ThorSport Racing

What do you remember about your first race at Phoenix?

“It was in 1997. I don’t remember how we finished so it must not have been that good, but I do remember how anxious I was getting to go there. That whole week leading up to that race I could feel the butterflies. At that point the biggest track I’d ever raced a stock car on was a quarter mile. We took the car to Bakersfield to get some test laps in before we went to Phoenix just so I would have a little better feel for the speed involved. This was before they had a committee to review your resume, so really all you had to do was file an entry and go. I remember getting there and I couldn’t believe how big the place was compared to everywhere else we’d raced. It really was like racing at Daytona to me then.”

Why is Phoenix such a big deal to you?

“Well it all goes back to when I was a kid, watching my dad race there. And once I started having the chance to run there, we were always so fast but we just had the worst luck. We started on the pole there a few times and had the fastest car out there. One race we were leading by half a lap and the rear gear went out, and the next race we were there leading by a straightaway and we lost another rear gear. It’s always a place I’ve wanted to win at, so I built my own car to run the last Copper World there. I had three guys in a 15 passenger van and a little box trailer and we went out and won the race. It was great to finally get that win but I really want to get a Truck win there.”

Matt Crafton – Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

“We just need to have everything go right. I know we had the truck to win last weekend but something outside of our control took away our chance to win. We qualified on the pole but had to start from the back. We could run with Kyle (Busch) and Johnny (Sauter) but it was like a brick wall of air whenever we got within a couple of lengths of them. I know we’ll have a truck just as capable of running up front this weekend, we just need to get track position. That’s what cost us last weekend.”

Matt at Phoenix: Matt has nine career NCWTS starts at PIR; he has two top-five finishes (third, 2004; fifth, 2006) and six top-ten finishes. His best start was second in 2007. His average start is 10.4 and his average finish is 9.3. He has completed all 1,362 possible competition laps at PIR.

Matt’s Phoenix Truck: Matt will be driving ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 43 this weekend at PIR. This chassis was brand new for the Iowa race in July and has also been used at Gateway, ORP, and New Hampshire. It has four top-five finishes in the four races in which it has been used.

- ThorSport Racing Press Release

Matt Crafton

“We just came up short tonight,” Crafton said. “I pumped those tires up on that last run. The run before that one, we got behind, caught some lapped traffic, and the No. 4 and No. 17 got too far away from us. We could slowly run them down, but they just had too much distance on us. The crew chief made a great call to take four tires right there at the end, and we were able to make it back to second-place. I said I wanted to go down swinging, and we did. But overall, our No. 88 Australian Gold Chevy was really strong. The guys worked on it a bunch from the time we rolled it off the trailer. We qualified seventh for the race, and we knew we’d have a great shot to win. We wanted to win so badly, but it wasn’t to be for us. Our guys did a heck of a job, like they have all season, and I really appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”

It was Crafton’s fifth second-place finish this season, and his second in the last three races. He finished in second-place in the NCWTS standings. For the season, Crafton racked-up a career-high eleven top-five and twenty-one top-ten finishes. He won Pole Awards at Chicagoland and Texas.

“We did some good things this season, and there’s no doubt we expect to be right there battling for the championship again next season,” he said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be better next season. We’ve sold a few trucks already here at the end of the season, and we’re building new trucks for next season. We know what we need to do to make our trucks just that much better, and our sights are set on a championship run. This team has come a long way in a few years, and we just keep getting better. I’m thankful to (owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson for providing us all of the resources we need to try to win races and a championship, thankful to Menards and Chevy for all of the great help they continue to provide to us. Hopefully, we can bring a championship home next season.”

- ThorSport Racing Press Release

Ron Hornaday Jr. and team owner Kevin Harvick celebrate Hornaday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship and Harvick's Ford 200 win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The championship is Hornaday's fourth in the series and the second for Kevin Harvick Inc. (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

FORD 200

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

NOVEMBER 20, 2009

Kevin Harvick Caps off Season with Victory at Homestead; Ron Hornaday, Jr. is 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion and Delivers Kevin and DeLana Harvick, Co-owners of Kevin Harvick, Inc Second Truck Series Owners Title; Silverado Increases Driver’s Championships to 10 in NCWTS Competition; Johnny Sauter Claims 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award

Miami – (November 20, 2009) – It is official, Ron Hornaday, Jr., No. 33 Longhorn Silverado, has won the 2009 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCWTS) driver championship to become the first four-time Series champion.

