Getty Ron Hornaday Jr. celebrates a win at Kentucky Speedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr. won multiple championships and set a wins record during his NASCAR career. Now, he has been named to NASCAR‘s list of the 75 Greatest Drivers.
The news went public on Tuesday, April 25, one day after Carl Edwards joined the list. Hornaday continues the trend of NASCAR recognizing drivers who made a major impact in other series, following two-time Xfinity Series (Busch Series) champion Randy LaJoie and nine-time champion Mike Stefanik.
A #NASCARHOF inductee and a four-time CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion!
Ron Hornaday Jr. is the newest addition to our NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers list! #NASCAR75
Hornaday achieved a considerable amount of success in a national series career featuring 590 starts across the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series. He won 55 total races — 51 in the Truck Series and four in the Xfinity Series. He also set a record for the most wins in Truck Series history, which stood from 2011 until 2019 when Kyle Busch won his 52nd race.
Hornaday Celebrated 4 Championships
GettyRon Hornaday Jr. joined the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The California native put NASCAR on notice the moment he made his Truck Series debut in 1995, the first year of its existence. He kicked off his national series career with six wins, four starts from the pole, 14 top-10 finishes, and 10 top-fives. Hornaday ultimately ended the season third in the standings behind Mike Skinner and Joe Ruttman.
The 1995 season was only a glimpse of what was to come. Hornaday won four more races in 1996 before capturing the championship for the first time. Two years later, he won the Truck Series championship for the second time.
Hornaday celebrated two championships early in his career. He then went on to deliver a dominant three-year stretch. Hornaday won the championship for the third time in 2007 after a four-win season. He finished second in 2008 after winning six more races. Hornaday captured his fourth championship in 2009 after adding another six wins to his career total.
Hornaday competed full-time in 14 of his 17 seasons. He ran most of the races in another before Turner Scott Motorsports shut down. He won at least one race in 12 of these seasons and at least six in five of them.
Hornaday Was Inducted Into the NASCAR Hall of Fame
GettyRon Hornaday Jr. practices at Pocono Raceway.
Hornaday made his name in the Craftsman Truck Series while capturing his championships for Dale Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick, and he left an impressive legacy behind. However, it was only one of the national NASCAR series in which he achieved success.
Hornaday also made 184 starts in the Xfinity Series while competing full-time in three separate seasons. He captured the first two wins of his career — Nazareth Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park — during the 2000 season as he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He went on to finish fifth in the championship standings.
Hornaday added two more wins in the Xfinity Series — one in 2003 and 0ne in 2004. He finished top four in the championship standings in both seasons while driving for Richard Childress Racing.
The California native was recognized for his accomplishments three years after he made his final national series start. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a member of the 2018 class. He joined Red Byron, Ray Evernham, Ken Squier, and Robert Yates.