Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Learn more about Dash 4 Cash

 

The heats are on, literally. When the NASCAR XFINITY Series descends upon Bristol Motor Speedway for its first short-track race of 2016, it will also mark the first race under the revamped Dash 4 Cash format.



This year, the four drivers eligible for the Dash 4 Cash prize will be determined by two heat races ahead of the main race. The top two XFINITY Series points-earning drivers in each heat will make up the Dash 4 Cash field in the main race. The highest finisher in the main among the four eligible drivers wins the Dash 4 Cash prize of $100,000.

 

RELATED: Explaining the new Dash 4 Cash format

 

“(This is) a great opportunity for me to look at what happens, what do the fans think of this concept and really looking at it going forward and how does it change some of the race strategies as well,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” earlier this week.

XFINITY Series managing director Wayne Auton indicated that the new format gave an equal chance to the whole garage.

“This is a great opportunity for the back half of the garage as much as it is the front half,” Auton said. “This gives them an opportunity to really go for some good money and they feel like they got a shot at it.”

There are some rules wrinkles with the new format as well. 



“You have to start the heat on the tires you qualified on and you have to start the heat on the fuel (from qualifying),” Auton said. “No one should run out of fuel with the amount of laps we’re running.”



The heat races will go their scheduled distance and there will be no overtimes. Following the heat races, teams can change tires and add fuel with the normal final adjustments ahead of the main race. In addition, if a driver wrecks in a heat, teams can only work on the car until the checkered flag flies in their particular heat. That suggestion in particular, Auton said, came from the garage area. A team’s tire count starts with the heat race.

The possibility of a driver wrecking in a heat race and missing the main is not lost on JR Motorsports’ Elliott Sadler.


”It’s kind of nerve-racking knowing that you can wreck your car in the heat race and can’t even race in the Feature, so that’s kind of a tough concept,” Sadler told NASCAR.com at Texas Motor Speedway. 

”Of all the places to put it at, to put it at Bristol was a good idea on XFINITY‘s and NASCAR’s part.”

NASCAR wanted to keep the heat races and main event the same distance as the previous year’s races. Only Richmond will be a slightly shorter distance. Last year’s race there was 250 laps; this year’s heats and main will total 210 laps.



With the new format comes uncertainty, excitement and an air of suspense before it is run. But drivers are intrigued to see how it plays out.



“I’m most curious about how people are going to race, knowing that you can’t go to a backup car before the feature or the main,” Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Erik Jones said. “So I’m interested to see how people kind of handle that fact.”

Richard Childress Racing‘s Brendan Gaughan thinks that the move is a litmus test that could lead to something more.


“To me, I think this is NASCAR’s volley,” Gaughan said. “They want to see if this will stick. Why not? You’ve got the XFINITY Series. You’ve got a sponsor. You’ve got people that want to see something exciting. Maybe try something different because fans are always clamoring about something different. Throw something on the wall and see what sticks.”

Gaughan added that his opinion of the format will be based on one main factor: whether he takes home the prize.

“I’m excited to try it,” he said. “I don’t know if it will be good or bad. I don’t care if it’s good or bad. Let’s get there and see what it does. If I win $100,000 at Bristol, I’m going to say ‘I love it.’ If I don’t, I’m going to say, ‘Eh, let’s go to next week and see how it goes.’ I think that’s a very cool thing.”

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Tuesday evening, after learning about the untimely death of Michael Glenn Mastalez — a “big 2 fan” — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski recounted with his Twitter followers a special moment he spent with the 21-year-old one week earlier.

 

Mastalez and four others died in a sightseeing helicopter crash last Monday in Tennessee.

 

And then Mastalez’s best friend jumped into the conservation, letting Keselowski know that his friend was “on cloud nine” after meeting the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion. 

 

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Last week, we saw more loose wheels at Texas than any other race this season.

Next on the schedule is Bristol, where there were plenty of loose wheels last year.

So, it raises the question: What will pit crews’ strategy be this weekend?

