Ron Hornaday and the newly christened No. 2 Champion Filters Chevrolet Silverado grabbed the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and never looked back, dominating the action to win Saturday’s Smith’s 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
It was Hornaday’s 51st victory in Truck Series competition and enabled Federal-Mogul to launch its highly advanced Champion automotive oil and air filtration line with a trip to the winner’s circle.
“This was a great win for Ron, the KHI (Kevin Harvick Inc.) team and Federal-Mogul’s globally respected Champion brand,” said Michael Proud, director of marketing, North America, Federal-Mogul. “This team and Kevin Harvick are doing an outstanding job of demonstrating the benefits of our performance driven products.”
Emblazoned with the Champion brand’s iconic red-and-black color scheme and “bow tie” logo as well as images of Champion oil and air filters, the No. 2 truck led 107 of the race’s 146 laps, including the final 32. The victory increased the team’s points lead in the Owner’s Championship battle and helped Hornaday cut in half his Driver’s Championship deficit, to 21, with four races remaining.
The KHI sponsorship is part of Federal-Mogul’s extensive new relationship with Harvick, the official spokesperson for Champion spark plugs, wiper blades, performance chemical additives and filters. One of NASCAR’s most popular figures, Harvick has relied on Champion spark plugs dating back to his days in go-kart racing, and uses these industry leading plugs in each of KHI’s two NASCAR Nationwide Series and three Truck Series vehicles as well as the Richard Childress Racing-owned No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet that he drives in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.