NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge California Truckstop 300 Preview: #16, Ron Hornaday

Name: The Forgotten Alternative - A Conversation That Matters with Marc Rauch
Uploaded: 2023-03-02T00:39:07+00:00
Duration: T0H23M43S
Description: The Auto Channel's Marc Rauch returns to Stuart McNish's great issues show "Conversations That Matter."
8 October 1997

 #16 Ron Hornaday, NAPA Brakes Chevrolet
 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
 Dodge California Truckstop 300 Advance
 Mesa Marin Raceway
 
                          HORNADAY RETURNS HOME
 
 
BAKERSFIELD, CA - The NASCAR Truck Series continues its West Coast road show 
this weekend in Bakersfield, Calif. In last week's race at Sears Point 
Raceway, Sonoma, Calif., Ron Hornaday and the NAPA Brakes team did not fare 
well. Hornaday was leading the event when trouble struck his Chevy truck. 
Hornaday had transmission failure and had to make a pit stop for repairs. 
The NAPA team replaced the transmission, and Hornaday returned to the race 
many laps down to the leader. He was credited with a 26th-place finish. 

 - The NAPA team left Sonoma, Calif., and headed down to Southern 
California. The team will base their operation at a facility at Rancho 
Cucamonga (near Ontario) for the next few weeks. This will allow the NAPA 
team to prepare the trucks for the next two races at Bakersfield and 
Fontana without returning to the Charlotte, N.C. area. The team actually 
will not return to N.C. until after the last event of the year in Las 
Vegas, Nev. (November 9).   

 - The NAPA team got their first look at California Speedway, Fontana, 
Calif., this week during a two-day test. The team is preparing for the 
inaugural truck race at the two-mile oval to be run on October 18. This will 
be the largest and fastest speedway that the Truck Series run on. 

 - Hornaday returns "home" to southern California for this weekend's 300-lap 
event at Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield, Calif. Hornaday is from nearby San 
Fernando, and also lived in Palmdale. He is looking forward to seeing his 
family, and many fans in the area. Hornaday will meet over 300 members of his 
fan club Friday night in Bakersfield. There will also be nearly 300 NAPA 
guests in attendance on race day to cheer him on. 

QUOTES

NAPA Brakes driver Ron Hornaday on going home to Bakersfield area:

"I am looking forward to this weekend. Now that I live in N.C., I do not get 
a chance very often to see my friends, and fans in southern California. It is 
always fun. We have not been back since winning the championship. There 
should be lots of Ron Hornaday T-shirts in the stands at Bakersfield. Heck, 
between my family, friends, and NAPA, I think we have half the tickets."

Comments from Ron Hornaday on Mesa Marin Raceway:

"I have always run well there. Plus, when you have a home team advantage if 
can't hurt. When I lived and raced out in Southern California we referred to 
Bakersfield as the "Daytona of the West". At the time the speedway in Fontana 
was not even a dream. Bakersfield was the only fast high-banked track around 
for us. You can run three-wide around the place. It's a lot of fun. If you 
were a race fan then you always went to Bakersfield. It is a big deal when 
the NASCAR trucks roll into town. I hope we can get this NAPA Chevy in 
victory lane there."

               Ron Hornaday's Mesa Marin Raceway Statistics

          Date     St   Fn   Laps     Money Won      Status
          10/13/96  1*   2  300(300)   19,150        Running
          10/15/95  8   15  198(200)    4,455        Running
          4/22/95   6    1  125(125)   28,650        Running

          * Track record: 19.451 seconds; 92.540 mph 


Ron Hornaday is currently fourth in NASCAR Truck Series points. 

By Champion Sports Group