Ron Hornaday Jr.'s Mountain Dew 250 Powered By Fred's Race Preview

It's going to be an exciting weekend for Ron Hornaday Jr., as he's receiving his Third Quarter Driver of the Year Trophy and a Tissot wristwatch on Saturday at Talladega.

Talladega also marks the finale in the Copart Challenge of Champions, were Horn holds a 530 to 424 lead over Bodine and if my math is correct he just needs to collect 60 points to win the Challenge.

In three prior truck races at Talladega, Horn has yet to break through to victory lane and collect his first career win on a Superspeedway or a track over two miles in length.

His best finish was second in 2008 but interestingly enough he has managed to complete every lap of competition at the 2.66 mile track.

"I Think getting a win at a restrictor-plate track would be pretty cool. I think it would say something about the versatility of our race team. We are a championship caliber group and getting a win at Talladega would help prove that we can not only win at Short Tracks but also at bigger venues."

Last week at Martinsville, Horn picked up 27 points to pad his points lead in the title hunt, and it could prove to be valuable heading into Talladega.

Were it's all about survival, you don't have to make any mistakes but have a competitor make one and get collected in the ensueing mayhem of the big one.

A lot of strategy plays into the race, but you also need to keep yourself in position that a error by another driver doesn't collect you.

Horn will be racing, chassis No. 026 at Talladega and in it's only race this season he finished fifth in the season's opening race at Daytona.

Horn will unload with a wicked good truck, be fast, qualify top five, stay out of trouble just log the first 80 laps and set himself up in the final 14 laps to win on the last lap battling to the checkers.

But both his spotter Rick Carelli and Crew Chief Rick Ren, will keep him focused on the big picture being the Championship at Homestead.

Either way I'll be happy with a win or a great points day at Talladega and it sure would be awesome to see him collect that first Superspeedway win.

Source for quote kevinharvickinc.com, for the editor Horn is a nickname for Hornaday, that I use a lot.

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com