With his eighth (8th) place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hornaday and the No. 33 Silverado team led by Rick Ren delivered the 2009 NCWTS owners championship for the second time to Kevin and DeLana Harvick, co-owners of Kevin Harvick, Inc.(KHI).

To cap off the season, Harvick claimed his third NCWTS win of the season taking his No. 4 Georgia Boots Silverado to victory lane. He led four times for 108 of 136 laps.

Hornaday’s first title came in 1996. He claimed his second in 1998 and third, also behind the wheel of a KHI Silverado, in 2007. He holds the top spot in number of race wins in the Series with 45 to date. Rick Ren is also the winningest NCWTS crew chief with a total of 27 trips to victory lane.

In claiming both the 2009 NCWTS driver and owner crowns, KHI claimed nine (9) victories this season. Hornaday captured his title with six (6) wins this season. Harvick contributed to KHI’s owners title with three trips to victory lane.

Hornaday’s championship is the 10th time a Silverado driver has won the NCWTS top-prize in the 15-year history of the Series, more than any other manufacturer.

“On behalf of everyone at Chevrolet, congratulations to Ron, Kevin and DeLana on their outstanding season that netted them both the driver and owner championships in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,” said Brent Dewar, Vice President, Chevrolet Global. “For Ron to become the only four-time NCWTS champion with his Rick Ren-led team is a remarkable achievement. There is a great sense of pride at Chevrolet that all of his 45 wins have come behind the wheel of a Chevy Silverado.”

Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menards Silverado, finished second in tonight’s race and in the standings after a season-long battle with Hornaday. It is the best final point standings finish for Crafton in his 10-year NCWTS career.

Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Silverado, captured the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award as well as finishing sixth in the overall standings.

“It is a proud moment for us to congratulate Ron Hornaday on his fourth NCWTS championship and Kevin and DeLana Harvick on their second owners crown,” said Mark Kent, GM Racing Manager. “With the outstanding performances of the ThorSport drivers Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter, Team Chevy captured three of the top-six positions in the final standings.

“As a result of the 10 victories captured by Ron, Kevin and Johnny, Chevy Silverado continues to be the winningest truck in the Series.”

Ron, Rick, Kevin and DeLana and the entire No. 33 KHI Chevy Silverado team will be honored at the championship celebration on Monday, November 23 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

November 20, 2009

An interview with:

KEVIN HARVICK

ERNIE COPE

RON HORNADAY JR.

RICK REN

THE MODERATOR: We’ve got quite a group up here in front of us. We’re going to roll into the race winner for the Ford 200. That is Kevin Harvick, he drives the No. 4, Georgia Boot Chevrolet with crew chief Ernie Cope, and also joining him up on the podium is our 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion for the fourth time. He sets an unprecedented record in that series. No one has ever won four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships, and he’s the first driver to do that. And that’s Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet, with crew chief, Rick Ren. Certainly owners Kevin Harvick and DeLana Harvick are here with them to celebrate in that.

First off, the race winner, let’s hear from Kevin Harvick. Great victory for you tonight. The third win in your sixth top 10 in 2009. Back to back victories, congratulations, Kevin.

KEVIN HARVICK: Thank you. Just you know it was a great weekend for us. The truck was flawless. Really two weeks in a row it’s been flawless now. We built two new trucks to try to get a head start on next year.

Our main goal was to go out and after Ron had clinched the driver’s championship the last two weeks to lead the most laps and win the race, and it’s not very often you can go out and accomplish that. So we had a good weekend and the guys have worked hard.
And Georgia Boot came on at the last minute to sponsor the truck, so it’s been a great weekend. Lock up the championship last week, and lock up the owner’s championship this week makes it a lot of fun.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. You have your crew chief over there, Ernie Cope. Your thoughts about tonight’s victory?

ERNIE COPE: It was pretty dominating. Only thing I was worried about was a caution at the end, and it did happen, but the truck was fast enough it didn’t matter.

THE MODERATOR: Speaking of domination tonight, Kevin Harvick certainly defined that. He had a perfect driver rating of 150 tonight in the race. That’s the first time, I think, in your career in the Truck Series, Kevin, that you’ve accomplished that. It doesn’t get any better than that. So congratulations on a perfect driver rating of 150.

KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don’t really know how that works. But it sounds good.

THE MODERATOR: Various components go into it. But it’s certainly a measure of just how dominant you were tonight. Congratulations.

KEVIN HARVICK: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Let’s hear from our 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. He may have wrapped it up this week, but he was hard charging out there tonight. But, Ron, how does it feel to win four championships in this series as competitive as it is, and here you are with your fourth championship? Talk about that?

