Take it from ‘The King;” winning five NASCAR races in a row is very, very special. Richard Petty has been there, done that — twice, in fact.
“It’s hard enough to run five races in a row without any trouble,” said Petty, whose 1971 streak of five consecutive victories was matched Aug. 1 by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Georgia Boot Chevrolet). Petty won a phenomenal 10 straight races five years earlier en route to his second of seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships.
Hornaday goes for a sixth straight win Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. A victory in the O’Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline would give the 51-year-old Californian second alone in national win streaks, moving ahead of Petty and 1983 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bobby Allison, who also won five straight in 1971.
Petty sees similarity between what Hornaday is accomplishing and Petty Enterprises in its prime. Hornaday is on top of his game but so is Kevin Harvick Inc.
“Right now, their equipment is one notch better than anybody else,” he said.
Tom Higgins, the retired motorsports columnist for the Charlotte Observer, calls Hornaday’s streak “almost an equal accomplishment to Richard’s five-race winning stretch. Petty competed against hard-driving rivals such as the Allison brothers, Bobby and Donnie, Buddy Baker and Chargin’ Charlie Glotzbach,” said Higgins. “Also in the fields were several colorful, fun-loving characters including James Hylton, Elmo Langley and Neil ‘Soapy’ Castles.
“Hornaday would have fit right in with this crowd.”
Hylton, still active as he turns 75 later this month, finished second to Petty at the Nashville Fairgrounds in win No. 4 of Petty’s 1971 streak. “He’s a manhandler; if the (truck’s) off, he makes the difference,” said Hylton of Hornaday. “He’s one tough racer.”
“I’ve had streaks and success before in my career but never anything like this,” said Hornaday, a two-time Bristol winner but not since 1998. “Kevin and DeLana give me the best equipment and have allowed (crew chief) Rick Ren to put together the best team. These guys have been together, for the most part, for two solid years and we have a good combination. We have been blessed with lots of success and I hope it continues.”
He added, “The competition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has gotten tougher. It gets harder and harder every year to go out and compete with these guys.”
Petty gets the last word on Hornaday’s streak. “You have to have everything working your way, have faith on your side and you’ve got to do everything perfect,” he said. “I don’t think (Ron) will know what it means until it’s over; four races, five or 10, whatever. You just go along and do it.”
The Streaks
(Date of races, location, margin of victory. Source: NASCAR, Racing-Reference.info.com)
Ron Hornaday Jr.
6/19/09 Milwaukee 1.309 s
6/26/09 Memphis .653 s
7/18/09 Kentucky .135 s
7/24/09 Indianapolis .202 s
8/1/09 Nashville .944 s
Bobby Allison
5/30/71 Lowe’s 33.9 s
6/6/71 Dover 1 lap
6/13/71 Michigan Caution
6/20/71 Riverside 59.3 s
6/23/71 Houston 2 laps
Richard Petty
7/14/71 Malta NY 2 laps
7/15/71 Islip NY 2 laps
7/18/71 Trenton NJ 23 s
7/24/71 Nashville 4 laps
8/1/71 Atlanta Caution
Crew Chief Richie Wauters Returns To No. 51 Team And Driver Kyle Busch
Richie Wauters returns to the crew chief position for the Billy Ballew Motorsports No. 51 Miccosukee Resort/Red Top Auto Auction Toyota to be driven this week by Kyle Busch. Doug George, who guided Busch to wins at Fontana and Atlanta earlier this year, will move to the No. 15 Gateway Pharmaceuticals Toyota of Aric Almirola. Wauters and Busch won the O’Reilly 200 in 2008 and have combined for nine of the team’s 12 series victories.
Waters discusses the change and other Bristol thoughts in the following Q&A.
What about this week’s changes at BBM?
“Aric (Almirola) and I have built a good chemistry and in one respect, it is difficult due to the friendship we built and it is tough to walk away knowing how close we are to getting to Victory Lane and all that we’ve worked to build up his solid finishes. On the other hand, it is always great working with Kyle. We have a lot of history and nine wins together. He has unlimited talent and if you give him something to drive, he’ll win the race with it and that is what we are hoping to do is go back and repeat the win.”
Billy Ballew Motorsports generally is thought of as a speedway team.
“I feel our short-track program is better this year. We’ve done more local track practice to help develop our short-track program. Our intermediate-track program has always been strong but I feel our short-track program this year is just as good, if not better.”
This week’s truck has been fast in the past.
