Ron Hornaday Jr. Scores 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Victory

Ron Hornaday Jr. holds off Austin Dillon by .438 seconds for his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday in Sparta, Ky. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images for NASCAR)by NASCAR Media PR
Ron Hornaday Jr., the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series only four-time champion, posted his record-extending 50th victory in the Kentucky 225 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.

Hornaday, from Palmdale, Calif., is the only active, full-time competitor whose career dates to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ inaugural event at Phoenix International Raceway on Feb. 5, 1995. He won the Keystone Light Pole for that race and collected his first victory two months later at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.

The 53-year-old Hornaday has won races on 30 different tracks. He is the series’ all-time short track winner with 22 victories and also won three times on road courses. Eleven of his 50 victories came from a pole position start.

Beginning in 1995, when Hornaday drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc., he has won at least once in each of 12 seasons in which he was a full-time competitor and 13 years overall. His most prolific season was 1997 when he won seven times. He has won six or more times in five different seasons. Saturday’s victory was his third of the 2011 season.

Hornaday won championships with DEI in 1996 and 1998 and with Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2007 and 2009. He has ranked among the top five in the points standings eight times.

“Ron has been the heart and soul of the Truck series,” said Kevin Harvick, the owner for 24 of Hornaday’s victories. “Fifty wins is just one more incredible achievement in a career that I’m sure will one day land him in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”

Hornaday holds series records for most top-five (143) and top-10 (205) finishes. He recently passed Joe Ruttman to claim the most victories – 14, now 15 – by a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver age 50 years or older. Hornaday stands third all-time among series pole winners with 26.

He was voted the series’ Most Popular Driver in 1997 and 2005.

Below is a timeline of Hornaday’s notable victories on his way to 50:

1 – On April 8, 1995, at Tucson Raceway Park, Hornaday wins his first race, the second for the series. It is the first NASCAR national series victory for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

9 – On Aug. 25, 1996, at Watkins Glen International, Hornaday completes a sweep of all three road courses scheduled to date. He previously won at Heartland Park Topeka and Infineon Raceway.

10 – On Sept. 8, 1996, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Hornaday goes from sixth to first on the final lap, the only lap he led.

12 – On June 21, 1997, at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hornaday becomes the final driver to lead every lap – 200 – of a NASCAR Camping World Truck race.

25 – On April 3, 1999, at Evergreen Speedway, Hornaday wins the series’ 100th race and a $100,000 bonus posted by then series sponsor Craftsman for an eligible winner having competed in all 99 previous events. The victory is his last in the series for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

27 – On March 18, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hornaday edges Bobby Labonte by 0.008 seconds in the series’ then-closest finish on a superspeedway.

35 – On June 6, 2008, at Texas Motor Speedway, Hornaday breaks a 10-race winless drought at the 1.5-mile superspeedway. He returns in November to complete a season sweep at the Ft. Worth track.

36 – On June 28, 2008 at Memphis Motorsports Park, Hornaday scores the first of 14 victories at the age of 50 years or older.

45 – On Aug. 1, 2009, at Nashville Superspeedway, Hornaday completes a string of five consecutive victories that began at The Milwaukee Mile and continued at Memphis Motorsports Park, Kentucky Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway. He is the first national series driver to post such a streak since 1971.

47 – On Oct. 23, 2010, Hornaday, the series’ leading short track winner, is finally a winner in his 17th trip to Martinsville Speedway.

49 – On Sept. 2, 2011, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, wins for the 14th time past the age of 50 breaking a record he’d shared with Joe Ruttman for the most wins past 50 in a single national series.

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Number 20
Unofficial Race Results for the 12Th Annual Kentucky 225 - Saturday, October 1, 2011
Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, KY - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 150 Laps - 225 Miles - Purse: $577,556

Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 2 2 Ron Hornaday Jr. Hollywood Casino Chevrolet 150 48 5 140.0 $63,225 Running 4 42
2 1 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 150 43 1 132.7 $46,950 Running 3 32
3 8 31 James Buescher Exide Chevrolet 150 42 1 115.4 $36,925 Running 1 3
4 3 8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. # Autotrac/Qualcomm Chevrolet 150 41 1 120.7 $26,725 Running 3 40
5 4 18 Brian Ickler Toyota Toyota 150 40 1 107.7 $20,700 Running 1 11
6 16 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet 150 38 88.9 $15,625 Running
7 12 5 Todd Bodine Valvoline Toyota 149 38 1 77.9 $15,325 Running 1 1
8 10 60 Cole Whitt # Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet 149 37 1 99.0 $13,325 Running 1 1
9 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/Agrisure Chevrolet 149 35 84.7 $10,875 Running
10 14 81 David Starr Allegro Marinades Toyota 149 34 82.7 $13,050 Running
11 5 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet 149 33 94.7 $11,625 Running
12 35 32 Blake Feese AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 149 32 64.5 $12,450 Running
13 9 22 Joey Coulter # RCR Graphics Center Chevrolet 148 31 75.2 $11,350 Running
14 17 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet 148 31 1 87.7 $11,250 Running 1 5
15 24 33 Cale Gale Rheem Heating & Cooling Chevrolet 148 29 56.2 $12,275 Running
16 25 92 Clay Rogers QMI/Fleet HQ/BTS Tire & Wheel Chevrolet 148 28 59.1 $11,150 Running
17 13 17 Timothy Peters Big O Tires/Service Central Toyota 148 28 1 88.6 $10,850 Running 2 13
18 15 21 Ty Dillon Bad Boy Buggies/Realtree Chevrolet 147 26 84.2 $8,500 Running
19 18 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota 147 25 71.1 $10,650 Running
20 36 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb(i) hipchixfundraisers.com Dodge 145 PE 46.6 $9,050 Running 1 1
21 32 57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 143 23 39.2 $10,525 Running
22 23 66 Ross Chastain National Watermelon Promotion Board Chevrolet 142 22 49.9 $9,200 Running
23 6 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet 141 21 48.0 $9,150 Running
24 19 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet 131 20 68.5 $8,100 Oil Pump
25 21 7 Miguel Paludo # Stemco Duroline Toyota 109 19 54.7 $8,200 Running
26 29 93 BJ McLeod S&W Services Chevrolet 88 18 42.6 $8,000 Overheating
27 30 07 John King SS Greenlight Racing Toyota 72 18 1 40.6 $8,300 Accident 1 1
28 22 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 51 16 56.1 $7,850 Accident
29 7 29 Parker Kligerman # Penske Truck Rental Dodge 49 15 57.8 $7,750 Accident
30 34 68 Clay Greenfield Bosak Dodge 40 PE 34.8 $8,150 Accident
31 28 87 Chris Jones Copy Wizard Chevrolet 29 13 42.8 $7,550 Rear Gear
32 26 38 Mike Garvey S&W Services Chevrolet 21 PE 35.8 $7,450 Clutch
33 27 39 Ryan Sieg S&W Services Chevrolet 19 11 43.9 $7,350 Accident
34 11 51 Josh Richards Joy Mining Machinery Toyota 4 10 36.5 $7,250 Accident
35 31 74 Mike Harmon(i) Global Pigeon Supply Ford 4 PE 32.1 $7,150 Power
36 33 27 Brent Raymer S&W Services Chevrolet 2 PE 30.3 $7,055 Vibration

Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 22,000, Ron Hornaday Jr. won the Kentucky 225, his 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. To start the race, prior to the green flag the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #32 (transmission change), #88 (engine change)

Failed to Qualify: N/A

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 56 Mins, 20 Secs. Average Speed: 116.046 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.438 Seconds

Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps: Laps: 5-12 (#51 accident Turn 2 [29]); 22-25 (#39 accident Turn 3 [38]); 42-46 (#68 accident Turn 2 [10]); 51-58 (#7,9,29 accident Turn 4 [88]); 67-70 (#07 spin Turn 4 [88]); 80-83 (#66 spin frontstretch [57]); 87-89 (#62 spin Turn 2 [22]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 11 drivers: A. Dillon 1; B. Ickler 2-12; R. Hornaday Jr. 13-22; J. Jo Cobb(i) 23; N. Piquet, Jr. # 24-43; J. King 44; T. Peters 45-46; C. Whitt # 47; T. Peters 48-58; R. Hornaday Jr. 59-66; J. Sauter 67-71; N. Piquet, Jr. # 72-86; A. Dillon 87-89; J. Buescher 90-92; A. Dillon 93-120; R. Hornaday Jr. 121-133; N. Piquet, Jr. # 134-138; T. Bodine 139; R. Hornaday Jr. 140-150.