Hornaday to return to his short-track roots

 by Jim Short | Orange Show Speedway PR

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Ron Hornaday Jr. could have stayed home in North Carolina and relaxed this weekend. Instead, he boarded an airplane and made the trip west to compete at Orange Show Speedway Saturday night. “Orange Show is one of those places I cut my teeth at,” said Hornaday, who’ll be taking on the speedway regulars and a large group of visiting drivers in the KCAL 100 Super Late Model race. “Gary Stockman asked me to come out and drive his car and it’s a good time to go home and see some friends and family.“Orange Show has been good to me and this is a chance to come out there and have some fun.”

The fun will start at 6:30 p.m. with the preliminary races on a program that includes the ASA Street Stocks, Sport Compacts, Legend Cars and Bandoleros. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and military personnel and $2 for children 6 to 12. Parking is $4 with the entry through Gate 3 off Mill Street.

Spectator gates to the speedway will open at 5 p.m., but from 2 to 6 p.m. at the National Orange Show Events Center radio station KCAL (96.7 FM) will be presenting its Banks Power-Rocktane One Motor Music Festival. That event will feature freestyle motocross demonstrations, a Poker Run, truck displays and a live concert by Dog Faced Gods and the Monsters of Rock at 2 p.m. on the Bud Light Stage.

The Fright Factory Haunted House also will be open, for a separate admission.

Hornaday’s presence and the $2,500 that’s been added to the purse for the 100-lap main event have created a great deal of interest among racers from Las Vegas and throughout Southern and Central California. Over 30 entries are expected to vie for spots in a 20-car field, and that will make a “B’ main necessary to finalize the starting grid.

Hornaday, a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck champion, will be driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned and prepared by Stockman, whose son, Danny, is a member of Hornaday’s crew at Kevin Harvick, Inc.

The former Palmdale resident is, pardon the cliché, like an Old West gunfighter that all the young guns are lining up to try to beat, and he said that his rivals have “definitely got a good shot.
“I’ve probably lost my talent for driving those cars. The Super Late Models are a lot different than what I’ve been driving (Craftsman Truck and Busch Series cars). I know Gary has got me a good piece, so we’ll just go out and do the best we can.”

Hornaday will have time during Friday night’s open practice (6-10 p.m.) to adapt to the car and a banked quarter-mile oval that the competitors consider a “one groove” race track. But Hornaday said, “probably 50 percent of the tracks we run (in NASCAR) are one-groove. That’s nothin’ I ain’t used to. I got most of my talent and all of my driving ability from the short tracks and hopefully I didn’t lose too much of my edge.

“Hopefully we can put on a good show and make some new fans and friends.”

Racing at Orange Show Speedway is sponsored by Leno’s Rico Taco, Blackhawk Protection, CEC Embroidery, Golden West Tire, Lucas Oil, Soboba Casino, Budweiser, Sunoco Racing Fuel, Hoosier Racing Tires, Center Chevrolet, Pick A Part, Neff Rental, Pepsi, Loma Linda University Medical Center, J&M Trophy, Matich Corp., Lazer Radio (101.7 and 105.7 FM), La Salle Medical Associates, California Highway Patrol, KCAL radio (96.7 FM) and the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper.

For further information, call 909-888-6788, X438, or visit the web site at www.nosevents.com/speedway.htm.