Teams that are willing to gamble will reap the rewards as long as tires stay tight. Hitting four lug nuts over five is much faster, and spots can definitely be made up on pit road.

However, the risk-versus-reward scenario at Bristol is much higher than at other tracks. The reward is a fast pit stop, but a loose wheel can put you multiple laps down at a short track.

At a 1.5-mile track, teams can recover from a loose wheel — but not at Bristol. So, don’t expect many crews to gamble on four lug nuts when Bristol presented so many problems last year.

For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

Giving back. It’s something the five finalists for Crown Royal’s annual “Your Hero’s Name Here” program have all done without question or hesitancy, whether it’s protecting classmates from gunfire, serving in the armed forces or founding a service-dog centered charity to help wounded veterans.

 

They gave back and served as heroes do. And because they gave back, Crown Royal will put a name in lights. One grand prize winner from among the deserving, heroic five finalists will be etched in history with naming rights to the 23rd annual Brickyard 400, which takes place July 24 at famed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 

This race will mark the 10th time Crown Royal has awarded race-naming rights to an adult fan.

 

The program focuses on all of the unsung heroes who make a difference in their communities, from firefighters and police officers to first responders and local volunteers. Every year five heroic finalists are nominated and through fan voting, and one winner is chosen to have their name cemented in sports history.
 
Beginning this week, adult consumers can go to CrownRoyalHeroes.com to vote for the hero they think is most deserving of naming rights to the race. Voting runs through June 9 and the grand prize winner will be announced that month. See below for their names and bios.
 
All five finalists will be flown to Indianapolis to attend the race, and the grand prize winner will be provided with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which will include delivering the trophy bearing his or her moniker to the race winner in Victory Lane.

 

The Brickyard 400 is one of the landmark NASCAR races every season. Since 1994, the group of big-name race winners includes the likes of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.

 

Previous Crown Royal grand prize winners who had the race named after them are: Curtiss Shaver (2012), Samuel Deeds (2013), John Wayne Walding (2014) and Jeff Kyle (2015)

Chris Mintz – Former Army Infantryman and Community Hero

 

Chris Mintz, 30, of Roseburg, Oregon, is a former Army infantryman and community hero. On Oct. 1, 2015, a gunman entered Umpqua Community College and fatally shot an assistant professor and eight students. Mintz, a student at the community college, responded to screams and gun shots coming from an adjacent classroom, using his body to block the connecting door and allowing his class to escape.  He then alerted other students when he was shot five times by the gunman. When medical assistance arrived, Mintz was rushed to Mercy Medical Center where he was told he would have to learn to walk again. The only thought running through Mintz’s mind was his son, who was turning 6 that day. Today, Chris continues to receive medical treatment and physical therapy for his wounds, but he is back in school at UCC to study marketing and is continuing to work and take care of his son. Driven by his desire to inspire others to always rise to the call of heroism, Mintz intends to use his marketing degree to become a motivational speaker and personal trainer. Mintz continues to train in mixed martial arts in hopes of overcoming his disabilities and instilling his motivation to overcome in others. “I’m just a normal guy who was doing what anyone should,” said Mintz. As a longtime NASCAR lover who hails from Richard Petty’s hometown, Mintz is looking forward to cheering for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400.

Jason Redman – Retired Navy SEAL and Founder of Combat Wounded Coalition

 

Jason Redman, 40, of Chesapeake, Virginia, is a retired Navy SEAL, motivational speaker, author of “The Trident” and founder of Combat Wounded Coalition. Redman enlisted in the Navy following high school and served 10 years as an enlisted SEAL before enrolling at Old Dominion University. After graduation, Redman was commissioned as a Naval SEAL Officer. Over his career he served five deployments total including two combat deployments. In 2007, while on an operation in Iraq to capture a member of Al Qaeda, Redman’s team came under heavy machine gun fire, and he was wounded with shots to the face and left arm. While recovering from his 37 surgeries at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Redman wrote and hung a sign on his door, which became a statement and symbol for wounded warriors everywhere. The original sign on the door now hangs in the Wounded Ward at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda.  Redman was honored with the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medals and two Combat Action Ribbons. Following his recovery, Redman founded the non-profit Combat Wounded Coalition and Wounded Wear to help combat wounded warriors overcome the wounds of war.  In 2013, Redman founded his speaking company, SOF Spoken sharing his message of leadership, teamwork. Although the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 will be his first NASCAR race, Redman had the privilege of speaking at a NASCAR conference in 2013.

