Speaking from his home on Friday, Ron Hornaday confirmed he doesn’t plan to race Sunday but said he could return to the #30 Chevy as soon as the next series race at Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks. Also, contrary to earlier reports, Hornaday said team members who were told Wednesday they had been let go by TSM were called back to the shop and are actively preparing trucks to go race. Hornaday, who joined Turner Scott ahead of the 2014 season and is fourth in the standings, just 27 points out of the lead, admitted he was surprised when he received calls Wednesday from a NASCAR reporter and his son saying that his #30 team had been shut down. ‘I called Mr. Turner (TSM co-owner Steve Turner) and he said he couldn’t talk about it, and that’s all I got out of the whole situation other than what’s written and what’s said on the Internet,’ Hornaday told FOXSports.com on Friday. ‘So I don’t know.’Hornaday’s understanding upon joining the organization was that he was never guaranteed the full season in the #30, and that his deal was on a race-by-race basis. ‘All I know is Rheem was helping support that program,’ said Hornaday, 56. ‘They started with four races, they had picked it up to six races, and then they picked it up to 10 races and then they were filling in whatever Mr. Turner didn’t have a sponsor for. Wherever it lies, I know they’ve been big supporters of my racing career. It started up there at Kevin Harvick’s (Kevin Harvick Inc.) and then they supported us down here. And I know Chevrolet’s been supporting it. So whatever happened between those two, hopefully they work it out and we’re racing the next race.’ Hornaday says he has yet to seriously explore potential options with other teams, except for reaching out to his 2013 team owner, Bob Newberry, from whom he is still paid. ‘I called Mr. Newberry and spoke to him a little bit and that’s about all I’ve done,’ Hornaday said. ‘There’s not too many Chevrolet trucks out there, and my whole racing career I’ve been in Chevrolets, and with the support they give me and what they’ve done in my career, I’d be foolish to go to another manufacturer, but you never know. I’m optimistic but in all the years of me racing I’ve never had to chase money and never had to go through things like this. I’ve been fortunate enough to race for Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and everybody that gave me awesome trucks.’ But Hornaday certainly isn’t ruling out a return to Turner Scott ‘ possibly even as early as later this weekend. ‘Who knows?’ he said. ‘The race ain’t ’til Sunday. I could get a plane and fly it out tomorrow and start in the back of the pack. You never know. I’m optimistic.’(FoxSports)(8-29-2014)
UPDATE: The saga surrounding the recent shutdown of Ron Hornaday, Jr.’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team took a bizarre turn today, when a spokesman for Rheem Motorsports revealed that his company had already agreed to back Hornaday for the remainder of the 2014 season. Rheem Motorsports Managing Director Ed Raniszeski told Sirius XM Speedway today that he was stunned by the abrupt closure of the #30 Turner Scott Motorsports team, just days prior to a race at Ontario’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. ‘I learned about it through the media,’ said Raniszeski. ‘I was dumbfounded, since I had told Turner Scott Motorsports that we would sponsor any of Ron’s races that they were unable to find backing for. ‘We did have a longstanding relationship with Ron Hornaday, however, and a few weeks prior to the start of the season, we were informed that Ron was in jeopardy of being left without a ride. After some deliberation, Rheem agreed to sponsor Ron for the first four events, giving Turner Scott Motorsports additional time to find full sponsorship for the team.’ Hornaday got off to a strong start, finishing second in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and ranking fifth in points after four races. Despite that early success, Raniszeski said TSM was unable to secure additional backing for the No. 30 team, prompting Rheem to extend their ‘handshake agreement’ to a total of 10 races. As Hornaday climbed to third in the championship standings, Raniszeski said the company agreed to back Hornaday in all races that TSM was unable to fill, for the remainder of the season. He said he has yet to receive an explanation for the move from TSM co-owners Steve Turner or Harry Scott, Jr. Raniszeski said Rheem is not only willing to back Hornaday going forward, but is ‘working hard right now to see if we can find something for him. We’re not finished trying to help him.’(Godfather Motorsports)
