Kevin Harvick, Inc., (KHI) driver Ron Hornaday, Jr., scored his 50th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory, his third series win at Kentucky Speedway through eight starts and third this season in tonight’s “Kentucky 225.”
The 14-year NCWTS veteran and his No. 2 Hollywood Casino Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.438 of a second ahead of Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon and his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet in the fifth-closest series finish through 13 all-time events at the track.
Crew chief Bruce Cook successfully navigated Hornaday, Jr., through seven caution periods that covered 36 race laps and made a stellar race-winning call when he brought the No. 2 truck to pit road on Lap 134.
Hornaday, Jr., rejoined the 225-mile battle and assumed the race lead for a fourth and final time just six laps later when Dillon, the race pole sitter, dove his truck to the pit road.
Dillon exited the pits and mounted a furious charge toward the front, but the savvy Hornaday, Jr., expertly managed his truck’s fuel mileage through the closing 11 race laps and captured the checkered flag along with his 10th top-five and 14th top-10 finish through 20 races this season.
He ended the night with a race-best 42 laps led.
“They ask, ‘what’s your favorite track?’ I tell them the ones where I win. I’ve won three at Kentucky, so this is my most favorite right now. To see the fans come out, as cold as it is, to see what we accomplished tonight, that’s pretty awesome.
“Bruce made an awesome call. We came in, everyone else stayed out and we put four (tires) on and ran the leaders down. We were running second and he (Austin Dillon) had to pit to come in and get fuel. We got an extra 20 laps on him. That’s the call that won the race,” Hornaday, Jr., said.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 2 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 2 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 3 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 4 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 5 18 Brian Ickler Toyota 6 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 7 5 Todd Bodine Toyota 8 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 9 98 Dakoda Armstrong Chevrolet 10 81 David Starr Toyota 11 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 12 32 Blake Feese Chevrolet 13 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 14 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 15 33 Cale Gale Chevrolet 16 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 17 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 18 121 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 19 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 20 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Dodge 21 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 22 66 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 23 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 24 23 Jason White Chevrolet 25 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 26 93 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 27 7 John King Toyota 28 9 Max Papis Toyota 29 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 30 168 Clay Greenfield Dodge 31 87 Chris Jones Chevrolet 32 138 Mike Garvey Chevrolet 33 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 34 151 Josh Richards Toyota 35 174 Mike Harmon Ford 36 127 Brent Raymer Chevrolet
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