Fast Facts: 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Ron Hornaday Jr.

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2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ron Hornaday Jr. got his big break from the late Dale Earnhardt and went on to become a multi-time NASCAR champ. Hornaday and fellow 2018 inductees Ray Evernham, Red Byron, Ken Squier and Robert Yates will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Here are the Fast Facts on the four-time Camping World Truck Series champ.
  • Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. was born June 20, 1958 in Palmdale, CA. 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 the ESPN Networks’ then-popular Winter Heat Series at Tucson (AZ) 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 Craftsman (now Camping World) 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. In between his first two titles, he was named the Truck Series’ Most Popular Driver in 1997.
  • From 2000-2004, Hornaday competed in the Busch (now Xfinity) 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. Hornaday was named the Busch Series’ Most Popular Driver in 2000.
  • In 2005, Hornaday signed with Kevin Harvick Inc. for a Truck Series return; he regained his top-tier status in the series quickly, winning at Atlanta, finishing fifth in points and earning his second Most Popular Driver Award in the series. In 2007 and 2009, Hornaday won his third and fourth Truck Series titles, the first four-time champ in the series. In 2009, he also 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.
  • Hornaday continued competing in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series through 2014, and in 2015 qualified for his first Cup Series race since 2003 at Atlanta in March – it ended up being his final NASCAR start.
  • Find out more about the NASCAR Hall of Fame and its inductees at www.nascarhall.com


Fast Facts: 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Ron Hornaday Jr. Fast Facts: 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Ron Hornaday Jr. Reviewed by Paula on Tuesday, January 09, 2018 Rating: 5