Kevin Harvick Inc. has won two straight races in the Camping World Truck Series. The driver is Kevin Harvick and while he is winning races his veteran driver in Ron Hornaday is struggling to find not only the speed but the handling in his trucks.
Hornaday comes to Bristol Motor Speedway seventh in the championship standings and while has one win this season he hasn’t been nearly as consistent as he or his team had expected this season.
Still seventh in points Hornaday is far from out of this title hunt but he has work to do 46 points out of the lead.
BMS is a track where you have to be smart but you also have to be aggressive.
“Bristol is one of the most exciting races of the year. Everyone looks forward to racing under the lights and it gives the fans something to look forward to on a Wednesday night. Bristol is a track where you can find yourself in trouble pretty fast. You really have to be smart and hope the guy next to you is playing smart. You need to play the track position game to be there at the end. You’ll have a shot to win if you’re up front” Hornaday said.
Hornaday does have two wins at BMS along with four top fives, seven top 10 finishes and leading 388 laps.
He knows his way around this track and how to be successful in just 11 starts. If Hornaday and his team want to be a factor in this title race it has to start this weekend.
In my last preview I talked about James Buescher not as a sleeper pick for the title but as a real contender to win it all this season.
You wouldn’t have thought that after February and missing Phoenix but with 10 races left in the season Buescher is just five points behind leader Johnny Sauter.
It seemed nearly impossible after failing to qualify for the second race of the season that he could possibly win the title but with 10 straight top 10 finishes and three straight top fives, Buescher is as legit as they come this season.
Shouldn’t surprise you though even when they were down early they never considered themselves out and just continued to plug away and bring home the truck in one piece.
Still this weekend’s race could be a big test for him and his team. Buescher’s best finish at BMS is 13th and last year he finished 33rd even though he qualified second.
It’s a one day show for the CWTS this week and a quick turnaround following Michigan last Saturday.
This weekend could be an important weekend in deciding who walks away with the title. If you can survive BMS and leave with a cushion it could lead to a championship in Miami.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 is Wednesday night at 8pm ET on SPEED.
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