RON HORNADAY
No. 33 Cooked Perfect Meatballs Chevrolet Silverado
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race 4 of 25 – Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
BACK FOR REDEMTION:The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the 0.526-mile oval this weekend where the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) stable was able to sweep both races during the 2010 season. It was KHI’s most recent trip to Martinsville last fall when four-time champion Ron Hornaday was able to capture his first victory at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, which had eluded him for 16 previous starts. KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick will head into the weekend as the defending race winner, visiting victory lane after leading 187 of 250 laps. Ron Hornaday finished second and brought home a one-two finish for KHI in that spring event.
JUST PERFECT: The No. 33 has paired up with Home Market Foods and their leading brand of frozen meatballs, Cooked Perfect Meatballs, for the Saturday afternoon event. This will be Cooked Perfect Meatballs’ first venture into NASCAR as they look to put their black, red, and gold No. 33 Cooked Perfect Meatballs Chevrolet Silverado into victory lane with the four-time Truck Series champion behind the wheel. Cooked Perfect Meatballs will be back as primary sponsor of the No. 33 team at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 team will utilize chassis No. 043 this weekend at Martinsville.Chassis No. 043 is no stranger to victory lane at Martinsville Speedway, as it was driven to the win by boss Kevin Harvick last spring. Ron Hornaday also took this chassis to victory lane at Lucas Oil Raceway in July during the summer stretch of races.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: The No. 33 KHI Chevrolet Silverado team tried hard to tame the ‘Lady in Black’ at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the Too Tough To Tame 200. Hornaday brought home a solid runner-up finish which moved him up four positions in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Driver Point standings. Hornaday currently sits sixth on the charts only 16 points out of the lead.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Ron Hornaday
What are your expectations going into Martinsville?
“Now with a win under my belt at Martinsville, I have a lot of confidence coming into this weekend. We have the defending race-winning chassis, and with the way my No. 33 crew has been performing on pit road and Jeff Hensley on the box, we are definitely the ones to beat.
“Martinsville is a track where anything can happen. It’s not so much how well you race but how well you can escape. There is a lot of beating and banging amongst the trucks at Martinsville. If you are able to keep your truck out in front and away from the wreckage, you have a good chance at a solid finish.
“We have got a really nice looking truck this weekend with Cooked Perfect Meatballs on board with us. It’s exciting to have a new partner at the race track and new to the industry. We hope we put on a great show for them and bring home a win for Cooked Perfect Meatballs and KHI.”
THOUGHTS FROM ATOP THE PIT BOX: Jeff Hensley
With Martinsville as your home track, what does it mean to come and race here?
“Martinsville is special. Just driving 10 minutes to the house and getting to sleep in my own bed at the end of a busy day at the track is really nice. Walking into the track this week I definitely feel an extra bit of confidence being here with KHI and Ron Hornaday.
“As a crew chief, you really have to work strategy here. To win at this race track is extra special because it is a hard place to win. You pretty much have to have everything go your way because there are so many factors that can put you first or put you last.
“I have four wins here as a crew chief and almost 60 NASCAR races combined as driver and crew chief at Martinsville. Those four wins were very special but there are probably five additional races I should’ve won. We are extremely excited to see how things turn out this weekend for the No. 33 team.”
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 Katey Hawbaker at KHI: khawbaker@kevinharvickinc.com.
