Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

Hornaday aiming for Gateway repeat

Points leader won here last season

Already running away with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points race, Ron Hornaday Jr. has something else at stake in today's Copart 200 race at Gateway International Raceway.

Hornaday hopes to become Gateway's first back-to-back truck series winner at the Madison track, which will hold qualifying at 10 a.m. and the race at 1:30 p.m. Ted Musgrave is the only driver with two truck wins at Gateway.

Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet and blessed with a 225-point lead in the standings, visited victory lane in 2008 at Gateway and finished second in 2007.

"Gateway is very different from other tracks we race on because of the corners," Hornaday said. "Turns one and two are tight and banked and three and four are wide and flat. We had a good day at Gateway last year; we started second and led the most laps en route to my first win at the track.

"We need to do the same thing this year."

One of Hornaday's challengers will be Mike Skinner, who won last week at Iowa Speedway. Skinner drives the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Randy Moss Motorsports.

"I can't wait to get to Gateway," Skinner said. "Every time you win, you can't wait to get back to the track the next week. Set-up wise, (Gateway) is somewhat similar to what we ran last week at Iowa Speedway.

"It's been a roller-coaster ride for me there over the years. We've run well there and we've been taken out a time or two."

Many racing fans love the truck series because of its old-school appeal. There's plenty of bumping, banging and trading paint, all of which keeps fans on the edge of their seats.

"We hear that everywhere we go," said Todd Bodine, the 2006 winner at Gateway who considers this one of his favorite tracks. "The racing in the trucks is better, people enjoy the 'go-get 'em' attitude that everybody in the truck series has."

The truck series allows aggressive drivers to make a name for themselves -- or to leave pieces of their vehicles spread over the track while trying.

"You don't wait around and let the race come to you, you have to go out and race everybody hard every lap," Bodine said. "If you've got to rub 'em, you've got to rub 'em. It's like racing used to be.

"Fans relate because it is very old-school racing."

Still better known for his exploits in the world of Motocross racing, Hornaday's fellow Kevin Harvick, Inc., driver Ricky Carmichael will make his first Gateway appearance in the truck series.

Carmichael's best finish this season was seventh at Kentucky Speedway and he has five top-15 finishes in 12 starts. He drives the No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet.

Johnny Sauter (176 points), Tayler Malsham (163 points) and James Buescher (151 points) are battling for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award.

Sauter, who has driven previously in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series, is 12th in the truck series points race. He's finished fifth in each of his last two races.

Rick Crawford turned in a lap of 132.763 mph during Friday's truck practice session.