Fast Facts: Ron Hornaday Jr.

Credit: Paula Thompson

Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the #33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., was given the nickname “The Weapon” by the late Dale Earnhardt. Learn more about the Camping World Truck Series’ most recent winner and winningest driver in this edition of Fast Facts.

• Ronald Hornaday Jr. was born June 20th, 1958 in Palmdale, California. He is the son of two-time NASCAR Winston West champion Ron Hornaday Sr. and the father of former NASCAR participant Ron “Ronnie” Hornaday III.
• Hornaday started out racing go-karts and motorcycles; he moved up to stock cars in his late teens. In 1992, he raced in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series, winning both the Most Popular Driver award and the series championship, which he also won in 1993. In 1994, Hornaday participated in ESPN’s popular Winter Heat Series at Tucson (Arizona Raceway Park), where his aggressive style of driving impressed his future team owner Earnhardt.
• Hornaday signed on to drive the Dale Earnhardt Inc. entry in the Truck Series in 1995; in the inaugural season, he won six times and finished third in points. In 1996, Hornaday won the first of his four Truck Series titles, a feat he repeated in 1998.
• From 2000 to 2004, Hornaday competed in the Busch (now Nationwide) Series and Cup Series for various teams including DEI, AJ Foyt Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing; he also ran a few Truck Series races during that time.
• In 2005, Hornaday signed with his current team KHI; he regained his top-tier status in the Truck Series quickly, winning at Atlanta and finishing fifth in points. In 2007 and 2009, Hornaday won his third and fourth Truck Series titles, the first four-time champ in the series.
• In 2009, he joined the short list of drivers to win five NASCAR events in a row – the others on the list: legends Richard Petty and Bobby Allison.
• Learn more about Ron Hornaday Jr. at http://www.ronhornaday.com/.