Leigh Ann Hester Active Army National Guard Sergeant First Class and Police Officer

 

Leigh Ann Hester, 34, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is a United States Army National Guard Sergeant First Class and Police Officer in Franklin, Tennessee. Since her enlistment in 2001, Hester has been deployed three times — twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. During a deployment in Iraq, Hester and her squad were ambushed by enemy forces. Hester incapacitated the group of insurgents and successfully maneuvered her squad to safety without any casualties. Her courageous actions make Hester the first female since World War II to receive a Silver Star. Hester has also received a Bronze Star and an Army Commendation medal for her military service. Hester has demonstrated her strong commitment to serving this country as an active National Guard Sergeant, but she has also been a police officer with the Franklin Police Department for the last 10 years. As an officer, Hester has a direct impact on her community by keeping it safe and crime-free. Her integral role helps protect the citizens of Franklin and her military experience is an asset to the law enforcement team she works so closely with on a daily basis. Hester has grown up watching NASCAR and, although she has never attended a race before, is looking forward to making the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 an unforgettable experience.

Michael Gallardo – Retired Army Sergeant

 

Michael Gallardo, 31, of San Antonio, Texas, joined the Army in November of 2004 and was deployed in 2006 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom when his life changed forever. Serving with a reconnaissance unit on Death Row Route, named after countless IED-led ambushes, Gallardo’s unit purposely ran over an IED to protect the members of his mission.  After the blast Gallardo noticed his truck commander stuck in the vehicle and tried to free him, severing his Achilles tendon in the process, and causing him to later lose his left leg after more than surgeries. After this tragic event, Gallardo’s life came to a halt. He decided to use his passion for physical fitness as a driver to begin training for marathons, triathlons, and an Ironman. When veterans’ organization Guardian For Heroes stepped in to pay for Gallardo’s gym membership, his love for CrossFit was born. From being told he may never walk properly again to becoming one of the fittest men in the CrossFit world, Gallardo’s determination is that of a true warrior. At a young age, Gallardo’s mother and personal hero taught him to always help people without asking for anything in return in which he lives by this notion every day to honor her memory. Today, Gallardo works with veterans providing counseling and training advice and is active in many veteran organizations and within the CrossFit community. When Gallardo found out he was one of the finalists in the “Your Hero’s Name Here” program he was grinning ear to ear. “I’m honored to show fellow veterans if I can do it, they can do it too.”

Piper Hill – Retired Army Captain and Founder of Healing4Heroes

 

Piper Hill, 45, of Atlanta, is a retired Army Captain and founder of the charity Healing4Heroes. Hill joined the Army Reserves in 1990 and was an active duty officer from 1995 until 2009, when she was officially retired from the Temporary Disabled Retirement List for injuries that incurred while on active duty. She suffered from PTSD and a brain injury that occurred while serving in the Army.  While recovering, Hill remembers one thing from those years — her dog Valentine, who stayed by her side every day. Hill trained Valentine to become a service dog, giving her the strength and endurance to become healthy again. Thus, Healing4Heroes began. The non-profit organization provides trained and free-of-charge service dogs for wounded service members, as well as to those with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other cognitive issues or illnesses.  Hill has provided more than 220 veterans with service dogs nationwide and continues to help and provide for veterans every day. Through her initiatives, Hill has established herself as a helper, healer and heroine within the veteran community, changing many lives for the better. Hill is extremely excited and humbled to be a finalist for the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400, and looks forward to bringing her sister to the big race.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch the live stream | See Dale Jr.’s throwback look for Darlington
Buy Tickets: Kansas

On Thursday, NASCAR.com will live stream the reveal of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet paint scheme that he’ll wheel at Kansas Speedway next month (May 6-7). The reveal will be streamed from 2:45-3 p.m. ET. In addition to the paint scheme reveal, Dale Jr. will take a lap around Uptown Charlotte in the car.

