Ron Hornaday Jr. Honored With Quarterly Award
Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Copart Chevrolet) was chosen last week as the third quarter Driver of the Year. In its 42nd year, Hornaday becomes the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver to win the quarterly award. Given by the Driver of the Year Foundation, the award winners are determined by a panel consisting of 20 leading journalists from across the U.S. Hornaday beat Indy Car driver Ryan Briscoe for the honor, 99 to 82 votes.
“This is a very big honor. It’s pretty cool to be the one chosen out of so many candidates,” said Hornaday. “There are a lot of great race car drivers throughout all the series eligible for this award. This has been an amazing year in the Truck Series for myself and the No. 33 team. I have to thank Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) for always giving me the best equipment and an opportunity to win week-in and week-out.”
His owners agree with what the award says about the veteran driver. “For Ron Hornaday, a full-time truck series competitor, to win third quarter Driver of the Year says a lot for what he and his team have accomplished this season,” said Kevin Harvick.
Hornaday has proven all season that age is only a number. Six races in, the 51-year-old made the first of six trips to Victory Lane. The other five wins came in a consecutive streak beginning at Milwaukee and ending at Nashville. The impressive five-win streak landed Hornaday in the NASCAR record books alongside Richard Petty and Bobby Allison.
With five races to go, Hornaday holds on to a 197-point lead over Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevrolet). While anything can happen, it looks as though he is well on his way to making even more history. If Hornaday maintains his lead, he would become the series’ first four-time champion.
Johnny Sauter Breaks Through To Victory Lane
Wisconsin native Johnny Sauter (No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Adkins/Curb Records Chevrolet) has been fighting his way through the field over the last four races, earning top-five finishes and leaving all eyes on him as a likely candidate for Victory Lane. Saturday night he finally broke through. In his 31st start in the series, Sauter grabbed his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win.
“Just a phenomenal night for us,” said Sauter. “Especially coming off last week. We were so close but ran out of fuel. I can’t say enough about Joe Shear (crew chief) and all these guys. It’s been a long time since I’ve won a race in NASCAR so this feels pretty damn good.”
With the win, Sauter moves from seventh to fifth in the standings. “I can’t believe we’re fifth in the points. If you had told me that at the first of the year, I would have called you a liar,” he said.
Given the strength of his team, he most likely will finish the season among the top 10 which would mark a first for a rookie since Carl Edwards finished the 2003 season eighth.
Sauter’s teammate, Matt Crafton, finished second. The 1-2 punch was a first for their team, ThorSport Racing.
“What an unbelievable night for ThorSport Racing as a whole,” Sauter said. “My teammate finished second and we got the win. I hope a lot of people take notice that ThorSport is for real and can contend for wins week-in and week-out.”
Johnny Sauter’s win Saturday at Las Vegas extends his lead to 35 points over Tayler Malsam (No. 81 One-Eighty Toytoa) in the Rookie of the Year standings. The two entered the Vegas weekend 24 points apart.
Rookie Battle
Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Standings
Rk Driver Points Johnny Sauter 210 Tayler Malsam 175 James Buescher 156 Ricky Carmichael 127 5. Brian Ickler 95 J.R. Fitzpatrick 88 Chris Jones 66 Brent Raymer 65
Manufacturers’ Standings
Toyota kept the lead despite Chevrolet’s win by Johnny Sauter at Las Vegas.
Jason White (No. 23 GunBroker.com Dodge) delivered Dodge its best finish of the season. White finished Saturday right where he started, in third. The finish surpasses his previous best finish of fourth earlier this season at Dover.
Of the five remaining tracks, Chevy has the most wins at three: Martinsville (6), Texas (8) and Phoenix (12).
| 
|