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Camping World Trucks
TRUCKS: Hornaday, Schrader Tackle High Banks
Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ken Schrader are the oldest teammates in NASCAR...
Ron Hornaday wins the pole at Talladega fresh off a win at Martinsville. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
In a sport that seems to worship youth, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ken Schrader skew the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series demographic just a little to the senior side.
OK, maybe a lot.
Hornaday, 52, and the 55-year-old Schrader, teammates at the Kevin Harvick Inc. NCWTS operation, are far and away the oldest two drivers on the same NASCAR team. But far from that being a disadvantage, the two elder statesman are hoping experience pays off for them at Talladega Superspeedway.
On Saturday, the dynamic duo will race their KHI Chevrolet Silverados in the Mountain Dew 250 at the 2.66-mile Alabama Superspeedway. Hornaday will pilot the No. 33 E-Z-GO Chevy, while Schrader will be behind the wheel of the No. 2 KHI entry, with Moore’s Marinade on board as the sponsor.
Both drivers come into Talladega on a hot streak: Hornaday won his first Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway last Saturday, while earlier this month, Schrader won what is being called the closest finish ever at Eldora Speedway, where he captured a dirt late-model race victory.
Hornaday will be looking for his first Truck Series victory at Talladega, although he was runner-up here to Todd Bodine in 2008. Along with Pocono Raceway and Iowa Speedway, Talladega is one of only three tracks where the four-time Truck Series champ has not led a single lap.
Schrader, meanwhile, won the first Sprint Cup race of his career at Talladega way back in 1988, before fellow Truck Series racers James Buescher, Austin Dillon and Johanna Long were even born.
Hornaday said he’s optimistic about the team’s prospects in Saturday’s race.
“I think judging from how well we ran this year in Daytona, we have come a long way,” said Hornaday, who comes into Saturday’s race sixth in points, 494 behind leader Bodine. “I know that everyone is constantly testing and trying to make their superspeedway trucks the best they can be. Since we only race at those types of tracks twice a year, it is hard to justify pouring lots of money into just two trucks, but I think our fabrication department has done a good job keeping up with the trends when it comes to superspeedway racing.”
The cause for Hornaday’s optimism is rooted in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, which like Talladega is a superspeedway.
“I know the best truck I ever had at Daytona was the one I ran earlier this season,” said Hornaday. “If we had been able to avoid that wreck we would have definitely been in contention for the win.”
Winning for the first time at Martinsville was a big deal for Hornaday; winning his first superspeedway race would be even bigger.
“I'm racing for trophies, and to have one from Talladega or Daytona would mean the world to me,” said Hornaday. “I've always wanted to get a win at Daytona because that place was really special to my dad and it would just be a great accomplishment for me. But I think if you want to put yourself in a class with the Pettys, Allisions and Earnhardts then you have to have been able to win at all types of race tracks, including the superspeedways.”
Schrader, too, knows the key to victory at Talladega, albeit one that’s easier said than done.
“I remember that in Daytona earlier this season everybody kept trying to bump draft everybody from the first lap and kept crashing,” Schrader said. “Hopefully everybody will remember what happened there. We can all crash at the end when it's time to. We don't need to be doing that stuff right off the bat.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
OK, maybe a lot.
Hornaday, 52, and the 55-year-old Schrader, teammates at the Kevin Harvick Inc. NCWTS operation, are far and away the oldest two drivers on the same NASCAR team. But far from that being a disadvantage, the two elder statesman are hoping experience pays off for them at Talladega Superspeedway.
On Saturday, the dynamic duo will race their KHI Chevrolet Silverados in the Mountain Dew 250 at the 2.66-mile Alabama Superspeedway. Hornaday will pilot the No. 33 E-Z-GO Chevy, while Schrader will be behind the wheel of the No. 2 KHI entry, with Moore’s Marinade on board as the sponsor.
Both drivers come into Talladega on a hot streak: Hornaday won his first Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway last Saturday, while earlier this month, Schrader won what is being called the closest finish ever at Eldora Speedway, where he captured a dirt late-model race victory.
Hornaday will be looking for his first Truck Series victory at Talladega, although he was runner-up here to Todd Bodine in 2008. Along with Pocono Raceway and Iowa Speedway, Talladega is one of only three tracks where the four-time Truck Series champ has not led a single lap.
Schrader, meanwhile, won the first Sprint Cup race of his career at Talladega way back in 1988, before fellow Truck Series racers James Buescher, Austin Dillon and Johanna Long were even born.
Hornaday said he’s optimistic about the team’s prospects in Saturday’s race.
“I think judging from how well we ran this year in Daytona, we have come a long way,” said Hornaday, who comes into Saturday’s race sixth in points, 494 behind leader Bodine. “I know that everyone is constantly testing and trying to make their superspeedway trucks the best they can be. Since we only race at those types of tracks twice a year, it is hard to justify pouring lots of money into just two trucks, but I think our fabrication department has done a good job keeping up with the trends when it comes to superspeedway racing.”
The cause for Hornaday’s optimism is rooted in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, which like Talladega is a superspeedway.
“I know the best truck I ever had at Daytona was the one I ran earlier this season,” said Hornaday. “If we had been able to avoid that wreck we would have definitely been in contention for the win.”
Winning for the first time at Martinsville was a big deal for Hornaday; winning his first superspeedway race would be even bigger.
“I'm racing for trophies, and to have one from Talladega or Daytona would mean the world to me,” said Hornaday. “I've always wanted to get a win at Daytona because that place was really special to my dad and it would just be a great accomplishment for me. But I think if you want to put yourself in a class with the Pettys, Allisions and Earnhardts then you have to have been able to win at all types of race tracks, including the superspeedways.”
Schrader, too, knows the key to victory at Talladega, albeit one that’s easier said than done.
“I remember that in Daytona earlier this season everybody kept trying to bump draft everybody from the first lap and kept crashing,” Schrader said. “Hopefully everybody will remember what happened there. We can all crash at the end when it's time to. We don't need to be doing that stuff right off the bat.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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