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NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
TRUCKS: Victory Eludes Hornaday Jr. At Martinsville
Ron Hornaday Jr. has never won at Martinsville Speedway...
SPEED Staff  |  Posted October 22, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Ron Hornaday Jr. is the leader in the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Trucks points standings as the series heads to the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Ron Hornaday Jr. has been the driver to beat this season. He has six wins so far and if trouble doesn’t strike his team, Hornaday could very well be on his way to claiming a record fourth series championship.

But he’s taking it one race at a time. If you ask him right now what he really wants, his answer would be a win at Martinsville Speedway.

In 14 starts at the historic short track which has hosted the series in all 15 seasons since 1995, Hornaday has never made it to Victory Lane. The current points leader has five top-five and three top-10 finishes. He had to settle for second in March in the Kroger 250, his best finish out of the 14 starts. The race winner, by the way, was his boss, Kevin Harvick.

“I’ve been coming here for a while now and for some reason, we just can’t seem to break through,” said Hornaday. “It would mean a lot to win at Martinsville. It’s one of those tracks we’ve been coming to since the truck series started in 1995, and to finally add my name to the list of legends who have won there would mean a lot to me.”

A repeat of this race a year ago is something the driver and his crew chief, Rick Ren, are definitely looking to avoid. After starting from the pole, Hornaday led 154 laps before he ran out of fuel. It was a tough break for the driver and his team who were left with a 29th-place finish.

Hornaday’s misfortune also played a factor in the championship battle. He entered the race 39 points ahead of Johnny Benson. On Lap 155, Benson passed Hornaday’s sputtering Chevy and went on to win the race. That win also gave the eventual champion the points lead.
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