MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Earnhardt’s Call Has Hornaday Feeling Super

Ron Hornaday Jr. flew home to Palmdale two weeks ago from a race in Tucson, still puzzling over his unsettled plans for 1995.

When he arrived at his race shop in Saugus on Monday morning, he had a message to call Dale Earnhardt.

“How’d you like to drive my truck in the super series?” the seven-time Winston Cup champion asked.

“It was the biggest surprise of my life when he called,” Hornaday said. “I couldn’t get a ticket fast enough. I was on a plane to Charlotte (N.C.) the next morning.”

Hornaday, 36, a two-time Featherlite Southwest Tour champion who grew up racing at Saugus Speedway, will be in Earnhardt’s Chevrolet truck when NASCAR opens its inaugural SuperTruck series Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway as part of the Copper World Classic.

The SuperTruck series is for American-made, full-size pickups that are virtually identical to Winston Cup stock cars in their construction--except for the sheet metal. The idea for such a class was hatched by four Southern Californians--Jim Smith of Buena Park, Frank (Scoop) Vessels of Bonsall, Jim Venable of San Jacinto and Dick Landfield of San Bernardino--who were building and racing trucks in the desert and decided it would be fun to race them on asphalt tracks.

What started out regionally blossomed into a national series that may become second only to the Winston Cup under NASCAR’s umbrella.

“It’s a heck of an idea,” said Richard Childress, owner of the car Earnhardt drove to six of his championships. “As soon as I heard about it, I wanted in. It’s going to be great for racing. A lot of the Cup teams, Dale, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip are all building trucks.”

Mike Skinner, a transplanted Californian living in Randleman, N.C., won the last of three test races in Tucson, driving Childress’ truck. The other winners were Rick Carelli and P.J. Jones, who drives for Vessels. Hornaday finished second to both Skinner and Jones.

“Dale’s guys and my guys will probably fly to most of the races in the same plane,” Childress said. “On the way home, one of us will be sitting up front and the other guy in the back.”

The 20-race series includes races at Saugus on April 15 and Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield on April 22 and Oct. 15.

Of the original four builders, Smith and Venable are still in, along with Vessels, but Landfield does not have an entry. Butch Gilliland will drive for Smith and Tobey Butler for Venable.

“Trucks are getting bigger and bigger with the public every year,” Childress said. “For every car Chevrolet sells, one and a half trucks or recreational vehicles are sold. I think the owners will all want to come and root for their make of truck. I think it will be like the old days in NASCAR, when the motto was ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.’ ”

As further evidence of the popularity of trucks, a Chevrolet pickup was chosen as the official pace car for the second Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 5.

Earnhardt’s choice of Hornaday, a West Coast driver, surprised many of the sport’s followers who expected him to select someone from the Winston Cup or Busch Grand National series.

“I had a lot of guys to choose from, but I’d had my eye on Ron for some time and I feel I was fortunate to contact him before someone else signed him,” Earnhardt said. “I sort of discovered him when we ran into each other racing when we’d go to Phoenix. I read about him and I watched him in the Saturday (Southwest Tour) races at Phoenix and Sears Point.”

The Phoenix race will be 80 miles with a purse of $139,000. The winner will collect $25,000.

Also on the Copper World Classic program Sunday will be USAC midgets, super-modifieds and Silver Crown cars, and a Southwest Tour stock car feature.

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Motorsports Notes

SPORTS CARS--Paul Newman, who turned 70 a week ago, will celebrate the milestone by driving Roush Racing’s No. 70 Ford Mustang Cobra in the Daytona 24-hour race this weekend. Newman will team with Mark Martin, Tom Kendall and journalist Michael Brockman in trying to extend Roush’s record of 10 consecutive victories in the 24-hour race.

SPRINT CARS--The Sprint Car Racing Assn. will open its 1995 season Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix with two Arizonans, defending champion Ron Shuman and Lealand McSpadden, as co-favorites. McSpadden recently won the Australian Midget Grand Prix.

AWARDS--Eight racing figures have been elected to the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich. They include drivers Rodger Ward, Peter DePaolo, Glenn (Fireball) Roberts and Rex Mays; engine builder Keith Black; driver-car designers Bruce McLaren and Louis Chevrolet; and unlimited hydroplane champion Chip Hanauer.

NECROLOGY--Donn (Buck) Allen, former shop foreman for Carroll Shelby’s Cobra team and a builder of fuel cells for race cars, died of cancer last month at his home in Grants Pass., Ore. Allen, who lived many years in Eagle Rock and had a garage in Culver City, was 72.

MISCELLANY--Kart Expo International, featuring the latest technology and safety equipment in kart racing, will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside.