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No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet Silverado
Birth Date: June 20, 1958
Hometown: Palmdale, California
Marital Status: Married, Lindy
Children: Ronnie III, Candice
Grandchildren: Lacy, Viktoria, Slater, Lily, Madeline
Career Highlights:
• All-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner with 39 victories
• Three-time Camping World Truck Series champion (2007, 1998 and 1996)
• Has a victory in 11 of 12 seasons in the Camping World Truck Series
• Won Bud Pole at first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 1995 at Phoenix International Raceway
• Three top-five championship driver points standing finishes in NASCAR Nationwide Series
Palmdale, California, native Ron Hornaday has had the type of career that most drivers only dream about, and he has no intention of slowing down any time soon. The 50-year-old veteran is a three-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion. He has competed in all of NASCAR’s three elite divisions, but has found a home in the NCWTS and with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI).
Hornaday grew up in Southern California and spent his childhood traveling to the local short tracks, watching his father, Ron Sr., win hundreds of races and a NASCAR Winston West championship. He knew that one day he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Under the watchful eye of his dad, Hornaday began his career racing motorcycles and go-karts before moving up to stock cars in his late teens.
During his brief NASCAR Winston West career, Hornaday won 17 races and a Most Popular Driver award. He then made his way to the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series, where his success was instant. He won the series’ championship and Most Popular Driver award in 1992. At the final race in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway, he became the first driver to win back-to-back titles.
Hornaday’s big break to move up into NASCAR’s premier divisions came during the Winter Heat Series at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park in 1994. Hornaday dominated the Series with an aggressive style, which caught the eye of seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) was forming a Chevrolet team for the newly created NASCAR Truck Series and needed a driver. Hornaday signed on to drive the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts-sponsored Chevrolet for the 1995 season. He won two Truck Series championships with DEI before moving to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2000. Hornaday won two races in his first year of Nationwide Series competition at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway and O’Reilly (Ind.) Raceway Park and also picked up honors as the Series’ Most Popular Driver. Hornaday’s success in the Nationwide Series in 2000 landed him a chance to drive for the legendary A.J. Foyt in the 2001 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
After 20 years of short-track racing, his dream of moving to NASCAR’s premier division had come true. What should have been the greatest year of his racing career turned out to be his worst. The sport of racing and the entire nation lost a legend when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. For Hornaday, he had lost his mentor and a great friend. As racing continued that year, Hornaday struggled to produce top finishes for Foyt’s young, under-financed team earning one top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Hornaday split with the Foyt team at the end of 2001, landing a temporary ride in the Nationwide Series with car owner Rick Hendrick, filling in for Hendrick’s injured son Ricky, after the third race of the 2002 season. He drove in six Nationwide Series events for Hendrick Motorsports. After his final race for Hendrick, Hornaday paired up with Dave Carroll and Carroll Racing for the remainder of 2002 Nationwide Series season.
That year, Hornaday claimed his first Nationwide Series pole at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and earned five top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 30 starts.
As a result of another successful season in 2002, legendary car owner Richard Childress hired Hornaday to drive the No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Nationwide Series for the 2003 season. Hornaday won at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway and finished third in the season-ending point standings, Hornaday battled for the championship in the closest finish from first to sixth in Nationwide Series history. Hornaday would return to Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in 2004. Again, Hornaday claimed one win at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile and finished fifth in the season-ending point standings and set a series record by finishing 73 races without a DNF.
At the end of 2004, Hornaday and RCR would go their separate ways, which paved the way for Hornaday to reunite with long-time friend Kevin Harvick and sign on to drive the No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado for the newly formed Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) for the 2005 Truck Series season.
Harvick and Hornaday, co-owner and driver respectively, and fellow Californians, each have long racing histories. Their friendship dates back to Harvick’s late-model days at Mesa Marin (Calif.) Speedway in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif. Harvick, who spent a good part of his first year in North Carolina living on Hornaday’s couch, found in Hornaday a driver who could help his young company compete at the front of the field, bring home trophies and make each race exciting.
During the 2005 season, Hornaday immediately proved to be the right fit for KHI. The No. 6 claimed one win at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a pole at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park and finished fourth in the season-ending point standings recording seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. Hornaday’s trip to victory lane would mark his 27th career Truck Series win. Hornaday was also named Truck Series Most Popular Driver in 2005, a title he had owned once before in 1997, joining Johnny Benson as the only two multiple season winners of the award.
Hornaday would return to the seat of a KHI Chevrolet in 2006, this time the side of his truck bore a new number: 33. Hornaday and team would visit victory lane twice and finish seventh in the point standings scoring eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.
However, the break out year for KHI and the return to dominance for Hornaday would come in 2007 as Rick Ren assumed the role of crew chief for the No. 33 Chevrolet. As Hornaday entered into his third season driving for KHI, he recorded four wins, 13 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes and only finished outside the top 20 one time during the season. Hornaday completed all but three laps the entire year. However, the fight for the series title was a tight battle between he and long-time rival Mike Skinner. Skinner took a 29-point lead going into the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hornaday and the consistent No. 33 team would prevail, finishing seventh to collect Hornaday’s third series title and the first for KHI co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick.
As fate would have it, the 2008 Truck Series championship battle would mirror the events of 2007 with Hornaday battling Truck Series veteran Johnny Benson. Hornaday would better his 2007 stats winning six events bringing his career total to 39 victories the most of any Truck Series driver. Hornaday recorded 14 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes and record a career high five pole awards. The championship battle would once again come down to the last race of the season; Hornaday would again trail but this time by only three points to Johnny Benson. With only eight laps remaining a late-race pit stop would mire Hornaday back in traffic. When the checkered flag fell, Hornaday would fall one spot and seven points short of his fourth Truck Series title. However, the ever gracious Hornaday attributed the year’s success to the team.
“It’s racing and you never know what is going to happen,” said Hornaday. “He could have won the race last week. You never know. I was proud to be champion last year and I know Johnny is going to make a good champion this year. We had a great season. It was pretty cool coming down to the end where we were both getting frustrated, we wanted to run in to each other but we didn’t. That just shows what two champions are right there.”
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