Q. Kind of in that same vein, do you view this as a challenge, the change in crew chiefs, and since Rick did go over to Kyle Busch, would beating Kyle be any sweeter since he’s got the guy who left you running his organization?
RON HORNADAY, JR.: No, beating Kyle by himself is a task. He’s a hard racer every lap, and I don’t think—whatever they bring, Rick is just going to bring organization. That’s what he’s going to bring to the table. He’s very sharp. He puts some good people together. We’ve kept 90 percent of our people together, and we’re pretty happy with that.
I can go back to the day of Dale Earnhardt when he won the championship with three different crew chiefs in the same year. It’s just how people put together and it’s just Kevin and Delana put people in the right places. Rick Ren would even sit here and say the same thing. I’m sure they’re not going to miss a beat and I know we’re not going to miss a beat. This is just making us stronger and it’s going to make us try that much harder. And without stirring anything up, Rick Ren left on good terms in my eyes. And nobody understands how far Rick Ren had to drive. He was at Bill Davis’ and he was at KHI for the last six years, and to drive an hour and 15, hour and 20 minutes each way for that many years, you know, he is getting older in his age, and he said he fell asleep a couple times at the wheel, and he thought twice about what he was going to do in his life, and he got a good opportunity to go to Busch’s and more power to him, and all the success he can have, but hopefully I can try to stop that.
Q. You’ve obviously had a great career. What would it mean for you to win here at Daytona, and also, have you had a chance to talk to Jack, and have you got a dig in on him yet after passing him for the championship?
RON HORNADAY, JR.: Well, if you guys listen, I called him out. I said, all right, Jack, I’ve got four, you can come back and try to get four. I keep digging at Jack all I can. He definitely needs to be in a truck. He’s a great competitor. I think when I passed him on the winds, he got kind of upset. So when I got him on championships, he’s going to have to come back. To win four, you guys are making it really huge. I’m just out there doing my job, and to look back what you guys talk about and what you guys write, that’s pretty cool. I didn’t know he was in the era with Richard Petty or Bobby Allison and stuff like that. That says a lot.
I don’t look at it that way. I just go out there and hopefully I can win five, hopefully I can win six. I’m not done. As long as Kevin and Delana keeps having me and they keep building trucks, we’re going to keep racing.
Q. How about winning here at Daytona?
RON HORNADAY, JR.: This is big. My dream was to come to Daytona to win a race at Daytona. I don’t care if it’s on a bicycle. I’m going to still try to win a race here. I learned a bunch, Dave Fuge brought a bunch of stuff with Ernie Cope and all that stuff.
Our best truck we’ve had for a super speedway is a backup after we found the wind tunnel loads, after we went down the straight line and did some straight line testing, and we’re going off that. We’ve got a couple trucks that we wind tunnelled and learned a bunch. So I’m looking forward to it.
Bodine might be pushing me around here at Daytona this year.
Q. As far as champions go, it’s always said that they dig deal deeper. Do you feel you have a deeper reservoir of talent and energy, or is it more like hard work and some good luck on your part and the team’s part, also?
RON HORNADAY, JR.: I’d rather be lucky than good any day. But I’ve got to still be good, because these young kids want my job really bad. A lot of people are coming up to Kevin and saying, hey, I’m better than that old guy, let me have a shot. I’ve got to keep winning races, keep doing what I do, and Kevin and Delana believe in me 120 percent. He’s got my favorite truck he’s stole again, so that’s two trucks he stole from me. He’s putting in his barn.
To this day I makes me feel good to go over to DEI and see the first championship truck I drove in ‘96 for Dale and Teresa. Now some day I get to go to Kevin and Delana when they ever build a museum and see one of the first trucks that I ever won a championship for them.
Heck, when I retire, I want to sit on that front doorstep and show my grandkids everything I’ve won. I’m not done winning races. I want to win a lot more, and it just makes me drive that much harder. We won six races last year, I’ve got to win eight this year and maybe ten, and we’re going to do whatever we can to win another championship.
Q. Do you think Kyle Busch will be looked on differently by the drivers in the Truck Series now that he’s putting money in it and being an owner than they have say in the last few seasons?
RON HORNADAY, JR.: I don’t know how to answer that. He’s still Kyle Busch. I really admire how he came about starting his team, how he went to Kevin, Kevin started his team, and what Kevin wasted money on and what he shouldn’t have wasted money on, how he built things. I think he probably saved a bunch of money going in there and building a shop, and that’s why it’s taken a little longer, because he’s adding things or not adding things, and he changed his mind in the middle of the deal. He’s one of the kids you can say that you know a good rookie when you see him on a racetrack, and Kyle is going to be a good rookie owner because he’s already asked questions. He didn’t learn by mistakes. He came up to Kevin.
We knew what was going on before Rick Ren did because Kyle asked if he could take Rick from him and stuff like that. I hope there isn’t any hard feelings of Rick leaving and vice versa, and I don’t think we’re going to miss a beat. Hopefully we need another successful team. We’re losing one of the best teams out there, Jack Roush, and I think Kyle is going to step right in their place and put some great trucks out there and have more competitive racing.
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