By: Sheena Baker
National Speed Sport News
Being the all-time leader in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories is quite the accomplishment, as is having captured four titles in the series’ 16-year history.
But to Ron Hornaday, Jr., achieving those records is just part of his job behind the wheel of the Kevin Harvick, Inc. No. 33 Chevrolet.
Now in his sixth season with KHI, the opportunity to drive for Kevin and DeLana Harvick was just another in a string of doors opening at the right time for the second-generation racer from Palmdale, Calif., who cut his teeth racing motorcycles and go-karts before advancing to stock cars in his teens under the tutelage of his father, Ron, Sr., an accomplished West Coast competitor in his own right.
After a brief stint in NASCAR’s Winston West Series that saw him claim 17 wins and a Most Popular Driver honor, Hornaday turned to the NASCAR Southwest Tour where he collected another Most Popular Driver award and back-to-back championships in 1992-93.
Hornaday’s big break — the initial door to swing open for the then-36 year old — came during the 1994 Winter Heat Series at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway when his on-track performance caught the eye of Dale Earnhardt, who was putting together a team to compete in the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series campaign in 1995.
“That’s tough,” Hornaday says, reflecting on what it meant to have the late seven-time Cup champion take notice of him. “It says a lot for my family, for what they put up with through the years. They’ve always had shoes on their feet, but not the best shoes. They gave up a lot to fulfill my career and my dream.
“When that phone call came from Dale” — a call initially believed to be a prank— “that was just a dream come true.”
Hornaday spent the next six seasons with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., winning titles in 1996 and 1998 before moving up to the Busch Series in 2000. But when Earnhardt expanded his team to a three-car Cup effort for 2001 and eliminated the Busch operation, Hornaday was left without a ride.
Luckily, though, another opportunity came along, this time in the form of A.J. Foyt’s Cup program. But after the team’s ill-fated attempt at NASCAR’s top series, Hornaday was unemployed.
Just as it did before, though, another door opened for 2002 — albeit temporarily — when Rick Hendrick chose Hornaday to substitute for his injured son, Ricky, in six Busch Series races.
From there, he teamed up with car owner Dave Carroll to complete the season. On the strength of his performance — five top fives and eight top 10s — Hornaday drew the attention of another big-time NASCAR name, Richard Childress, who signed Hornaday for the 2003 campaign. In the next two years, Hornaday won twice and finished third and fourth, respectively, in the standings, but after 2004 Hornaday and Childress parted ways, opening the door for Kevin Harvick to offer his fellow Californian a seat in his start-up Truck Series program for 2005.
The relationship between Harvick and Hornaday dates back to their days at Mesa Marin Raceway in Harvick’s native Bakersfield and continued nearly in step through the Southwest tour, and then the Truck and Busch series. In the early days of Harvick’s NASCAR career before he had established himself and before Hornaday helped the younger driver land a ride with Richard Childress Racing, Harvick lived with the Hornadays in their North Carolina home.
So when Harvick needed a driver and Hornaday needed a job, their friendship blossomed into a working relationship that has paid off in dividends with 19 victories, and the 2007 and 2009 Camping World Truck Series titles in their first five seasons together.
“All of this is just a payback for helping Kevin out where he was going, him letting me drive his truck,” Hornaday says, adding he had no qualms about the caliber of organization the Harvicks would establish when he joined the fledgling program in its infancy. “He’s definitely giving me great equipment with what I’ve got now. We’re winning races and winning championships, so we just got to keep doing that so I can keep my job.”
These days, at 52, Hornaday is a threat on the track every week, a fact he attributes to KHI’s quality equipment and crew.
And while his record 45 series triumphs and four series championships are certainly impressive, it’s Hornaday’s record streak of five-consecutive victories last summer — a feat never before accomplished in the NCWTS and one that hadn’t been done in 38 seasons in all of NASCAR — that stands out as his biggest accomplishment.
“It says a lot for the team and for giving me the equipment I needed to win and beat those guys,” says Hornaday, who joined Richard Petty and Bobby Allison as the only drivers to achieve five-straight wins. “Any division where you can win five in a row — I don’t care if it’s late-model races or what — it’s a pretty big accomplishment.”
But Hornaday is quick to point out that he wants more — more wins, more championships — even at an age when other drivers’ careers are winding down. And when the time does come to hang up his helmet and sit “on the porch with the grandkids,” the decision will rest with his wife, Lindy.
“When I go out there and start riding for a paycheck and not trying to win and not putting ourselves in a position to win, it’s time to quit. I don’t want to go out there to just ride around to get a paycheck,” Hornaday explains. “I’m gonna go out there and try to win every race, and when it’s time that I’m not having fun and I’m not winning races, it’s time to quit.”
With that elusive first win of 2010 still taunting him as he heads into Friday’s race at O’Reilly Raceway Park near Indianapolis, and with the temptation of more triumphs and titles on the horizon, Hornaday isn’t ready to climb out of the seat or get off the throttle any time soon.