You might call it rivalry redux.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ tough driver, tough trucks reputation, in large part, was built on Jack Sprague vs. Ron Hornaday Jr., a pair of hard-nosed competitors who won a combined four championships and 35 races between 1996-99.
Did they like each other? Maybe off the track but when the engines fired there was certainly a rivalry-like intensity between the two.
So here we go again – this time with Hornaday and Johnny Sauter. Both are hard-nosed, no quarter asked or given racers and over the past two seasons they’ve always seemed to find each other on the track.
They’ve traded paint and bumpers as well as harsh words and ill feelings.
And, following Hornaday’s June 10 victory at Texas Motor Speedway – at Sauter’s expense – the action likely will continue to boil when the schedule resumes July 7 at Kentucky Speedway. Sauter blocked Hornaday on the race’s final restart drawing a penalty that left the Wisconsin driver with a 22nd-place finish instead of a likely second victory of 2011.
Sauter, who had his rival down by 56 points (and in sixth place) saw the margin shrink to 33 as Hornaday, seeking a fifth title, climbed to third. The two appear evenly matched, especially in qualifying, putting them head to head when the green flag drops.
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