(born in
Palmdale, California on
June 20 ,
1958 ) is a
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver. He is the father of former NASCAR driver
Ronnie Hornaday , and the son of
Ron Hornaday, Sr. , a two time Winston West Champion.
He was a long-time driver in NASCAR's
Winston West Series and
Featherlite Southwest Series Champion. He was noticed by
Dale Earnhardt while participating in the
NASCAR Winter Heat Series on
ESPN2 .
Hornaday began racing in
Go-kart s and
Motorcycle s early in his career. Eventually, he moved up to race
Stock Car s at
Saugus Speedway . In 1992, he won his first championship in the Southwest Series as well as winning the Most Popular Driver award. He won the Southwest championship the next year as well, becoming the only driver to do so in series history.
He made his
Winston Cup debut in
1992 at the
Save Mart 300K , where he started seventeenth but finished 32nd in
Bob Fisher 's #92
Chevrolet . He made another start later that year at
Phoenix International Raceway , where he finished 25th. He ran at Phoenix the next year as well, finishing 22nd in the #76
Spears Motorsports car.
Hornaday signed to drive the #16
RCCA Products /
Papa John's Pizza Chevrolet Silverado owned by
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for the then-start-up Craftsman Truck Series. In the first season of competition, Hornaday won six races and four poles on his way to a third-place points finish. The next year, with sponsorship from
NAPA Auto Parts , Hornaday won four races and the series championship.
In 1997, despite seven wins, two of them came by leading every lap in the race, he finished fifth in points. He was able to re-claim his title in
1998 by garnering six wins. That season, he also made his
Busch Series debut, driving four races for
ST Motorsports , his best finish an eighth at
Pikes Peak International Raceway . He also debuted a Winston Cup car for
Tim Beverly at Sonoma, finishing fourteenth in the #17 NAPA Chevy.
In
1999 , he was unable to win the championship, and announced he would drive the #3 NAPA Chevy for DEI's Busch program the following year.
Hornaday began racing full-time in the Busch Series in 2000. He picked up wins at
Nazareth Speedway and
Indianapolis Raceway Park and finished fifth in points, runner-up to
Kevin Harvick for
Rookie Of The Year honors. He was also voted Most Popular Driver. Unfortunately, Earnhardt elected to move Hornaday's team up to the Cup series in
2001 , leaving Hornaday without a job.
Hornaday signed with
A.J. Foyt Racing in the Cup series, driving the #14
Conseco Pontiac Grand Prix . Despite posting a ninth-place finish at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Hornaday struggled throughout the year and finished 36th in points, causing him to lose his job at the end of the year. Hornaday later criticized Foyt for dismissing him so late in the season. During the 2001 season, Hornaday returned to the Busch Series on a part-time basis, running the #11 for
High Line Performance Group before finishing out the year with The
Curb Agajanian Performance Group , posting three top-tens.
In
2002 , he drove for
Hendrick Motorsports ' truck team at the season-opening
Florida Dodge Dealers 250 , where he finished 12th. After Hendrick closed the doors to its truck team, Hornaday moved to their Busch program, filling in for an injured
Ricky Hendrick in the #5
GMAC Chevy, his best finish 15th at
Darlington Raceway . A few races later, he replaced
Lyndon Amick in the #26
Dr Pepper car for
Carroll Racing . He had eight top-tens and a pole, finishing eighteenth in points despite only running 30 races. He also capped the season off with a win in the truck series at
Homestead-Miami Speedway , driving for
Xpress Motorsports .
In
2003 , Hornaday signed to drive the #2
ACDelco Chevy for
Richard Childress Racing . He won at Nazareth and posted seventeen top-tens, finishing third in points. He followed that up with a win at
The Milwaukee Mile and a fourth-place points finish the following season.
At the end of 2004, Hornaday was released in favor of
Clint Bowyer , and he returned to the Truck Series to drive the #6
GM Goodwrench Chevy for Kevin Harvick. Hornaday soon picked up a win at
Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished fifth in points. In
2006 , the team lost it's Goodwrench sponsorship and switched to the #33. Running unsponsored for most of the year, Hornaday picked up two victories this year at
Mansfield and
Kentucky He also has two top-tens in five Busch Series starts that year.
He continued his dominance in the Truck Series, winning two races for the 1st time. He took the checkers at
Lowe's in the
Quaker Steak & Lube 200 . Two weeks later, after a what-should-have-been-a-win-weekend at
Mansfield , Hornaday outlasted
Kyle Busch to win the
AAA Insurance 200 at
Dover . He continued his chase for a third title with a victory at
O'Reilly Raceway Park in the
Power Stroke Diesel 200 , his 17th win on a short track.
