Back in the 1990s, road course racing was on the Camping World Truck Series schedule. Then it disappeared. Now it’s back with a trip to Canada this weekend for a race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
“The trucks haven’t seen it in a while, and it’s a lot of fun,” Hornaday said. “On the different venue tracks we went to before, now going up to Canada is going to really make it special because we know the fans up there just love racing. The trucks really put on a great show. When they run over the ripple strips, how heavy the trucks are, The tires come off the ground, just the sparks off the exhaust. It’s just exciting to go to a road course.”
He notes that it’ll be different than what it was like before due to the longer straightaways that CTMP is known for. He says that’s why the full day of testing on Friday will be key.
“When Nelson went up there and did a test, it’s just watching what NASCAR has put out to really learn the lay of the land, but to get up there on an open test day and get to learn the racetrack and where to shift, where not so shift, how far you can drive it in, stuff like that,” he commented. “So there’s a lot to learn at a new venue racetrack.”
Hornaday is one of two drivers in the field that ran on the road courses when they used to be on the schedule and he hopes that experience will be come into play.
“You keep saying that week in and week out when you get to the racetrack, and these kids are proving you wrong because the equipment they’re in,” Hornaday said. “They’re just talented drivers nowadays and they’re in great equipment. Hopefully it does. I’m going to try to put everything I’ve got that I know of and try to beat these kids out there.
“The Truck Series has definitely changed a lot. The days with the Jack Spragues and the Mike Skinners, now you’re racing against a lot of these guys as kids and people you looked up to racing. Yeah, it’s a little different racing style right now, a little give-and-take and a lot of respect and non-respect. It’s just a matter of going up there and learning the racetrack and seeing what we can pull out this weekend.”
In anticipation for the event, Hornaday spoke with one of the track owners and road course expert Ron Fellows and learned some things to set himself up for the weekend.
“It’s going to be one of them racetracks where it’s really not hard braking but there’s some technical parts in the back and the long straightaway,” he said. “So it’s all going to be how much do you cover the brakes up and how much do you leave open. If you cool the brakes down too much you get the chatter in the brakes and stuff like that.”
He also tried out the track through computer online simulation and noted that he will need at least three or four spotters and the first day will be used partly to set them in the right places.
