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Huntersville, N.C. (November 15, 2005) – There are a lot
of storylines for Ron Hornaday and his GM Goodwrench
crew heading into the final race of the season this
weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). A battle for
third in the championship standings, momentum building
after a second place finish in
Phoenix,
speculations on next year and a quest for the elusive
second victory could all be the focus this week.
However, one in particular will have the biggest impact
on the future. Legendary sponsor GM Goodwrench will not
be returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for
the 2006 season. This sets the stage for a bittersweet
goodbye to a truly big time racing partnership.
“We would love to send GM Goodwrench packing as a
winner,” said Hornaday. “They have been good to me and
good to my team, and I hate that this is it. This
weekend will have to be for them. They know that we
will be doing everything that we can to see those silver
and black colors in victory lane. This has been an
awesome year and an awesome partnership and it is too
bad that it has to come to an end.”
Bidding farewell to GM Goodwrench as a winner takes care
of some of the other situations as well. Right now
Hornaday is in a tight battle against Todd Bodine for
third in the championship standings. Both are
mathematically unable to win the championship so there
is extra pressure to finish third. Hornaday trails
third by 41 markers, which means if Bodine finishes
ninth or better he has locked up the position. That
will be in the minds of the crew when the green flag
waves Friday night, but priority number one will remain
winning the race. Everything else will have to take
care of itself.
“Where we finish overall does not define this team,”
added Hornaday. “The standings cannot possibly tell the
whole story. That is why winning this weekend is so
important. We want to celebrate again. Last week’s
second place reminded us what it feels like to be in
contention and I can’t think of a better way for this
team to finish out. If we can’t win the championship we
might as well win the race.”
Points of Interest…
· Off
the Hauler…T
eam GM Goodwrench will take chassis No. 008 to HMS this
weekend for Friday night’s race. This truck has run in
five races this season with a top finish of fourth at
Dover International Speedway.
· Track
Stat…
Hornaday has five NCTS starts at HMS, finishing on the
lead lap every time. He has never finished outside the
top-10, and three times he has finished in the top-five.
In 2002, Hornaday was the race winner driving the No. 11
David Fuge Chevrolet.
· NCTS
Points…
After 24 races in the 2005 season,
Hornaday sits fourth in points with one win, seven
top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Hornaday remains 198
markers behind point’s leader Ted Musgrave. He is 41
markers behind Todd Bodine and would love to reclaim his
third place spot this weekend.
· Start
time…
Friday evening’s Ford 200 is scheduled
for 8:15 p.m. EST. TV coverage of the event on SPEED
Channel begins at 8:00 p.m., with live radio coverage
also beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST on your local MRN Radio
affiliate and on XM Satellite Radio – channel 144.
Remember times and dates of the race may change so check
your local listings.
Ron Hornaday on Homestead-Miami
Speedway…
In
five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts you have never
finished outside the top-10. Will the streak continue?
“I
certainly plan on keeping the streak going. I don’t
usually keep up with that stuff, but when someone
reminds me it always sounds good. The goal this weekend
is not to keep the streak alive. The goal is to win the
race. That seems to take care of everything when you
can go out and win.”
You and Todd Bodine have a good battle going for third
place. You two seem to really go at it when you race
against each other. What is going on there?
“Todd and I race really hard with each other. It is not
always clean, but it is good hard racing. He can take
what I give him, and I expect him to race me the same
way I race him. It is that kind of racing that makes
the NCTS what it is.” |
Buckle Up !