Catchfence

No. 33 Jimmy John's Chevrolet Impala - Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

TEN AND COUNTING: This weekend four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday will climb behind the wheel of the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet as he makes his second start this season for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) in the Nationwide Series.

When Hornaday takes the green flag on Saturday for the Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (ORP), he will be making his 10th-career Nationwide Series start at the .686-mile oval track. In nine previous starts at the track, Hornaday has one win, two top-five and five top-10 finishes.

In addition to his success in the Nationwide Series at ORP, Hornaday has also proven himself in the Truck Series at the short track. He has 10 starts in the Truck Series with three wins, seven top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

DOUBLE-DUTY STYLE: Hornaday will be pulling double duty for the first time this season when he competes in both the NASCAR Truck and Nationwide Series races at ORP. Hornaday will pilot the No. 33 Georgia Boot Chevroelt Silverado on Friday night for the AAA Insurance 200 and will follow up on Saturday behind the wheel of the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for the Kroger 200. Hornaday pulled this off last season, winning the Truck Series race on Friday night to make history as the only Truck Series driver to win four consecutive races and finishing sixth on Saturday in the Nationwide Series.

“Double duty is usually fun, unless you were with me at Milwaukee last year,” said Hornaday with a smile. “The Truck race was cancelled due to rain so I ended up running the Truck and Nationwide race on the same day. I was pretty tired after that experience, but we won the Truck race and finished ninth in the Nationwide Series race. I also ran the Nationwide car here at ORP last year and we ran sixth. I’m looking forward to running both races; it will be a busy, but fun weekend.”

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER RON HORNADAY:

Do you prepare differently heading into ORP know that you will be pulling double duty competing in both the Truck and Nationwide Series race?

“Not really. I try and prepare myself mentally, knowning that I will be staying an extra day. I’m actually driving my motor home to ORP just so that I can be at the track and I can get a little extra rest. It also allows a place for me to go since I’m sure it will be hot and our haulers will be parked outside. I try to think of little things like that go a long way. It also helps that Ernie Cope will be my crew chief throughout the weekend at ORP. It really gives me a feeling of consistency, so I think both vehicles will run very similar.”

Does running the Truck race on Friday night help prepare you for the Nationwide race on Saturday?

“It definitely helps. I think running both events help to give you a feel for what the race track is like. The more laps you can run on any track will help you to remember the specific characteristics of the track and sometimes you find something during the Truck race that you can apply to the Nationwide car.”

With your success at ORP, what’s the key to a good lap around ORP?

“If you can get your car to cut through the middle of the corner and be able to get in the gas faster than anyone else then you will most likely be good in the race. I think qualifying is really key at short tracks. If you start up front, you tend to finish up front and that is what we plan to do.”

CHASSIS HISTORY:

This weekend the No. 33 Jimmy John’s team will unload chassis No. 051 for veteran Hornaday at ORP. This chassis last ran at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway where Mike Bliss made his first career start for KHI, starting the race sixth and finishing fifth. Previous to Nashville, this chassis was on track at Dover (Del.) International Speedway where two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick piloted the chassis to a sixth-place finish. Prior to Dover, the chassis visited victory lane in its first appearance of the season at Nashville Superspeedway and also earned a fifth-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway with Harvick behind the wheel.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP:

The Nationwide Series was most recently at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway where KHI co-owner Harvick piloted the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. After dominating the postponed Truck Series event earlier in the afternoon on Saturday to score his third Truck Series win this season, Harvick climbed behind the wheel of the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 and started the race from the 10th position. Wasting no time, Harvick began to make his way to the front, running most of the race in the top five before making contact with the wall in turn two on lap 187 while running fourth. With damage to the car, Harvick was able to nurse the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet home in the 16th position.

ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Nationwide Series by following @KHI_NNS. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Truck Series teams @KHI_TruckSeries. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick @KevinHarvick and @DeLanaHarvick.

Ron Hornaday Nationwide Series Stats at ORP

Year No. Team Start Finish

2009 33 KHI 8 6

2007 77 KHI 3 5

2006 33 KHI 3 23

2005 32 TB 3 14

2004 2 RCR 23 35

2003 2 RCR 16 8

2002 26 DC 29 10

2000 3 DEI 16 1

1999 25 ER 24 39

*KHI: Kevin Harvick Inc.
*TB: Todd Braun
*RCR: Richard Childress Racing
*DC: Dave Carroll
*DEI: Dale Earnhardt Inc.
*ER: Ed Rensi

About Jimmy John’s:

Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches was founded in 1983 by 19-year-old Jimmy John Liautaud in a converted garage in Charleston, IL. Since its inception, the company has grown to over 1,000 corporate and franchised locations in more than 37 states throughout the U.S. The company is known for its obsession with fresh, quality products and high-speed execution. For more information, visit www.jimmyjohns.com.

About Kevin Harvick Inc.:

Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.

- Kevin Harvick Inc. Press Release