Ron Hornaday Jr. celebrates his 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory after winning the Kentucky 225 on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky. Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR
He finally did it!! Ron Hornaday Jr. scored a milestone 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win Saturday in the Kentucky 225 on a cold night of racing at Kentucky Speedway. The air temperature at the start of the race was 48 degrees, and the track temperature was 53 degrees.
Hornaday held off the late-race charges of runner-up and polesitter Austin Dillon during the final 10 laps. Dillon, who protected his lead in the series points standings, pulled to within two-tenths of a second of Hornaday but could get no closer.
Hornaday led the final 11 of 150 laps on the 1.5-mile speedway after leader Todd Bodine pitted. The key to Hornaday’s win came on his last pit stop for four tires and fuel. Hornaday led four times for 42 laps.
Hornaday has three wins at Kentucky Speedway. His first career truck win came at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park on April 8, 1995—the same month Dillon turned 5.
There were a track-record 18 lead changes among 11 drivers. Rookie Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Ickler in Kyle Busch’s Toyota rounded out the top five. Pretty exciting for a non-existent presence of any NASCAR Cup drivers.
Ty Dillon, Austin’s younger brother, finished 18th in his first NASCAR national series race.
The next race in the series is Oct. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, also a 1.5-mile track.