"Hornaday Fan Finds Dream Vacation Dreams, Comes True"

On Monday, I made my first stop in Mooresville- Lindy’s shop. Her mom was at the desk and I asked if Lindy was around. She was. I gave her an old B&W 13” TV my mom had from her youth, (which was also my first TV) I also gave Lindy her copy of Ron’s Trackside article. Then she called Ronnie and he came up to the shop. He was at the Hornaday garage, which is behind the shop and down the hill. We talked at little while, then Lindy asked if he knew where Ron was and it so happened he had just arrived at the garage. What luck !!!. We drove down the short hill in Ronnie’s truck. I walked into the garage and man is it big. Plenty of room for expansion J. Ron was standing next to a tool wagon talking to his mechanics. I was so excited I ran over and gave him a big hug. Mom, Tom (my guy friend) and I talked with the Hornaday’s in there a while and checked out the various cars in the shop and had a Dr Pepper (of course). I gave Ron his copy of the magazine and Ron asked ME for my autograph next to my by-line !! Wow

Then Ron drove Mom and I back up to Lindy’s place, It was so Cool being in the same car as Ron. I was sitting up front in the passengers seat!! (Tom and Lindy walked back as it was such a short distance) Wow loved the garage and Lindy’s shop was amazing, (sorry Marie, I couldn’t find your coffee pot). I loved the bobbing birds on the front lawn. Such creativity everywhere I looked. I’m a cat person so I

loved the cats running all over (and calicos are my favorites.) I would have said hello to them but Tom has such allergies so I just watched them from a distance instead. Lindy and Ron then invited us to come visit them that night at their home. I floated away.

On the way we stopped off and stood at the edge of Lake Norman and admired its beauty for a few minutes. Then we arrived at Casa De' Hornaday. Lindy met us at the door and said “Ron says to come in you’re just in time for dinner” We were floored by the beauty of their place. We were also greeted by the Hornadogs who also seemed glad to meet us. The House is breath taking, only word for it. Lindy’s Spaghetti was the most delicious I’ve ever tasted. Even though I wasn’t hungry I ate a whole plate.

Lindy then took us on the grand tour of the house. Wow every room is themed. She show us the Fishing room where Horton stays when he comes to visit. The grandchildren’s room was too cute for words. The place has so many rooms, it seems to me like a mansion. I couldn’t possible describe everything. They have a huge backyard with plenty of room for a barbeque and pool parties with a lovely little boat dock. I think Rudy should come up to Ron’s place and do some mowing because Ron is so busy now he doesn’t have the time. J

Two of my favorite rooms were Ron’s trophy room and the mini theater. I thought I had a nice collection till I saw Ron’s trophy room wow. Every helmet and uniform he ever wore and his trophies. The two truck trophies were in special cases. Lindy said Ron built the cases himself. So many die-cast trucks and cars, old racing posters and photos of him.

Then we met Candice who had just come home and Victoria, who is just the cutest little angel. It was a pleasure to meet them both. We talked with Ron and Lindy a little longer then it was time to go because it was getting late. Lindy told us to call her later and she would hook us up for a tour of Carroll Racing.

Wednesday afternoon we arrived at the Carroll Race shop for our 1pm appointment. We were greeted and introduced to our guide for the trip Caesar aka cheese, he is the tire specialist He was so friendly and made us feel at home. We visited every room and he explained what went on in each of them. They have a soda machine that dispenses Dr Pepper product

with out coins! So we had a cold one while on the tour. Cheese pointed out the Darlington car so I went over and looked inside and saw my dog tags firmly affixed to one of the roll bars. Then as we were walking into the dyno area, there was Ron. He asked us how we were enjoying the tour and if I had seen my dog tags in the car yet. I said yes. Then we saw the Darlington Car going through the chassis dyno and listened to its powerful throaty ROAR! We met the person responsible for the powerful Carroll Racing engines and I thanked him. We even saw a car being prepped to be painted.

We then took a tour of the Hauler and saw what was behind many of its doors. Then we walked into that most inner sanctum, the lounge at the front of the hauler where the driver relaxes. We saw the locker where Ron keeps his driver’s uniform. Wow, Then as we were walking back to the lobby at the end of the tour I asked if they had a tiny piece of sheet metal of Ron’s car I could bring home.

He told me to “wait here and I’ll be right back” I could hear all kinds of banging and thumping going on and we were wondering what was going on in there. Lol I would have been happy with a 2”x2” square but instead he gave me the entire back bumper of Ron’s car and you could see the scrap marks on the left rear where someone had bumped him. I was so speechless, still am. Then he asked if we would like any Dr Pepper or Red Fusion to take home. I said yeah, so he disappeared and came back with a hand truck full and asked where we were parked. (It gave me the chance to show off my Hornaday bumper stickers. lol)

We then went inside to the front office and thanked Karen for the hospitality Carroll Racing had shown us and most of all thanked our wonderful tour guide, Caesar. We wanted to thank Ron also but he was in a meeting. However, I was in for a wonderful surprise because as I was getting in the car, I looked up and there was Ron walking towards me with a big smile on his face. He said “ You’re not going to leave with out saying goodbye are you” I was stunned, so I did the only thing I could think of, I got out of the car and gave him a big hug. Then, he wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed any of the major attractions in the area. I showed him my map of NC with all the race shop areas circled on it. Ron then wished us well on our trip back home and said he’d see us at Dover. Needless to say my feet didn’t touch ground for a couple hours. Lol I’m glad Tom was driving because I could barely see straight I was so giddy with joy.

I wished all of my Hornamaniac buddies could have been there, I think I took around 20 rolls of film.