“We are bringing chassis No. 28 which we ran second in New Hampshire with Kyle last year and we were caught speeding leaving the pits. In Phoenix ’08 we led 90% of the laps and pitted at the end and just came up one lap short of the win at the end. We qualified second with the truck at Martinsville this year where we were fastest in practice but we came short on fuel at the end. We took the truck to Memphis and was again super fast finishing fourth and ORP where Aric finished third so we’re pretty confident in the chassis and hopefully we’ll get it set to where Kyle likes it and we’ll repeat what we did in 2008.”
What’s different about racing on concrete?
“Concrete is a rougher surface and is not heat sensitive. It doesn’t change from day to night. The track gets black with the more rubber down on it, making the truck tighter.”
How will Goodyear’s tire change affect this week’s race?
“I don’t know if the softer right side tire should have an overall effect on the grip. It may play into a different pit strategy of pitting twice if the tires wear out. We might have to make two pit stops for tires instead of the usual one and done (one pit stop for the event).”
Etc.:
Eight of 11 Bristol races have been won by drivers starting third or better. The race has been won from the pole three times — most recently in 2006 by Mark Martin and in 1997-98 by Ron Hornaday Jr. Hornaday, who hasn’t started worse than fifth in 14 races this season, led all 200 laps in 1997.
Rookie drivers continue to look for their first victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Scott Speed had a shot a year ago, winning the pole and finishing third. Eventual Raybestos Rookie of the Year Colin Braun (No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford) finished 34th and said he’s learned a lesson or two about driving at the track. “I had a really rough night last year and (it taught me) the balance between patience and aggressiveness,” Braun said.
Last year’s race saw Bristol records set for most caution periods (12) and caution laps (69).
Mike Skinner (No. 5 EXIDE Toyota) broke a winless streak dating to the 1997 season when he broke through at Bristol in 2005. The past four races have seen Skinner lead the most laps — 226 — of any driver.
The O’Reilly 200 has drawn entries from Brad Keselowski (No. 29 Chevrolet), Max Papis (No. 9 GEICO Toyota) and Ken Schrader (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Toyota). Keselowski finished sixth at Phoenix last fall in his most recent series appearance. Papis was 10th in his Auto Club Speedway debut earlier this year. Schrader holds the Bristol qualifying record at 126.922 mph.
Loop Data: Eight Reasons Why Hornaday’s A Long Shot At Bristol Motor Speedway
Eight statistical categories are factored into the formula that creates Driver Rating.
Since the inception of NASCAR’s Loop Data statistics in 2005, Ron Hornaday Jr. ranks first in exactly zero of those categories at Bristol Motor Speedway, including the all-telling Driver Rating stat.
Here’s the breakdown, category-by-category:
Wins: Though Hornaday is the only driver with multiple wins at Bristol, both came prior to the inception of Loop Data.
Finishes: Since 2005, he has an average finish of just 17.8.
Top-15 Finishes: Since the four Bristol races since 2005, Hornaday has finished in the top 15 only twice. In 2006, he finished 27th and last season he finished 24th.
Average Running Position: This is weighed most in the formula. Hornaday is seventh-best with a 12.4, which ranks behind notable entries Mike Skinner, Kyle Busch and Todd Bodine, all of whom have an Average Running Position in the Top 10.
Average Green Flag Speed: Hornaday ranks sixth in this category with a 114.860 mph average. Every driver above him eclipses the 115 mph mark.
Fastest Laps Run: Hornaday has run the fastest lap just 19 times at Bristol over the last four years, less than a fifth of leader Kyle Busch’s 101.
Most Laps Led: A per-race stat, Hornaday hasn’t done it once. In fact, he hasn’t led a lap at Bristol in the series since 1999.
Lead Lap Finish: Hornaday has finished on the lead lap in only two of his last four races. He finished 20 laps down in last year’s race, running just 183 of the 200 laps.
Driver Rating: All that adds up to a Driver Rating that’s a personal worst. Hornaday has a Driver Rating of 85.5, making Bristol his worst track in terms of Driver Rating – a full point lower than his second-worst track, Michigan International Speedway (86.6).
“Bristol has changed. Since they ground the track, it’s a lot different. When I was driving for Dale and Teresa (Earnhardt), it was very much move someone out of the way. I learned a lot about that track from Dale,” said Hornaday. “II say that I haven’t won a race at the “new” Bristol Motor Speedway.”
| 
|