In 2006, Ron Hornaday Jr. ’s (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) victory in the Built Ford Tough 200 ignited a mid-summer hot streak of top-five finishes at Kentucky Speedway, Memphis Motorsports Park and O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
The two-time champion cooled off a bit in the fall but Hornaday has been a title contender since this year’s drop of the green flag at Daytona in February.
Second in the standings going into the season’s mid-point, Hornaday would like nothing better than to defend his victory and become Kentucky Speedway’s first series two-time winner.
“The win at Kentucky was very special, ” said Hornaday, who looks for series win number 32 on Saturday.
“It really signified a turnaround in our program. To beat my competitors in that race was huge.
“It helped change our outlook and our program. ”
There’s no arguing the turnaround.
In 2006, Hornaday was unable to string together more than a trio of top-10 finishes. This season, the 49-year-old California native has been outside the top 10 just once – 11th in Atlanta – and has completed all 2,005 laps run through the first 12 races.
Hornaday says a couple of changes at Kevin Harvick Inc. have led to the team’s success.
“Everyone has put so much effort into the 1.5-mile program, ” he said. “Kentucky was when we figured out the coil-binding set-up and built some trucks that I was really comfortable in. ”
Harvick also signed veteran crew chief Rick Ren, a 13-time winner with four different teams.
“When Rick arrived, he took a good team and made it better, ” said Hornaday, whose 2006 victories have come at Lowe’s and Dover. “He has such an attention to detail and is so focused and driven. ”
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