Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Hornaday still chasing his dream

Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Ron Hornaday stood in the pit area of the old Las Vegas Speedway Park a decade ago after winning yet another NASCAR Southwest Tour race and talked about hanging up his driver's suit and concentrating on building race cars for other drivers.

Ten years later, Hornaday was standing in the garage area of Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- about a half a mile from the old Speedway Park -- and talking about his upcoming rookie season in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

"Yeah, I almost gave (driving) up," Hornaday recalled. "My wife kept me after it; she made some extra money on the side to keep me racing cars. I enjoyed building race cars for other people but I got my break when Dale gave me a call six years ago."

What a long, strange trip it has been for the longtime West Coast driver. After nearly retiring from racing in the early '90s to support his family, Hornaday got his first big break in 1994 when he was hired by Dale Earnhardt to drive in the upstart NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

After two championships and 25 career victories in five seasons in the trucks, Hornaday finally realized his lifelong dream of driving at Daytona International Speedway when Earnhardt promoted him to the NASCAR Busch Series last year.

Hornaday responded by winning two races, posting 13 top-10 finishes and taking second in the Rookie of the Year race.

Hornaday was let go by Earnhardt after last season when The Intimidator elected to fold his Busch operation, but the 42-year-old driver landed his first full-time Winston Cup ride when he was hired last winter by team owner A.J. Foyt to drive the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac.

"I'm still chasing my dream (of driving in the Daytona 500)," Hornaday said this week during a NASCAR open test at LVMS. "My opportunity to go to Daytona came with Dale and now A.J. is taking me to the Daytona 500 so it's just a dream come true.

"I guess everybody who races out here on the West Coast, that's their dream: to go to Daytona and I get an opportunity to do it. I'm definitely chasing my dreams."

Although Foyt has a reputation as being a hard owner for which to drive, Hornaday said he is enjoying his relationship with the legendary former driver.

"He has been great," Hornaday said of Foyt. "It's testing right now and he kind of leaves us alone and lets us do what we want to do. We had a couple of problems at (a test at) Daytona and he had some good suggestions. He has done it (on the track), he knows it, so it has been pretty easy to work with A.J."

Although Hornaday is making his debut as a full-time Winston Cup driver with a two-year-old team, the Southern California native has lofty goals for the upcoming season.

"This is a new team (but) we've definitely got to try to finish in the top 15 in points and try to win some races," he said. "Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and Matt Kenseth really raised the bar on rookies and I've got to go out there and try to beat what they've done."

Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan, who completed a successful test this week in preparation to run the March 4 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Winston Cup race at LVMS, will begin defense of his NASCAR Winston West title when the series opens its season next Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. ...

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will hold its third open house on Saturday, Feb. 17. The open house will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature free track tours, race car displays, autograph sessions, free drawings and discounted merchandise and food.

A big-screen TV also will be set up for fans wishing to watch the NASCAR Busch race from Daytona International Speedway.

De Ferran was taken to Health South Doctor's Hospital in Miami for precautionary x-rays of his left foot, which were negative. ...

CART has placed the March 25 race in Rio de Janeiro on "temporary administrative suspension" after learning that the city is reviewing all city contracts.

A recent mayoral election in Rio resulted in a new administration taking office after the first of the year. One of the first actions taken by the new mayor was to place all existing city contracts under review.

"When we learned of the new mayor's review of all existing city contracts, we put into place a plan to cooperate fully and supply any additional information needed for prompt resolution," CART president Joe Heitzler said.

"CART recognizes the importance of this event to the economy of the city and Brazil itself ... and we do not wish even a momentary interruption in our long-term relationship with this important market for us. We are committed to doing all we can to keep the Rio race on the schedule."

The crash occurred in Turn 4 of the 1.5-mile oval. The left side of Ray's car made contact with the outside wall. Ray climbed from the Team Menard car without assistance before being transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Ray had run approximately 40 laps in windy conditions before the accident.

Ray will be evaluated before the IRL's Test in the West next week at Phoenix International Raceway, according to Dr. Henry Bock, the IRL's director of medical services.

Etchells, who was not happy with his team's preseason testing, admitted he was a little apprehensive going into the season opener.

"To be honest, I'm a little concerned," Etchells said. "Even though this is the first race of 24, it is very important to do well. As we see repeatedly at the end of the year, a single round can move you up or down a couple of positions in the points. That will be even truer this year with the number of Funny Cars there are.

"You really cannot afford a bad race, although every racer has one in the course of the season, even (John) Force. You would like to put it off as long as possible, or avoid it completely. Getting off to a good start is an important step in that direction."

Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath share the points lead in the EA Supercross series after four rounds. Each rider has won two of the first four races of the season heading into Round 5 this weekend at Edison International Field in Anaheim, Calif.

The Supercross series, which concludes its season at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on May 5, has attracted 200,465 fans through the first four races of the season.

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