November 16, 2009
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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Without a doubt, Ron Hornaday Jr., long ago cemented his status as a top notch driver. This weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, he clinched his fourth Championship a race before the season finale, a feat that's only been accomplished once before. By doing so, he became the oldest champion in NASCAR history.
Hornaday has made brief forays into Nationwide and Cup, but always appeared better suited to racing the trucks and has since found a home in the Truck Series. He won his previous three Truck championships in 1996, 1998 and 2007.
Not only has he dominated for much of this season, he has conquered just about everything there is to achieve in the Truck series over his career. He has won more races than any other driver and holds just about every record in the series.
"I think if you look at just the Truck Series alone, he'll go down in history as probably the best, the greatest ever," Jimmie Johnson said in a Joe Menzer article for nascar.com. "When you look at what he has done in the sport in general, from Winston West racing and the late models on the West Coast all the way through Truck, Cup and Nationwide, he has done it all and was very competitive in all of those series."
The race Friday night at Phoenix couldn't have had any better result for Hornaday, who finished fourth and clinched the driver's Championship for his team owner, Kevin Harvick, who won the race, although the night started off badly for both of them.
Harvick spun on lap 6 but was able to stay on the lead lap, and Hornaday was penalized on lap 35 for improper fueling because the catch can was not in position when fueling began. After the race, the pair celebrated on track by performing simultaneous burnouts across the finish line.
"To see Hornaday lock up the championship and to win the race, I don't know if you can script it much better," Kevin Harvick was quoted as saying in a Sporting News Wire Service report on nascar.com.
While Hornaday has clinched the driver's Championship, the Truck Series owner's Championship has not been decided yet and will likely go down until the final laps next week at Homestead. Kevin Harvick Inc. holds a 60 point advantage in owner points over the Billy Ballew Motorsports entry, which is driven by Kyle Busch.
Instead of starting the celebration early, Hornaday remains focused on the task ahead.
"We're not done yet," Hornaday said. "We've got to get that owners' championship for Kevin and DeLana. We're racing Kyle Busch for owners' points and that's truly the goal."
Some detractors may say that the competition level is not as high in the Truck Series as it is in Cup, but those people have obviously never watched a Truck race. The on the track racing in the Truck series is as good as, if not better than the racing in Cup, especially since the advent of the COT. And nothing should take away from what Hornaday has accomplished. By winning his fourth Championship in one of NASCAR's national touring series, Hornaday has written his legacy as the greatest driver in the history of the Truck Series and one of the best in NASCAR.
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