Tune in to the live stream here.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full Texas results | Updated standings

 

NASCAR took 15 minutes of practice time away from the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Trevor Bayne for inspection failures during the Duck Commander 500 weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

The No. 2 team failed pre-qualifying laser inspection three times, and the No. 6 team failed pre-race laser inspection three times.

The practice penalties will be served this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Opening practice begins Friday, April 15 at 11 a.m. ET.

 

Four other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams received warnings but will not have to serve a practice penalty.

 

Those teams were the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon and the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kyle Larson for failing pre-race inspection twice and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch and the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota of David Ragan for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice. Busch won the Duck Commander 500 for his second straight win in the Sprint Cup Series.

 

The Nos. 01 (Ryan Preece), 5 (Chase Elliott) and 7 (Justin Allgaier) teams in the NASCAR XFINITY Series received written warnings for failing pre-race laser inspection twice.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets | ’16 throwback schemes | SHOP: Danica gear

Danica Patrick‘s paint scheme for the throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway has been revealed by Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Twitter account.

See the look that Patrick will take to the track with her over Labor Day weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sunday, Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

Last year, Patrick sported a black and green scheme for then-sponsor GoDaddy at “The Lady in Black.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets | ’16 throwback schemes | SHOP: Dale Jr. gear

On Wednesday, Nationwide revealed the paint scheme for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.

As he has mentioned several times on social media, the scheme is a tribute to “Gray Ghost” look driven by Buddy Baker.

“It’s my favorite paint scheme of all time,” Earnhardt Jr. said at the unveiling.


RELATED: Dale Jr. drops throwback hints

On top of that, Nationwide revealed the fire suit that Earnhardt Jr. will wear at Darlington.

Earnhardt Jr. will sport these colors for events in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Staff Report

Editor’s Note: This story initially ran in April 2016.

MORE: See the scheme, fire suit that Dale Jr. sported at Darlington

RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets | ’16 throwback schemes | SHOP: Dale Jr. gear

DARLINGTON, S.C. — The “Gray Ghost” lives to race again.

Or at least a very reasonable facsimile of the famous entry that was driven to victory in the 1980 Daytona 500 by NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Buddy Baker.

On Wednesday at Darlington Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. unveiled his team’s throwback paint scheme for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sunday, Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), paying homage to the 19-time race winner and his Harry Ranier-owned, Waddell Wilson-tuned machine.

Photo credit: @Nationwide88 Twitter account

The black and silver Chevrolet carries orange numbers — 88 instead of Baker’s No. 28 — and orange stripes while featuring Nationwide branding.

But even with those minor differences, the resemblance is striking.

RELATED: Dale Jr. drops throwback hints

It is, Earnhardt Jr. said, his favorite paint scheme.

“The black and silver, the chrome numbers that NASCAR doesn’t allow any more,” Earnhardt said. “Those chrome numbers to me were very, very cool. But the black and silver was a mean looking race car, a real tough looking race car.

“I thought the colors and the chrome numbers really complimented each other really well. Buddy was this giant guy; it probably wouldn’t have been quite as cool a paint scheme if it had been a four-foot 10 guy driving it.”

The car was named the “Gray Ghost,” a reflection of its color scheme which blended in with the racing surface of the track and its apparent ability to appear out of nowhere, speeding past unsuspecting rivals at a moment’s notice.

Baker and Wilson teamed up to win twice that season — at Daytona and again later that year at Talladega. His average winning speed of 177.602 mph at Daytona, where he led 143 of 200 laps, remains a race record.

It was especially gratifying given the team’s stumble the previous year when a clearly dominant car (Baker had won the pole and his qualifying race handily) suffered mechanical issues early in the race.

