Ron Hornaday Ready to Return to Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Feb. 11, 1999) -- After winning his second championship on the final turn of the last lap of the 1998 season, Ron Hornaday can't wait to return to the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex to begin the 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign. Hornaday will drive the No. 16 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt in the Florida Dodge Dealers 400 on Saturday, March 20. The event is paired with Sunday's Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, the opening event on the CART FedEx Championship calendar. This will be the first time America's two premier sanctioning bodies have shared feature billing at the same venue. "We're looking good for Homestead," said Hornaday. "We've got Sandy Jones, our new crew chief, and we really got to know each other when we came down to test at Homestead in January. We got to know each other pretty good, and what to do on our truck. With Chevrolet bringing out the new Silverado body style, we're looking to our first win down at Homestead." Jones was the crew chief for the Diamond Ridge NASCAR Busch Series team, recording seven victories in that division. Hornaday is the leading race winner (23) and money winner ($2.4 million) in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history, which is entering its fifth campaign. He is the only driver to lead a lap at every track returning to the series, and joins Mike Bliss as the only driver to win in every season. "We're looking for a great year. With Jack and I going down to the last race at Las Vegas and deciding last year's championship by only three points, it's going to be another great championship this year and it's all going to start at Homestead again. I figure there's going to be about 10 trucks going down to the last race for the title. It's definitely a good competition level." The March 19-21 weekend will be a new experience for Hornaday and the other NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It will be the first time the division will be paired with the CART FedEx Championship Series, in the Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. "It's going to be awesome. Any time you can get the different fans that have been following Champ Cars and all of a sudden they get to see a truck race, and the truck people get to see a Champ car race, it makes for a great time. It's going to be pretty exciting for both fans and drivers." Tickets are now on sale for a full weekend of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and CART FedEx Championship Series action. For additional information, call (305) 230-7223.