RON HORNADAY JR.: It would have been really bad if we did not win that owner’s championship. This team really deserves it. Kevin and DeLana have given us the equipment to do the stuff that we do. Five wins in a row is remarkable, and that’s because of Rick Ren and all the guys and Kevin and DeLana letting us build new trucks week in and week out.

I went up there probably two months ago and I had like 11 trucks done. I went back up there two weeks ago and only had four trucks. So Kevin keeps selling my trucks and building new ones. I’m not going to complain because they’re faster than anything you drive.

At my age you get too get in these rocket ships. I’m still having fun. Other than this weekend and last weekend, I’ve been sicker than a dog. But to come down here and win four. It will hit me as soon as we get a cold beverage over there at the motorhome. Gatorade.

THE MODERATOR: Rick Ren, certainly not your first time around the block with Mr. Hornaday. You guys won the championship in 2007. And here again in 2009. I think this is a great statistic here. You’re the all time series leader in crew chief wins with 27. That’s terrific. Had five different drivers in nine seasons that have won those races for you, but congratulations, Rick, and how does it feel to be a champion again in 2009?

RICK REN: It’s kind of undescribable. It’s a valiant effort of all the members of our race team. The guys, Ron and myself, we worked really hard this year to not have any shortcomings, because we came up just a little bit short last year, so we worked really hard other all areas that we could control.

I’ve just got to thank the whole thing. Kevin and DeLana with the opportunity, Ron with his drivability, and my guys with their work ethic. And that’s what it takes to build a championship team.

Q. Ron, would you detail what kind of ailments you’ve been through this week and just how difficult it’s been for you tonight particularly?

RON HORNADAY JR.: It’s just been flu symptoms. Just it all started when I got off the airplane. You know, my mother in law’s been sick, and we went to the hospital and seen her. Then we jumped on an airplane. Must have gotten the flu or something. The tickle in the throat, the head ready to blow off. You want the whole deal? The drippy nose, the runny (laughing).

The only good thing about it I didn’t get the fever or anything. They say if you get the fever, you have the swine flu. So I didn’t get that. Sit down here in good old Miami for three days, sitting in the motorhome sweating to death.

Q. You talked a little bit out on pit road about the final restart. What was the decision like there at the end? Was there any talk about whether or not you were going to come in or was it just a no brainer?

KEVIN HARVICK: I thought it was a no brainer. I thought that the tires, you know, were probably to the end of their life. And with the track position that we had, I felt like there was enough lap cars in between us that were going to pit, you know, to make sure that we could put four tires on it.

And I saw the 17 stay out, but everybody behind me came. So it really worked out good. We had four tires, they had no tires, and we were able to get a good restart. He had old tires and just spun the tires there at the end and moved down the block. As soon as he moved back up, I just drove by him.

So it was a good night on pit road. We didn’t have any mistakes on pit road, and, you know, it all worked out in the end.

Q. You were emotional a couple of years ago with winning your first title. How can you put this one in perspective? How much better is it maybe because you won the race, Ron won the title last week and then clinched the owner’s title for you. I don’t want to say does it make it sweeter, but can you compare the two?

KEVIN HARVICK: I think we look at them as equal from a team standpoint, you don’t want to lose anything from an owner’s championship to a driver’s championship. And I think everybody knew how important it was to go out and win that.
I’ve been a part of the celebrations where you have to share the stage with somebody from the owner’s championship side of it, and it’s not you don’t feel fulfilled. And I think with the year that they’ve had, you know, it feels like it’s a fulfilled year.

I mean, you know, we knew that I knew that my job was to go out and try to lead the most laps and beat kyle. I thought that barring some crazy circumstances, that they knew what they needed to do and could make that happen and it all worked out.
We’ve seen it all night workout. We’ve been on the other side of the fence last year. You just never know. That’s what makes the series so exciting.

I don’t need to tell you guys, and you all know, but it’s more of a there’s a lot of personal relationship between Ron and myself and, you know, it it’s very gratifying to see him be able to win. That means as much to me as winning the races or winning the championships is to see Ron happy and winning races and winning the championship. You know, the personal relationship is more important than, you know, anything else.

Q. People have talked about this often throughout your stint in the Truck Series. But what is it when you run well in a truck race, why does it always seem like the momentum tends to carry over throughout the weekend?

KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don’t know. I race at all the racetracks that I like. You know, I think every time we show up we have good trucks. That makes it a lot of fun. You kind of cherry pick the places that you like to go.

