet in the 2000 season. He was able to meet the high expectations, won two races and was fifth overall.
2000 to 2004
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. decided despite the good performance to disband the Busch Series team and move to the Winston Cup. Hornaday did not get a new contract and was temporarily without a team. Still, Hornaday found a way into the Winston Cup. AJ Foyt Enterprises offered him to drive the number 14 Pontiac , which Hornaday accepted. The 2001 season was rather weak. Only once, namely in the UAW DaimlerChrysler 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway , did he make it into the top 10. He only crossed the finish line six times in the lead lap. He was a disappointing 38th in the drivers' overall standings. In 2002 he drove only three races in the Winston Cup. However, he returned to the Craftsman Truck Series for at least two races: the season opening race ( Florida Dodge Dealers 250 ), where he drove for Hendrick Motorsports and finished twelfth, and the season finale, the Ford 200 , which he won.
The Hendrick Motorsports Truck Series team was closed shortly afterwards, but Hornaday had another chance to drive Hendrick Motorsports when the injured Ricky Hendrick had to be represented in the Busch Series. He showed acceptable performance and was used shortly after the end of his service assignments at Hendrick Motorsports as a full-time driver at Carroll Racing , where he replaced Lyndon Amick . He once brought the Carroll Racing car to pole position. He was in the top 5 five times and in the top 10 eight times during the season. Although he did not drive all the races, Hornaday was able to finish the season in 18th place overall.
In the 2003 season, Hornaday signed a contract with Richard Childress Racing that gave him the opportunity to drive the number 2 ACDelco-Chevrolet. He stayed with Richard Childress Racing until the end of 2004, when he was replaced by Clint Bowyer . He won once in the two years he drove for Richard Childress in the Busch Series. In 2003 he was third and in 2004 fourth overall.
Since 2005
His former teammate Kevin Harvick gave Hornaday the chance to drive in his Craftsman Truck Series team. Hornaday won already in the third race, the World Financial Group 200 . 13 top 10 placements led to fourth place in the overall ranking. He won the Most Popular Driver Award . In the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season , he won twice, but only made it into the top 10 twelve times and was seventh in the overall driver standings.
In the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season , he found his old continuity and once again it became a battle for the championship with Mike Skinner. By the middle of the season, Hornaday was getting closer and closer to Skinner. At the end of the season, Skinner and Hornaday junior had more bad luck, so the points lead changed frequently. Before the last race of the season, the Ford 200 , Skinner was 29 points ahead of Hornaday. In the race, Skinner struggled with tire problems. As a result, he crossed the finish line eleven laps behind in 35th place and in the last race of the season lost the championship lead to Ron Hornaday, who was Craftsman Truck Series champion for the third time.
Hornaday won the title for the fourth time in 2009, making him the most successful driver in the truck series. He also became the oldest NASCAR champion at the age of 51 and broke Ted Musgrave's record (also in the truck series). For a long time he also held the record of most Truck Series wins, but has since been overtaken by Kyle Busch , who never won the title.
Hornaday won his last victory in 2011 at the age of 53, making him the second oldest Truck Series winner or NASCAR race winner in general after Joe Ruttman .
Web links
- Driver statistics on racing-reference.info
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Hornaday, Ron junior |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American NASCAR driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 20, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Palmdale , California |