“He just seemed to be a great match with the car,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They were just so good, so fast. When they won the Daytona 500 after such a devastating loss after 1979 — they were the greatest thing down there, nobody could touch them throughout the entire weekend and then they didn’t even really get to race.

“And then they went back in ’80 and won, it was pretty neat; I know that was pretty special for Buddy to get that win. You can tell in some of the interviews from back then how important the Daytona 500 win was to him.”

The car and the team were no less stout at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr., said, adding, “Nobody could keep up with them.”

Seven-time premier series champion Dale Earnhardt ran second to Baker, but according to Earnhardt Jr., the elder Earnhardt “was just hanging on to his coattails all day long.

“(He was) just lucky to be in the draft,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I think Dad had the lead somehow or another, (through) pit cycles, to where (he) had like a 10-second lead and Buddy ran him down in like 20 laps. It was ridiculous.

“You could see all day long in that particular race Buddy wasn’t even really stretching the legs in that race car. And when he had to, when he got nervous and it got down to the end and he had to make up that distance, he was beating the second-place car by half a second a lap almost. It was incredible.”

This will be the second year Darlington Raceway has featured a throwback theme, with a focus on paint schemes that ran between 1975 and 1984. Last year, Earnhardt Jr.’s entry featured a red, white and blue paint Valvoline paint scheme that honored NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and three-time series champion Cale Yarborough.

RELATED: See Dale Jr.’s paint scheme from 2015

Jim McCoy, Director of Sports Marketing for Nationwide, said the company knew as soon as last year’s throwback program hit the track at Darlington that Nationwide should be involved.

“We talked about it starting last September when we saw the pieces come together,” McCoy said. “We weren’t (the) primary (sponsor), Valvoline had the paint scheme with Dale. It just felt like we should be there.

“We love his passion and he loves what he drives and what it looks like. He’s such a great partner.

“He clearly had a vision in direction in which he wanted to head. We were supportive of that and found the right ways to infuse our logo, the historic logo (with) the ‘N’ and Eagle that’s on the hood. It was a great back-and-forth process that I think we’re all very pleased on how it turned out.”

Baker passed away Aug. 10, 2015. Come September, he and the “Gray Ghost” will be front and center once again.

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RELATED: Hornaday among NASCAR’s 2017 Hall of Fame nominees

 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Ron Hornaday is currently not competing in NASCAR, but the four-time champion appears to be as busy as ever. And racing remains his focus.

Hornaday, winner of a series-best 51 victories in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series, is more hands-on these days, building dirt Modifieds for grandson Slater McCray and teammate Billy Workman Jr. as well as several other competitors.

There are those who kick up the dust and ride the cushion on local tracks in the Carolinas, Kentucky, Indiana and various other venues who put their faith in a Hornaday-built entry. Given their success, it seems that trust has been well placed.

A recent Saturday night outing at Fayetteville Motor Speedway indicated as much — the top three in the Open Wheel Modified division were built by Hornaday Race Cars.

“Back to building dirt cars and having fun again,” Hornaday said recently from his race shop, surrounded by cars in various states of progress. “Back to doing a little bit of everything, I guess.”

It’s been two years since Hornaday made his last start in the Truck Series, running what turned out to be an abbreviated schedule with the former Turner Scott Motorsports group and NTS Motorsports.

He has competed in all three of NASCAR’s national series — Sprint Cup, XFINITY as well at Trucks. Last year, he made five attempts with The Motorsports Group in Sprint Cup, but qualified for only one race.

“That was helping a team get started and all that stuff,” he said of the brief return. “It didn’t seem to work out. I was always the guy, I told my wife that I’m not going to go out there and ride around just for a paycheck. If I wasn’t competitive I wasn’t going to do it. That (opportunity) didn’t work out.

“But I’ve got a lot of opportunities. People call me and say, ‘Hey, do you want to drive (a truck) Martinsville?’ I said ‘Yeah, I’d love to.’ And they’d say, ‘Well, how much money can you bring?’

“That ain’t racing to me anymore so … it’s back to dirt racing and having fun.”


