Thursday, August 6, 2009

Hey, you need to start paying attention to Ron Hornaday

Too often, NASCAR's Truck Series gets overlooked in the spectacle of the Sprint Cup and the drama of the Nationwide. But there's something going on there right now that we haven't seen in years, and it's worth watching.

Saturday night in Nashville, Hornaday won his fifth straight race for Kevin Harvick Inc. He's now got 44 wins in 239 career starts, a record for the entire series. He's now the third driver in NASCAR history to win five straight races. Richard Petty won 10 straight in 1967 and five straight in 1971; Bobby Allison also won five straight in 1971.

Hornaday was overwhelmed with the weight of the moment, according to the AP: "This is unbelievable. You can never compare to The King (Petty) and Bobby Allison, but this is an honor to just be in the same book as they are," Hornaday said. "This will mean a lot to me when I'm sitting down with my grandkids looking through the record book and my name will be in there with the Allisons and Richard Petty."

Thing is, he's not just racing against chumps. Guys like Colin Braun and Matt Crafton aren't pushovers. But Hornaday is craftier than a seventy-year-old burglar, and there's every chance he could add a few more to his total. He's already the oldest winner in any of the three NASCAR series, a record he breaks with every trip to victory lane.

The truck series starts back up on Aug. 19 at Bristol, and he's got two victories there. Hornaday obviously holds the series lead, with Crafton 216 points behind.

Hornaday races to record 5th straight win [AP via Yahoo! Sports]

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