BACK-TO-BACK: Ron Hornaday is the only back-to-back Truck Series winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). Hornaday recorded two of his three wins at the 1.058-mile oval back-to-back, winning in 2008 and 2007. Not only is Hornaday the only back-to-back winner at NHMS, he is also the only Truck Series driver to win multiple Truck Series races at the track.
FROM THE POLE: Winning from the pole position is a difficult task. Hornaday has met the challenge 10 times in his 13-year Truck Series career. In 2007, Hornaday brought the No. 33 Chevrolet to victory lane from the pole position at NHMS, leading 174 of the 200-lap event.
LAP LEADER: Over the past five Truck Series events held at NHMS, Hornaday has led a total of 480 laps. Hornaday has led 48 percent of the laps at NHMS over the past five events.
IN THE LOOP: Not only is Hornaday the Truck Series lap leader at NHMS, he also holds the top spot in several of NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistical categories for the Truck Series over the last five Truck Series events at NHMS including:
-Driver Rating: Hornaday has an average driver rating of 133.4 out of a perfect 150.0 score at NHMS. Driver rating takes into account wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap. Hornaday holds the top spot over KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick who has an average driver rating of 123.4
-Fastest Driver Early in a Run: This category ranks drivers based on their speed in the first 25percent of laps run since a pit stop. Hornaday leads Johnny Sauter by over one-tenth of a second in the first laps since a pit stop has been completed at NHMS.
-Fastest Laps Run: Hornaday has recorded 136 of the fastest laps run at NHMS. That is 56 more than his closest competitor in this category, Kyle Busch.
NOT THE ONLY WINNER: Hornaday is not the only KHI driver to win a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) co-owner Kevin Harvick has gone to victory lane in both the Cup and Nationwide Series at NHMS. Harvick scored his first NHMS win in the Cup Series in 2006 and a year later, he arrived back in victory lane in the Nationwide Series. Harvick will attempt to complete the trifecta this weekend as he climbs behind the wheel of the No. 2 JEGS.com Chevrolet looking to score his first Truck Series victory at the 1.058-mile oval.
INAUGURAL WINNER: Hornaday, who lead the series in wins, with 46, has won 10 inaugural races during his storied 13-year career in the Truck Series. The four-time Truck Series champion beat rival Jack Sprague on September 8, 1996 by 0.322 seconds to score his first win event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Truck Series inaugural event at the track.
Notes from the Professor: Quotes from Ron Hornaday:
YOU ARE THE ONLY TRUCK SERIES DRIVER TO WIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MULTIPY TIMES. WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO WINNING AT THE ONE-MILE OVAL?
“New Hampshire is a flat oval that requires a lot of braking and doing it in the right spots. I grew up racing on tracks formatted exactly like New Hampshire so I love racing there. To win the race all the pit stops are going to have to fall just right and you are going to have to be able to roll the center of the corner with your truck. Kevin (Harvick) and Kyle (Busch) will be racing with us this weekend, so we are all going to have to be on our game. Both of those guys have tons of laps around New Hampshire and they know what it takes to win. I am confident the No. 33 team will be right there with them in the closing laps. I’m ready to get back to short-track racing.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Shopezgo.com team will take chassis No. 043 to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Chassis No. 043 last hit the track at O’Reilly (Ind.) Raceway Park (ORP) where Hornaday and the No. 33 team scored their first and only victory thus far in 2010. Prior to ORP, KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick drover chassis No. 043 to victory lane at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. This truck also competed at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway with Hornaday behind the wheel in the spring, earning a third-place finish. The average finish for chassis No. 043 in 2010 is 1.7.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Two weeks ago at Kentucky Speedway, Hornaday led 23 laps early in the event, but a flat-right front tire with five laps remaining in the 150-lap event relegated Hornaday to a 29th-place finish.
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 E-Z-GO
E-Z-GO, a Textron Inc. company, is a leading manufacturer of golf cars, utility and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, ST personal utility vehicles, Shuttle personnel carriers, and MPT turf-maintenance vehicles. E-Z-GO also produces the Cushman® line of heavy-duty material carriers.
E-Z-GO is the preferred golf car fleet provider for many of the world’s most revered golf courses, clubs and resorts. E-Z-GO is also the golf car of choice of nine of the nation’s ten largest course-management companies. E-Z-GO boasts the largest sales and service network in the industry, with more factory branch locations and independent distributors than any other manufacturer of golf cars and utility vehicles.
Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960.
About Textron
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron in known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, and Textron Systems. More information is available at www.textron.com.
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.