Hornaday, 57, enjoyed not one but two successful careers in the Truck Series. From 1995-99, he competed for Dale Earnhardt Inc., becoming the series’ first two-time champion with titles in 1996 and ’98 while winning 25 times.

After several years that saw him race in Sprint Cup (for team owner A.J. Foyt) and the XFINITY Series (for DEI and Richard Childress Racing among others), he returned to the Truck Series with Kevin Harvick Inc.

At KHI, he won two more championships (his four career titles is a series record) and 25 more races between ’05-11.

“A.J. was the easiest,” Hornaday said of his various career stops. “He’s always snappy; he sounded like my dad. I’d tell him, ‘A.J., you’d still be driving a car if you could fit in the window so don’t yell at me no more.’

At DEI, founded by seven-time premier series champion Dale Earnhardt, Hornaday said, “With Dale, come Monday morning you didn’t have to have excuses, he already knew it, (knew) what happened — if you messed up or the truck wasn’t set up right or something like that.

“And I put Kevin (Harvick) in that same category. If our competitiveness wasn’t right there or our performance wasn’t, Kevin would build a new truck and show that we could still do it, go down the right path.

“I owe Kevin and DeLana (Harvick, Kevin’s wife) a lot. … To rejuvenate my Truck Series deal when Kevin started the team and that actually led to a lot of wins. I guess the most memorable was five wins in a row; that was pretty awesome.”


RELATED: Defining DeLana Harvick: From KHI executive to mom


In ’09, Hornaday and his KHI team reeled off a string of victories that stretched from Milwaukee to Memphis to Kentucky to Indianapolis to Nashville. The streak finally ended with a third-place finish at the series’ next stop at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Recollections of winning the first championship for KHI stand out, he said. “Kevin and DeLana, owning their own team and seeing (Kevin) on the backstretch waiting for me,” he said, “getting out of the truck and getting a big ol’ hug from him.”

Harvick calls Hornaday “one of my racing heroes as I grew up.” He watched the fellow Californian compete at tracks “up and down the state” in the Southwest Tour.

“He has been very successful at what he has done,” Harvick said earlier this year. “He did a lot of that on his own.

“I think as you look at where we were as a company … he made our company legitimate from a racing standpoint. Because you brought in a champion, a winner and he continued to win. …

“He brought that instant approval of a winner and a proven champion and proven winner in himself. We knew we just had to get our stuff right and we were able to be successful together. It was fun to see him be successful at the end of his career.”


RELATED: Bakersfield roots run deep for Harvick

Hornaday’s first Truck Series title, in ’96 while driving for DEI, was sealed with a 10th-place finish in the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was an off week for the Sprint Cup Series and Earnhardt was spotting for Hornaday. But the driver couldn’t make out what his owner was saying on the radio during the final few laps. It seemed Earnhardt was trying to spot while also making his way down for the championship celebration.

“There’s a tunnel underneath the race track and all I hear is (garble),” Hornaday said. “By the time the checkered flag dropped, he was already in Victory Lane. Big old hug and champagne going everywhere. A lot of memorable moments.”

Earlier this year, Hornaday was named one of 25 nominees to be considered for election into the NASCAR Hall of Fame for its class of 2017. He is the first Truck Series competitor to be nominated and one of five newcomers on the list.

There was no Hall of Fame when he began his driving career in 1979, so there were no Hall of Fame aspirations.

“I did this to put food on the table,” Hornaday said. “At the time, we went race track to race track, and if we didn’t make enough money, we didn’t go racing.

“My wife says it’s a big thing (to be nominated) and yeah, but I don’t know what it means. Did I do my job? Did I make a good living for my family?

“I was just a guy that was fortunate enough to drive for a lot of great teams and a lot of great owners. I worked with a lot of unbelievable people that made my talent show, I guess, because you’re only as good as the equipment you drive and I was fortunate enough to go down the right path.”

His is a career that’s come full circle. A journey that began with short-track Saturday night shows has come back to just that.

“You look at it and I say I did what I wanted to do I guess,” he said. “I don’t know. I’m still having fun doing it.”