America's Heartland hosts first Truck race in Iowa

Twenty-five of Hornaday's 40 wins won on short tracks

By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM
September 3, 2009
09:38 AM EDT

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Last week the Truck Series made its first-ever stop at Chicagoland Speedway, and this week more history will be made as the series shifts one state to the west to make its first start at .875-mile Iowa Speedway.

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Newness might not be what points leader Ron Hornaday is looking for. Although he did extend his points lead to 220 after Chicagoland, it was one of the worst performances the No. 33 truck has made this season.

Hornaday's 11th at Chicagoland was just the third time this season he failed to finish in the top 10, ending a streak of seven consecutive top-10 runs. Hornaday also started the race sixth, the first time this season he failed to qualify in the top five.

The good news, Iowa is a short track and Hornaday loves to run on the short tracks.

In four short-track starts this season, Hornaday has two wins (Memphis, ORP), a second (Martinsville) and a third (Bristol). Hornaday also is the all-time wins leader on short tracks with 20 of his 45 wins coming on tracks less than a mile in length.

So while the three-time Truck Series champion doesn't have much knowledge of Iowa, his short-track prowess should come out and inch him closer to the championship.

1Brian Ickler has a win at Iowa Speedway -- a Camping World East/West combination race in 2008. He will drive the No. 51 Billy Ballew Toyota in the Truck race.

3The No. 3 will be on the track for the first time since 1999. Richard Childress Racing has entered the truck with Austin Dillon as the driver in this week's race at Iowa.

4.3Average finish for Aric Almirola in three short-track races run this season. He finished fourth at Memphis, third at ORP and sixth at Bristol.

5Stacy Compton has finished in the top 15 in the last five Truck Series races. Compton would still love to get a win and end his 91-race winless skid. Compton's last victory came in 1998 at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.

7Johnny Sauter's (166) lead on Tayler Malsam (159) in the Truck Series' rookie of the year battle.

95Number of bonus points Ron Hornaday has collected this season. He has held the lead in 14 of the 16 races run and has led the most laps in five of them. Compare that to second-place Matt Crafton, who only has 30 bonus points thanks to leading six races.

100Todd Bodine has been in the top 10 in points in the Truck Series for an amazing 100 consecutive weeks. The next closest is Ron Hornaday and 40 consecutive weeks in the top 10.

1,440Number of laps Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch have led this season. Those two have led more laps than the rest of the Truck Series drivers combined.

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Standings

Pos.	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	--	Ron Hornaday	2,593	--
2.	--	Matt Crafton	2,373	-220
3.	--	Mike Skinner	2,277	-316
4.	+2	Todd Bodine	2,169	-424
5.	-1	Brian Scott	2,154	-439
6.	-1	David Starr	2,110	-483
7.	--	Colin Braun	2,096	-497
8.	--	Dennis Setzer	2,065	-528
9.	+1	Rick Crawford	2,051	-542
10.	+2	Terry Cook	2,015	-578