Talladega Tangles a Fast Truck Early for Ron Hornaday Jr.

Talladega, a name synonymous with high speeds, hosted the 18th race of 2014 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the beginning of a five week stretch to the season finale in Homestead, Miami. NTS Motorsports teamed up with Armour Vienna Sausages and Bad Boy Buggies to take to the track with one of the most successful drivers in the series, Ron Hornaday. After proving that the team had not only a fast piece, but a strategy to get to the front, Hornaday only turned a handful of laps in practice and qualifying, leading into the Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola. Being fast right off of the hauler, is something NTS Motorsports has accomplished multiple times throughout the season and Friday in Talladega was another one of those times. The speed carried over to the race on Saturday also, as Ron posted the fastest lap of the race, before getting caught up in a Talladega tangle that ended up taking the No.9 Chevrolet Silverado out of contention for the rest of the day.

 

The first on track activity was held early on Friday morning, as the garage opened to prepare for a single two hour practice session for the NCWTS. Hornaday hit the track in practice, alongside his NTS Motorsports teammate, Brennan Newberry in the No.20 truck. They joined the rest of the drivers in the Chevrolet Silverado camp, with the veteran as the lead truck in the pack. Turning only six laps total, the group of Chevrolets went to the top of the board. The Armour Vienna Sausages and Bad Boy Buggies truck posted a time of 50.729 and a top speed of 188.768, which stood solid throughout the entire practice, placing Hornaday 6th on the board. Hornaday and the No.9 team elected to end practice early and begin preparations for the knockout qualifying sessions later that afternoon.

 

After meeting with fans during the series autograph session and taking in the sights and sounds of Talladega, Ron Hornaday Jr. strapped back into his No.9 Chevrolet Friday ready for the NASCAR’s new qualifying format. Qualifying would consist of three five minute rounds, two rounds of elimination, with the first round split into two separate groups of eighteen trucks, with the overall top 24 times advancing into the second round. Rounding out the second group in the first round, Hornaday advanced into the second round easily, posting a time of 50.827, which was third on the speed charts. As knockout style qualifying has proven to be a perpetual chess match during each round, lining up to go out for the second five minute segment, Chevrolet drivers were not able to hook up together to get the drafting help needed to set a fast lap. When the clock expired, the No.9 Chevrolet earned a starting spot in 14th, for Saturday afternoon’s race along his NTS teammate Brennan Newberry in the No. 20.

 

As the Talladega sun began to break over the ‘Alabama Gang Superstretch’, teams were already preparing for battle on the biggest and fastest track on the circuit. Ron Hornaday Jr. received handshakes from distinguished guests, a kiss for good luck from his c  ontinual side-kick and wife, Lindy, and pulled down his visor to go for the win. When the flag was displayed, positions immediately began to shift and change every time the field crossed the start-finish line. By lap seven, Hornaday was maintaining a spot with the front pack and reported to his spotter, “This truck is great, I can drive it anywhere I want to on the track”. This was further proven when Hornaday posted the fastest lap of the day at that point just one lap later. Unfortunately, living up to its reputation, Talladega Superspeedway struck a hard blow to the team’s weekend. Coming through the backstretch on lap 11, several competitors made contact in front of the four-time NASCAR Champion and Hornaday’s No. 9 Silverado was collected in the melee. Once in the garage area, the damage was accessed and unfortunately the No.9 Armour Vienna Sausages / Bad Boy Buggies team was done for the day. After displaying some of the top speeds and times of the weekend, Hornaday was forced to end his weekend early but proved that he continues to be a formidable force in the truck series. The next event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is Martinsville Speedway on October, 25th.

 

From the Driver’s Seat from Ron Hornaday Jr: “I had one of the best race vehicles I’ve ever had at Talladega this weekend.  I could drive this Chevy Silverado anywhere I wanted to on the race track.  I was having fun and working on our teams’ plan for the race and hated that we got collected in someone else’s wreck so early.  We had the truck to win this one!  I can’t thank Armour Vienna Sausages and Bad Boy Buggies enough for this opportunity and Bob (Newberry), Chris (Rice) and everyone at NTS Motorsports for making sure we had one of the best speedway trucks I’ve ever driven.”

 

NTS Motorsports PR