[jks812]

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- For weeks, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner went back and forth atop the Truck Series standings, neither ever taking command of the title chase.
That is, until Skinner lost a wheel in the season finale -- a break that helped Hornaday make history.
Hornaday won his third Truck Series championship Friday night, finishing seventh to edge Skinner by 54 points after the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hornaday trailed by 29 points entering the night but benefited nicely when Skinner's left rear wheel broke away midway through the race.
"It comes down to great teams, and everybody here had a part in it," said Hornaday, who matched Jack Sprague for the most career Truck Series titles.
Johnny Benson won the race, holding off Kyle Busch on a final lap where Busch wound up sliding into the wall. Busch seemed like he was set to take the win, until Chris Jones spun out on lap 134 and the caution flag came out, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Not surprisingly, Busch wasn't happy. Benson was thrilled.
"I wasn't the one that threw the caution," Benson said. "That's his gripe with whomever. But it sure made for a great event for the fans."
After crossing the line, Benson shouted "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!" into his radio.
Hornaday's team felt exactly the same way.
"They don't give these things away," said Rick Ren, Hornaday's crew chief. "We've been trying for an awful long time."
Hornaday became the eighth driver to win the title in eight years. No driver has ever successfully defended the yearlong title.
Skinner thought he had a problem with right-side tires -- he reported that the front tire was deflating, but his team later found the pressure was fine -- and took an unscheduled pit stop 27 laps into the race.
He recovered from that problem. The next one, though, doomed him.
Skinner's left rear tire broke free and bounced across the track, and his crew needed several minutes in the garage area to fix the problem. By the time Skinner returned to the race, he was 11 laps down and needed Hornaday to meet some serious misfortune to close the standings gap.
It didn't happen, and Skinner -- whose lone truck title came in the series' first year, 1995 -- settled for second.
"Guys did a good job," said Skinner, who led six laps in the early going. "I regret we didn't have a spare hub in the pits. We took one off another housing, but as it came down, it wasn't going to make any difference anyway."
Rick Crawford was third, Kevin Harvick -- the owner of Hornaday's truck -- finished fourth and Jason Leffler was fifth.
It was just another frustrating night for Skinner at Homestead.
He entered the night with one top-five showing and an average finish of 15th in five previous starts in South Florida -- far below the pace he set this year, when Skinner won five times and had a ridiculous 17 top-five finishes in 24 previous starts.
"When I saw Mike do that, I was like, 'What'd he do?' I didn't see his tire rubbing or anything," Hornaday said. "Hate to see it for Mike, but you know what? This is the only way one of us was going to win this thing."
When the race was extended after Jones' spin, Hornaday sitting comfortably in seventh place.
He avoided disaster, and the title was soon his.
In a way, it was fitting that the title came down to Hornaday and Skinner, who flip-flopped atop the points standings six times in the final seven races.
Hornaday and Skinner have both been with the Truck Series since the beginning 13 seasons ago in Phoenix, when the circuit's best-known driver was probably former NFL coach Jerry Glanville. Hornaday won the pole for that very first race and earned $2,750; Skinner wound up taking the checkered flag and $15,750.
Each has come a long way since.
Combined, they entered the night with 57 Truck Series victories and more than $8 million in earnings. And maybe in the best testament to their racing longevity, both had grandchildren watching Friday's race.
"I don't think either one of us can walk away from here tonight and say, 'Ah, what a horrible year,'" Skinner said. "Because it's been a great year, and we've had a hell of a lot of fun."

