NASCAR Truck
Mesa Marin Qualifying Report
Hornaday masters Mesa Marin By Brett Borden BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Oct. 17, 1998) Among other things, Bakersfield is known as the hometown of country music greats Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Based on his Bud Pole Qualifying performance at ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hornaday masters Mesa Marin By Brett Borden
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Oct. 17, 1998) Among other things, Bakersfield is known as the hometown of country music greats Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Based on his Bud Pole Qualifying performance at Mesa Marin Raceway Saturday night, Ron Hornaday does not want to leave town playing second fiddle to Jack Sprague anymore.
Hornaday, who trails Sprague in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings by 18 points, must not care for the local music, because he wasted no time in going out and smashing some records. He shattered his own track qualifying mark with a lap at 95.400 mph/18.868 seconds to earn his second Bud Pole Award of the season, beating his old record of 92.540/19.651.
"I couldn't tell you how we stand," said Hornaday after going out second behind Sprague in qualifying. "I missed one corner ... I just drove it in there too hot. It was a good lap to start this race."
And Hornaday will start it next to Stacy Compton. Compton came closer than anybody to matching Hornaday's lap, putting up a speed of 95.263. Strangely, Hornaday and Compton share more than the front row of Sunday's Dodge California Truckstop 300 in common -- they both seemed disappointed with their efforts.
"Actually, we are pretty disgusted with it," Compton said. "I feel like I let the guys down. We had a truck quick enough to be on the pole. We left a little bit out there on the second lap. On our bonsai run earlier this afternoon, we almost wrecked on the second lap, and the driver just didn't do his job.
"We've got an awful good truck. We ran real good in practice. I think we've got and excellent race set-up. But it sure felt like we left something out there with this Royal Crown Ford today. But tomorrow is a different day."
Hornaday felt he left a little something on the track as well.
"I went out second and didn't get a chance to talk to any other drivers to see what the truck was going to do," Hornaday said. "I wasn't ready for it tonight, so I'm gonna go hide so no one can ask me how the NAPA Chevrolet did."
Sprague will start Sunday's race 10th on the grid. His was the fourth fastest Chevrolet after Hornaday, Terry Cook in fourth and local boy Kevin Harvick in fifth.
Mike Bliss will start third, while fellow Ford drivers Joe Ruttman, Rick Crawford, Boris Said and Tony Roper occupy positions sixth through ninth, respectively.
Source: NASCAR Online
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mesa Marin Mike Wallace Preview
Next article Phoenix Scot Walters Preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Boris Said
Boris Said to make final NASCAR Cup start at Watkins Glen this weekend
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Watkins Glen
Boris Said to make final NASCAR Cup start at Watkins Glen this weekend
Mercedes-AMG ready for debut at The Roar Before the Rolex 24
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona January testing
Mercedes-AMG ready for debut at The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Road course 'ringers' in Cup: A thing of the past?
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Road course 'ringers' in Cup: A thing of the past?
Latest news
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
4 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
4 h
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe