MOTOR RACING / BRYAN RODGERS : Hornaday Jr. Picks Up Speed Along With Age

The way Ron Hornaday Jr. sees it, a late attempt at satisfying a dream is better then no attempt at all.

At age 37, his career has skyrocketed, and he has become a top driver in the NASCAR SuperTruck series.

Hornaday Jr., of Palmdale, has taken five checkered flags and is certain to earn more than $200,000 this season. Plus, he has teamed with legendary Winston Cup driver Dale Earnhardt.

“My career has really taken off this year and I owe a lot of it to the SuperTruck tour and Earnhardt for having confidence in me,” Hornaday Jr. said.

Hornaday Jr. recently received a big vote of confidence. He and Jeff Green were chosen as part-time drivers of a second car the Earnhardt racing team is adding next season in the Winston Cup racing series.

“Driving in the Winston Cup Series has always been a dream of mine,” Hornaday said.

“If I can’t spend the time to fulfill my dreams, I might as well roll up and die.”

The SuperTruck tour has been such a hit with race fans across the country that several Winston Cup drivers have made cameo appearances.

When the tour raced at Saugus, established Cup drivers Ken Schrader and Geoff Bodine competed. Schrader overcame a five-lap penalty for rough driving to win the event.

Hornaday said he welcomes the challenge of facing drivers from the Winston Cup circuit competing in SuperTruck races.

“You think you’re on top and one of those guys comes along and beats you,” Hornaday said. “It keeps you on your toes and you learn more by racing against them.”

Hornaday’s success might prompt the former Saugus Street Stock champion to move to North Carolina, an auto-racing hotbed.

“It’s a thought that we might move back here,” Hornaday said by telephone.

“North Carolina is beautiful and a lot of racing contacts are here.”

A side benefit is that his son, Ron Hornaday III, would get plenty of exposure to the racing scene.

“We’ve thought about having Ronnie come back here and do a little late-model racing,” Hornaday said. “But right now we’re in the middle of a points race in the Truck series so it’s kind of a wait-and-see thing.”

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Sprint car driver Corey Kruseman will be returning to familiar ground Saturday when the Southern California Racing Assn. visits Ventura Raceway.

Kruseman, of Ventura, encountered a shocking experience in his last race at his home track.

A loose coil wire caused Kruseman’s car to stall just as the green flag was thrown.

Kruseman grabbed the wire and tried to jam it back into place and was shocked by a jolt of electricity.

Kruseman’s second attempt to replace the wire was successful, and he went on to take third place.

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Lance Hooper set a Southwest Tour record last week in Dacono, Colo., by capturing his fourth consecutive pole position.

But Hooper’s bid for a third consecutive victory was denied by Rick Carelli of Denver.

On the bright side, Hooper extended his points lead in Southwest competition by placing second in the 125-lap feature.

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Bob Lyon set a Southwest Tour record for appearances last week while finishing in 11th place in Dacono.

Lyon has competed in 125 Southwest Tour races.

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After a one-week layoff, racing action returns to Kern County Raceway and Ventura Raceway on Saturday night.

A 30-lap Sprint Car event will be featured at Ventura with Dwarf and Legend cars.

Street Stock racing resumes at Kern County at 7:30 p.m.