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by jks812

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- For weeks, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner went back and forth atop the Truck Series standings, neither ever taking command of the title chase.
That is, until Skinner lost a wheel in the season finale -- a break that helped Hornaday make history.
Hornaday won his third Truck Series championship Friday night, finishing seventh to edge Skinner by 54 points after the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hornaday trailed by 29 points entering the night but benefited nicely when Skinner's left rear wheel broke away midway through the race.
"It comes down to great teams, and everybody here had a part in it," said Hornaday, who matched Jack Sprague for the most career Truck Series titles.
Johnny Benson won the race, holding off Kyle Busch on a final lap where Busch wound up sliding into the wall. Busch seemed like he was set to take the win, until Chris Jones spun out on lap 134 and the caution flag came out, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Not surprisingly, Busch wasn't happy. Benson was thrilled.
"I wasn't the one that threw the caution," Benson said. "That's his gripe with whomever. But it sure made for a great event for the fans."
After crossing the line, Benson shouted "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!" into his radio.
Hornaday's team felt exactly the same way.
"They don't give these things away," said Rick Ren, Hornaday's crew chief. "We've been trying for an awful long time."
Hornaday became the eighth driver to win the title in eight years. No driver has ever successfully defended the yearlong title.
Skinner thought he had a problem with right-side tires -- he reported that the front tire was deflating, but his team later found the pressure was fine -- and took an unscheduled pit stop 27 laps into the race.
He recovered from that problem. The next one, though, doomed him.
Skinner's left rear tire broke free and bounced across the track, and his crew needed several minutes in the garage area to fix the problem. By the time Skinner returned to the race, he was 11 laps down and needed Hornaday to meet some serious misfortune to close the standings gap.
It didn't happen, and Skinner -- whose lone truck title came in the series' first year, 1995 -- settled for second.
"Guys did a good job," said Skinner, who led six laps in the early going. "I regret we didn't have a spare hub in the pits. We took one off another housing, but as it came down, it wasn't going to make any difference anyway."
Rick Crawford was third, Kevin Harvick -- the owner of Hornaday's truck -- finished fourth and Jason Leffler was fifth.
It was just another frustrating night for Skinner at Homestead.
He entered the night with one top-five showing and an average finish of 15th in five previous starts in South Florida -- far below the pace he set this year, when Skinner won five times and had a ridiculous 17 top-five finishes in 24 previous starts.
"When I saw Mike do that, I was like, 'What'd he do?' I didn't see his tire rubbing or anything," Hornaday said. "Hate to see it for Mike, but you know what? This is the only way one of us was going to win this thing."
When the race was extended after Jones' spin, Hornaday sitting comfortably in seventh place.
He avoided disaster, and the title was soon his.
In a way, it was fitting that the title came down to Hornaday and Skinner, who flip-flopped atop the points standings six times in the final seven races.
Hornaday and Skinner have both been with the Truck Series since the beginning 13 seasons ago in Phoenix, when the circuit's best-known driver was probably former NFL coach Jerry Glanville. Hornaday won the pole for that very first race and earned $2,750; Skinner wound up taking the checkered flag and $15,750.
Each has come a long way since.
Combined, they entered the night with 57 Truck Series victories and more than $8 million in earnings. And maybe in the best testament to their racing longevity, both had grandchildren watching Friday's race.
"I don't think either one of us can walk away from here tonight and say, 'Ah, what a horrible year,'" Skinner said. "Because it's been a great year, and we've had a hell of a lot of fun."

I didn't catch the first 2/3's of the race. However, from what I heard on SIRIUS, and saw, it wasn't CTS' finest hour.

As in most of NA__AR's final races, when a title is in question, most of the drivers spent as much time staying out of the way of the title contenders as they did actually racing. Skinner's losing a wheel and going laps down about sealed the thing for Hornaday and he spent the rest of the night making sure he wasn't directly behind any driver fighting for a position.

Also, Billy Ballew might be an "Under-funded "team but I found out his engines are coming from Hendrick's top shelf and the connection between Ballew and Hendrick is getting closer all the time.

[jks812]

It certainly wasn't one of the best races they've had this year. I was alittle dissappointed. But I think it was still better than the cup race will be tomarrow. I'm gonna miss the CTS during the off season.

[Nevadastars]

I enjoyed the race...........mainly because of the outcome. I have been a Ron Hornaday Jr. fan for over 15 years, and used to watch him race on the west coast in the Southwest Tour, including his '92 Championship year. I have usually been indifferent about Mike Skinner, but last week at Phoenix when he cried and whined about team mate Johnny Benson passing him, I lost a lot of respect for him. Hornaday is a rough and tumble old school racer that deserves to be the champ. Dale Earnhardt didnt pick him to drive his truck in '95 because he's a poster boy, he's the real deal! Congrats Ron!

[jks812]

I always pull for Hornaday. Have to admit I don't like Skinner much and even less since last weekend. But I think he did handle losing the title with alittle class.

[bears9]

This guy is a damn good driver, I would love to see him in a Cup ride soon.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

I enjoyed the race...........mainly because of the outcome. I have been a Ron Hornaday Jr. fan for over 15 years, and used to watch him race on the west coast in the Southwest Tour, including his '92 Championship year. I have usually been indifferent about Mike Skinner, but last week at Phoenix when he cried and whined about team mate Johnny Benson passing him, I lost a lot of respect for him. Hornaday is a rough and tumble old school racer that deserves to be the champ. Dale Earnhardt didnt pick him to drive his truck in '95 because he's a poster boy, he's the real deal! Congrats Ron!

I agree with you, Don. I would have rather seen Ron win, than Mike, especially after the Phoenix race. However, Skinner handled the loss with a bit of grace. I detected no sour grapes on his part.

I am still completely mystified as to why, in 2001, Big Dale threw Ron to the wolves and picked Mikey to run the #15 when he brought the CTS team to Cup. Hornaday has always been twice the driver Mikey will ever hope to be. To me, letting Ron go in favor of Mikey will always be a black mark on Earnhardt's record, in my book, anyway.

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I am still completely mystified as to why, in 2001, Big Dale threw Ron to the wolves and picked Mikey to run the #15 when he brought the CTS team to Cup. Hornaday has always been twice the driver Mikey will ever hope to be. To me, letting Ron go in favor of Mikey will always be a black mark on Earnhardt's record, in my book, anyway.

Yea, it was a shocker when he hired no-win Mikey for the 15 Napa car. Hornaday was a proven winner and had two truck Championships. Then Ron ends up with the fledgling AJ Foyt team driving the #14 Conseco car, has to overdrive it, consequently wrecking a lot, and loses his ride. That pretty much sealed Rons fate in Cup. But at this year at 49 years old, he showed he can still drive with the best of them, and Delana said he has a ride as long as we wants to drive.

[3fanforever]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I am still completely mystified as to why, in 2001, Big Dale threw Ron to the wolves and picked Mikey to run the #15 when he brought the CTS team to Cup.

I don't know this for a fact, but maybe his relationship with DW had something to do with it. At the time, that's the only thing I could come up with to explain why Dale would put Mikey in the #15. Just like you, I'm still mystified by that one.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by 3fanforever

I don't know this for a fact, but maybe his relationship with DW had something to do with it. At the time, that's the only thing I could come up with to explain why Dale would put Mikey in the #15. Just like you, I'm still mystified by that one.

The only rational spin I can put on it is maybe NAPA saw Mikey as a better fit, advertising-wise. With Mikey you get mouth, with Hornaday, what you see is what you get, not exactly a plus in the advertising world of today.

I'd like to think that it took a lot of threats, browbeating and massive lobbying to get Dale and Teresa to pick that schlemiel over Ron Hornaday. I thought that it was a rotten choice then and I still do, seven years later.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

Delana said he has a ride as long as we wants to drive.

Or until one or the other wants something different !!!

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Or until one or the other wants something different !!!

I'm no big Harvick fan, but its obvious he is helping repay Hornaday for helping him get where he is today, for that I admire him. Kevin has mentioned numerous times, if it wasnt for Ron, he would not be where he is today. So, somewhere along the line, Hornaday helped out Kevin's racing career. The Harvicks seem very grateful to Ron and thus Delanas statement at Phoenix.

[jks812]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

I'm no big Harvick fan, but its obvious he is helping repay Hornaday for helping him get where he is today, for that I admire him. Kevin has mentioned numerous times, if it wasnt for Ron, he would not be where he is today. So, somewhere along the line, Hornaday helped out Kevin's racing career. The Harvicks seem very grateful to Ron and thus Delanas statement at Phoenix.

Seems like Ron said in an interview one time that when Kevin first came there to see about a career in racing, he stayed with Ron and his family for a while.

[SteelPhoenyx]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

I enjoyed the race...........mainly because of the outcome. I have been a Ron Hornaday Jr. fan for over 15 years, and used to watch him race on the west coast in the Southwest Tour, including his '92 Championship year. I have usually been indifferent about Mike Skinner, but last week at Phoenix when he cried and whined about team mate Johnny Benson passing him, I lost a lot of respect for him. Hornaday is a rough and tumble old school racer that deserves to be the champ. Dale Earnhardt didnt pick him to drive his truck in '95 because he's a poster boy, he's the real deal! Congrats Ron!

I was happy to see Hornaday take the title. I really don't have a 'favorite' driver in CTS to pull for yet, but I had been cheering for him to take it. Any respect I had started to gain for Skinner pretty much went down the drain at Phoenix. Don't know if he'll make it up or not.

Oh, and the rookie I'm cheering for (Justin Marks) got his first top 10 on Friday. Still not sure how the got up there but he started dead last and finished 8th. Must've been some serious pit strategy, but he was moving up through the ranks too.

[Nevadastars]

I just re-read my original response, and I meant to say Ron is NOT a poster boy.
Just thought I would clarify that.