Krista Voda: It’s all a matter of trust for champion Ron Hornaday
Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday won his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in 2009.
// Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR
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COMMENTARY
Remember the game where you’d stand with your back to a friend, with folded arms across your chest, and then fall back hoping your friend would catch you?
Ron Hornaday knows his friend will catch him. In fact, both of them will.
When I asked Ron why he and crew chief, Rick Ren, were so successful this year, he answered with one word. Trust. He trusts Ren 100 percent with the truck and the decisions made to fix it. That allows Hornaday to concentrate solely on driving, something the Kevin Harvick Inc. driver did exceedingly well this year en route to a record fourth Camping World Truck Series title.
The other friend Hornaday, 51, trusts completely is co-owner Kevin Harvick. When Hornaday won the Truck series championship for KHI in 2007, he spoke a lot about the relationship he has with Harvick. Specifically, how the younger driver leaned on the older one several years ago, even living on his couch while trying to break into NASCAR.
When Harvick started a Truck team, he repaid the debt he owed to Hornaday by giving him a full-time ride in one of those Chevrolets. In return, Hornaday has now given Kevin and his wife, DeLana, two series championships.
I asked some of my SPEED and Camping World Truck Series colleagues for their thoughts on Hornaday’s title run this season.
“I think the Truck series may be in for more of the same next year. I don’t think Hornaday and KHI are going to stop at four,” Phil Parsons said.
Rick Allen echoed those sentiments.
“I believe we will look back on the accomplishment of five wins in a row at very different race tracks as one of the most amazing things ever in this series. The level of competition is at its highest and Ron and Rick never faltered,” Allen said. “The fourth championship is amazing. No one has ever won back-to-back championships in the
Truck series, but if Ron and Rick stay together, I predict Ron will be the first to accomplish that feat.”
Domination and dynasty. We’ve been hearing those words used to describe Jimmie Johnson’s recent performance in the Sprint Cup Series, and rightfully so. But with so much focus on the Cup series, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Hornaday has already notched a “four-score” in the Camping World Truck Series. Granted, Hornaday’s titles didn’t come in consecutive seasons, but there’s something to be said for longevity, too.
In my mind, the combination of Hornaday and Ren is just as potent as Johnson and Chad Knaus.
Hornaday wouldn’t think twice about folding his arms, turning around, and letting Ren and Harvick do the rest.
Krista Voda hosts the popular SPEED prerace show NCWTS Setup, leading into each NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Voda is also a regular host on The SPEED Report and serves as a pit reporter for NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series.
