Hornaday clinches 4th Truck title
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
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AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 13: Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the #33 VFW.org Chevrolet, stands by his truck before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 13, 2009 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
AP
Ron Hornaday prepares for a practice session for the NASCAR Trucks WinStar World Casino 350 auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)
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MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 24: Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the #33 VFW Chevrolet, and Mike Skinner, drives the #5 PC Miler Navigator Toyota, take the green flag to start the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 24, 2009 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Team owner and driver Kevin Harvick (left) talks with Truck series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. at Phoenix International Raceway. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
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AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 13: Aric Almirola, pits the #15 Graceway/AKawareness.com Toyota during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 13, 2009 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
AVONDALE, Ariz. – It was a clean sweep for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Team co-owner Kevin Harvick won Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway in dominating fashion.
He also got a bonus as the driver of his No. 33 Chevrolet, Ron Hornaday, wrapped up his record fourth Camping World Truck Series championship.
Regardless of the outcome of next week’s season finale at Homestead, Fla., Hornaday has clinched this year’s championship. He also won titles in 1996, 1998 and 2007. At 51, Hornaday is the oldest champion in NASCAR’s three national series.
His title-clinching fourth-place finish Friday is only the second time since the series’ inception in 1995 that the Truck championship has been clinched prior to the final race of the season.
Hornaday has a 215-point advantage over Matt Crafton.
“Matt is a heck of a racer,” Hornaday said. “They really turned their program around and gave us a heck of a battle this year.
“I got one up on (Jack) Sprague (a three-time champion), finally. It’s been a fun battle with Jack and I wish he was back here racing.”
Hornaday won his first two Truck titles with Dale Earnhardt Inc. He joined KHI in 2005 as the organization’s first full-time driver and has now won two of the past three championships.
“We put Ron in the truck in 2005 and really didn’t have our stuff together,” said Harvick. “Finally, in 2007 we built a team that could keep up with the driver. It’s a lot of fun to see it evolve and come together.”
Hornaday said there is still work to be done. His No. 33 team has a 60-point lead over Billy Ballew Motorsports’ No. 51 for the owner’s title, which will be decided next week.
“When you drive Kevin and DeLana’s equipment you feel like you're 18 years old,” Hornaday said. “The trucks they give me make you feel like a hero.”
Kyle Busch finished second, Aric Almirola was third and pole-winner Johnny Sauter was fifth.
The race featured five lead changes among four drivers and there were seven cautions covering 26 laps.
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