Ron Hornaday

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**Ronald Hornaday II**

Born:	June 20, 1958 (age 48)
Birthplace:	Palmdale, California
Awards:	1992 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Champion 1992 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Most Popular Driver 1993 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Champion 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Most Popular Driver 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics
45 races run over 10 years.
First Race:	1992 Save Mart 300K (Sonoma)
Last Race:	2003 Ford 400 (Homestead)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	1	0
NASCAR Busch Series Statistics
2006 NBS Position:	35th
Best NBS Position:	3rd - 2003
First Race:	1998 First Union 200 (Nazareth)
First Win:	2000 Econo Lodge 200 (Nazareth)
Last Win:	2004 Alan Kulwicki 250 (Milwaukee)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
4	64	1
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics
Car #, Team	#33 - Kevin Harvick Incorporated
2006 NCTS Position:	7th
Best NCTS Position:	1st - 1996, 1998 - (Craftsman Truck Series)
First Race:	1995 Copper World Classic (Phoenix)
First Win:	1995 Racing Champions 200 (Tucson)
Last Win:	2006 Built Ford Tough 225 (Kentucky)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
29	118	14
All stats current as of December 3, 2006.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. (born in Palmdale, California on June 20, 1958) is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver. He is the father of former NASCAR driver Ronnie Hornaday, and the son of Ron Hornaday, Sr., a two time Winston West Champion.

He was a long-time driver in NASCAR's Winston West Series and Featherlite Southwest Series Champion. He was noticed by Dale Earnhardt while participating in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series on ESPN2.

1 Beginnings
2 1995-1999
3 2000-2004
4 2005-Present
5 External links

[edit] Beginnings

Hornaday began racing in go-karts and motorcycles early in his career. Eventually, he moved up to race stock cars at Saugus Speedway. In 1992, he won his first championship in the Southwest Series as well as winning the Most Popular Driver award. He won the Southwest championship the next year as well, becoming the only driver to do so in series history. The next year, he was named the Most Popular driver in the Winston West Series.

He made his Winston Cup debut in 1992 at the Save Mart 300K, where he started seventeenth but finished 32nd in Bob Fisher's #92 Chevrolet. He made another start later that year at Phoenix International Raceway, where he finished 25th. He ran at Phoenix the next year as well, finishing 22nd in the #76 Spears Motorsports car.

[edit] 1995-1999

Hornaday signed to drive the #16 RCCA Products/Papa John's Pizza Chevrolet Silverado owned by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for the then-start-up Craftsman Truck Series. In the first season of competition, Hornaday won six races and four poles on his way to a third-place points finish. The next year, with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts, Hornaday won four races and the series championship.

In 1997, despite seven wins, two of them came by leading every lap in the race, he finished fifth in points. He was able to re-claim his title in 1998 by garnering six wins. That season, he also made his Busch Series debut, driving four races for ST Motorsports, his best finish an eighth at Pikes Peak International Raceway. He also debuted a Winston Cup car for Tim Beverly at Sonoma, finishing fourteenth in the #17 NAPA Chevy.

In 1999, he was unable to win the championship, and announced he would drive the #3 NAPA Chevy for DEI's Busch program the following year.

[edit] 2000-2004

Hornaday began racing full-time in the Busch Series in 2000. He picked up wins at Nazareth Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park and finished fifth in points, runner-up to Kevin Harvick for Rookie of the Year honors. He was also voted Most Popular Driver. Unfortunately, Earnhardt elected to move Hornaday's team up to the Cup series in 2001, leaving Hornaday without a job.

Hornaday signed with A.J. Foyt Racing in the Cup series, driving the #14 Conseco Pontiac Grand Prix. Despite posting a ninth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hornaday struggled throughout the year and finished 36th in points, causing him to lose his job at the end of the year. Hornaday later criticized Foyt for dismissing him so late in the season. During the 2001 season, Hornaday returned to the Busch Series on a part-time basis, running the #11 for High Line Performance Group before finishing out the year with The Curb Agajanian Performance Group, posting three top-tens.

In 2002, he drove for Hendrick Motorsports' truck team at the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250, where he finished 12th. After Hendrick closed the doors to its truck team, Hornaday moved to their Busch program, filling in for an injured Ricky Hendrick in the #5 GMAC Chevy, his best finish 15th at Darlington Raceway. A few races later, he replaced Lyndon Amick in the #26 Dr Pepper car for Carroll Racing. He had eight top-tens and a pole, finishing eighteenth in points despite only running 30 races. He also capped the season off with a win in the truck series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving for Xpress Motorsports.

Ron Hornaday using his patented inside spin passing maneuver at a Busch Series race at Darlington in 2004.

In 2003, Hornaday signed to drive the #2 ACDelco Chevy for Richard Childress Racing. He won at Nazareth and posted seventeen top-tens, finishing third in points. He followed that up with a win at The Milwaukee Mile and a fourth-place points finish the following season.

[edit] 2005-Present

At the end of 2004, Hornaday was released in favor of Clint Bowyer, and he returned to the Truck Series to drive the #6 GM Goodwrench Chevy for Kevin Harvick. Hornaday soon picked up a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 2006, the team lost it's Goodwrench sponsorship and switched to the #33. Running unsponsored for most of the year, Hornaday has picked up two victories this year at Mansfieldand Kentucky He also has two top-tens in five Busch Series starts this year.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Mike Skinner	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion 1996	Succeeded by Jack Sprague
Preceded by Jack Sprague	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion 1998	Succeeded by Jack Sprague