RON HORNADAY
Memphis Motorsports Park
NOTES:
* Points battle
With a 12th place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway, ACDelco Chevrolet
driver Ron Hornaday remains in the hunt for the NASCAR Busch Series
championship. Hornaday, a two-time NASCAR Southwest Tour (1992, '93) and
NASCAR Truck Series Champion ('96, '98), is in fourth place, just 76 points
out of first position. In fact, the 80 points separating the top-five make
it the closest NBS points battle with five races to go in the history of the
series.
* What ya haulin?
The ACDelco transporter will unload chassis No. 36. It is the same
"drop-snout" Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Hornaday raced to a seventh place
finish at Richmond International Raceway in September. At the Richmond
race, the car carried the likeness of Lava Records, Franky Perez. This week
it will carry the 2003 ACDelco colors.
* There's a first for everything...
At Memphis Motorsports Park, first belongs to Hornaday. In 1998,
Hornaday won the very first NASCAR race at the track in his No. 16 Chevrolet
Silverado. It was one of six victories in '98 that propelled Hornaday to
his second NASCAR Trucks Series championship. In fact, Hornaday took over
the point's lead in '98 following his victory in Memphis...a feat he hopes
to accomplish this weekend. Last year, Hornaday scored another top-10,
finishing seventh in his No.26 Chevy.
* ACDelco dominates Memphis
This has been one of the best tracks for an ACDelco sponsored car in
the past. Check out these past performances.
Year ACDelco Driver Start Finish
1999 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8th 2nd
2000 Kevin Harvick 2nd 1st
2001 Kevin Harvick 1st 3rd
2002 Johnny Sauter 2nd 14th
Ron Hornaday comments on Memphis Motorsports Park
What are your thoughts on racing at Memphis Motorsports Park?
"What a fun race track. I love Memphis. Always have and probably always
will. The fans are awesome. The place is just cool. Graceland is a great
place to visit. In fact, we left tickets for the King under his door back
in 1999. I'm not sure if he came or not, but I can know he was there in
spirit.
We have raced very well at Memphis. I won the race in 1998 after I blew a
tire and had to fight back from a lap down. I expect to be racing for the
win. It is one of my all-time favorite tracks."
The point's battle has been the biggest story over the past few weeks. You
have been as high as third and as low as fifth. What are your thoughts on
the point's battle?
"It's tight. That's really all there is to say. All five teams are top
teams. Nobody in this battle is a fluke or a surprise. At the beginning of
the season we felt like we would be racing Green, Riggs and Keller. I guess
Vickers would be a surprise if you think back to February when this season
started, but it didn't take long to realize he is the real deal.
One of the strange things about this championship battle compared to others
I've been in is that there are five guys this close. Back in my Truck and
even Southwest Tour days, we were usually racing one other guy, maybe two at
best. When you are racing five guys, it's impossible to point's race. You
can't do it. There is no way that the other four will all have the same bad
day. It just won't happen. You have to race for the win. You have to lead
laps. We haven't done that in a long time and that's what it is going to
take. We have to step it up a notch, or we have no chance at winning this
deal."
Where do you think your best chances at winning are?
"You would hope everywhere. I don't know. We have won here at Memphis in
the past and we always run up front, so I think we have as good a chance as
anyone. Then you look at the rest of the schedule and it sets up really
well for me. I won at Atlanta in an ARCA car, so I feel good about that
track. Phoenix is my home track and we are always one of the best cars, so
I know we can win there. Rockingham is a track where we haven't won, but
have scored top-fives. And then there is Homestead. I have no clue what to
expect there. I won the truck race last year, but that was on the flat
track. We won't know anything about Miami until out test during race week.
But then again, neither will anybody else!"
Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet Monte Carlo are fourth in the NASCAR
Busch Series point's standings. Hornaday is 76 points out of first place.
