Hornaday Could Make History at Homestead in 225th Start:

Ron Hornaday, making his 225th career start in the NASCAR Truck Series on Friday night in the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami ( Fla. ) Speedway (HMS), could make Truck Series history by clinching the 2008 series championship. If Hornaday wins the 2008 Truck Series title, he will be the first driver in the 14-year history of the series to win four championships, and the first to win back-to-back championships. Hornaday would also tie Jeff Gordon for third on the all-time career championships list in NASCAR’s three elite divisions (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series).

In eight starts at HMS, Hornaday has recorded one win (2002), three top-fives and seven top-10s.

It All Comes Down to This:

For most of the season, Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson have been at the top of the NASCAR Truck Series standings. The two veterans have swapped the point lead five times throughout the season. Hornaday made his biggest gain in points in the three races following Bristol , when he was 119 points behind Benson. After winning back-to-back races at Gateway ( Ill. ) International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Hornaday scored a fifth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to close the gap to a single point.

Other notable facts on the 2008 season:

• Hornaday and Benson each have 14 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.

• Hornaday has the tie-breaker with 6 wins over Benson’s five.

• In 13 of the last 24 races, Hornaday has finished higher than Benson.

• In seven of the last 10 races, Hornaday finished higher than Benson.

One Year Ago:

Ron Hornaday goes into the last race of season in the closest point battle with one race remaining in the history of the NASCAR Truck Series. Last year, Hornaday went into the race of the season 27 points behind Mike Skinner and won the championship by 54 points. This year, Hornaday trails Johnny Benson by only three points going into the final race of 2008.

Wix Filters Lap Leader:

Ron Hornaday has officially locked up the 2008 Wix Filters Lap Leader award. Hornaday has led 1,289 laps to date this season, his personal best (his previous best had been the 1997 season when he led 1,213 laps).

From The Driver’s Seat – Quotes From Ron Hornaday:

“Nobody has the advantage anymore in this point battle. I think this championship is going to go to the guy that has the least amount of bad luck. I’ve been saying for the past few weeks that this thing is going to come down to Homestead and here we are. We’re three points behind Johnny Benson, but I have all the confidence and faith in the world in Rick Ren (crew chief) and everybody at KHI. We know what we have to do and we just need to treat this week like it’s just another race.”

Atop The Pit Box – Quotes From Rick Ren :

“We are going into the final race of the year and it’s a big one. It has been a long season, but all the guys on the team and everybody at KHI has worked so hard and put everything they have into this. We’ve had a lot of ups and a few downs, but we just keep digging and have that ‘never say die’ attitude to show everybody that this is a championship-caliber team and that is something that we can all be proud of. We have a good truck for Homestead and we know that Ron is going to drive his heart out for us to try to win this championship, so we’re going to do everything we can for him.”

Chassis No. 030 Returns at Homestead :

Chassis No. 30 will make its third start of the season this Friday night in the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hornaday finished fifth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September with this truck and scored a second-place finish with it at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October.