So nine times out of ten, the Cup car’s going to go well. The momentum definitely didn’t carry over last week, and we had two good days to lead up to the Sunday race. But it definitely doesn’t hurt. It makes you feel good from a confidence side that you can go out and win races. You know, it makes it a lot of fun, so it makes you pretty relaxed for the rest of the weekend.

Q. How do you have so much success when you’ve got a grizzled old grandfather for a driver?

RON HORNADAY JR.: He’s as old as I am.

RICK REN: Yeah, I’m actually a little bit older.

KEVIN HARVICK: Between the two of them they’re over 100.

RICK REN: Yeah (laughing). You know, it’s just we’re both first of all, we respect each other. And respect is a big word in this business. Second of all, you know, him and I just have an agreement. He tells me what it’s doing and he wants me to fix it, and we work it out.

We don’t argue with each other or fight with each other. We just go out and do our thing, you know. Everybody growls at each other once in a while, but that’s part of this business. I don’t know. It’s just fun. I think we get along great.

RON HORNADAY JR.: Now. Ten years ago we wouldn’t have.

RICK REN: Yeah, ten years ago we probably wouldn’t have.

Q. Did you know that Kyle had blown the tire and was a couple of laps down or did they not tell you?

RON HORNADAY JR.: Yeah, I seen Kyle. Trust me I had been watching him all night. Yeah, it still didn’t change my strategy. Rick and I, I told him what the truck was doing, and he fixed exactly what I told him. We went a little too far.

We were on the same deal, and we know the tires were, you know, Kyle made the right choice of staying out and just putting fuel only because he’s won the race three or four times having tires in the pits when the other guys didn’t.

So strategy didn’t work this time. We blew the right front. That’s what with Rick and I did last year, we got tires and made up for it, and we lost. So, yeah. They kept me informed. I kept yelling at how many laps to go because I wanted to get out pretty quick.

Q. I know the past two weeks you’ve been thinking big picture, but how does it feel to get beat two weeks in a row by your car owner? Is?

RON HORNADAY JR.: Yeah, it’s my truck. Yeah. It’s I’ll finish second every week. I’ll keep getting championships. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to win.

Kyle, when he shows up here, he brings the bar up that much higher, makes us work that much harder. Same deal with Kevin when he shows up. That’s what makes this series so great.

Anybody can win any given day, and NASCAR with the venue tracks we’re going to, different drivers, young and old did I say that again? It just makes it so much fun.

So Kevin beat me. I’ve got to go do my homework. I’ll give him the truck this week. He had a better truck than I did. You own them both, does it matter (laughing)? I got to slow down once in a while, don’t I?

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Congratulations on tonight’s race win. Or this season’s championship as both a driver and owner. Congratulations.

An interview with:

MATT CRAFTON

THE MODERATOR: We have our second place finisher in tonight’s race. He also finished second in this year’s Championship points race. That’s Matt Crafton. He drives the No. 88 Australian Gold Chevrolet. Matt, you had a good season, had a good race tonight. Your thoughts about how things unfolded?

MATT CRAFTON: They unfolded all right. That 4 truck, he’s been tough here the last few races. They brought two really good trucks the last two races and we’ve came up short tonight.

But we had a really, really good truck. I knew at the end last night we had a really good truck. The balance on the truck and the race trim was really good.

And I honestly didn’t know how it was going to qualify, because we tried to do a qualifying run last night and we were horrible loose. So after we qualified where we did, I knew we had a shot to be able to have track position.

Q. The grand picture with KHI, with Ron, and now with Kevin winning back to back races, what was that like in terms of trying to just keep up with them? Is there any kind of consolation in being as close to them tonight and finishing second?

MATT CRAFTON: It’s really good. But there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to beat them. We outran them 33. It just shows. KHI they built two brand new trucks, a brand new truck for Phoenix, and a brand new truck for here. It just shows how good their stuff was these last two races with Kevin, that’s exactly what we’ve planned on doing.

We’ve sold a few trucks here already at the end of the year, and we’re building new stuff for next year. We’ve kind of got some ideas, and here are some of the ideas of what they’re doing.

We’ve got a direction we need to go to make our stuff better, and that’s what we plan on doing in making a really good run for the championship next year. I mean, this team I can’t thank Duke and Rhonda, Thorson and Menards and Australian Gold.

Each and every year if you look at our points since ’05, every year we’ve gotten better and better. I mean, Top 5s, it’s been really good to see the team come from as far as they’ve come.

About General Motors:

General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.

- GM Racing Communications Press Release