Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday wins 2009 Truck series championship

By Kenny Bruce - Assistant Managing Editor

Friday, November 13, 2009

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday clinched his fourth NASCAR Truck series title Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

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AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ron Hornaday wrapped up his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship here Friday night, finishing fourth in the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Hornaday, driver of the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 Chevrolet, previously won series titles in 1996, ’98 and 2007.

He came into the race sporting a 197-point lead over second-place Matt Crafton, needing only to finish ahead of the ThorSport Racing entry to clinch the title.

Owner/driver Harvick won the race, his fourth victory at PIR. Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola were second and third, followed by Hornaday and pole sitter Johnny Sauter.

“We’re not done yet,” Hornaday said after climbing from his truck on pit road. “We’ve got to get the owners’ trophy for Kevin and DeLana [Harvick].

“It takes a lot of people. We had another great truck – I knew I didn’t have a winning truck – so I had to play it smart for points.”

Hornaday locked up the driver title and his KHI team has a 60-point edge over Kyle Busch's Billy Ballew Motorsports group in the race for the owner title with one race remaining.

The finish came despite an early problem for the team as Hornaday was penalized for non-compliant fueling while pitting during the night’s second caution on lap 34. As a result, Hornaday returned to the pits and took on four tires while serving the penalty. He restarted 21st, but steadily made his way through the field and back into the top five.

Hornaday has held the point lead since winning at Milwaukee earlier this year in the series’ 10th race. The win was the first of five consecutive victories for the 51-year-old.

“We had the points lead, ended up wrecking at Dover,” Hornaday said. “But the guys never say quit. This team … I can’t say enough for everybody. This is unbelievable.”

“It’s easy to get picked as the preseason favorite, but it’s hard to live up to those expectations,” crew chief Rick Ren said. “After losing [the championship] by seven points last year, we sat down, made a plan and said, ‘Let’s control what we can control and not race when we don’t need to race.’ It’s pretty awesome.”