MOTOR SPORTS: HORNADAY STARTS ANEW NEW CREW, CHIEF, PERSPECTIVE AFTER FINISHING 4TH.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK

NASCAR Truck SeriesNew crew, chief, perspective after finishing 4th Ron Hornaday Jr. sees much room for improvement as he prepares for his second season with Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series.

Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado, finished fourth in points and won the Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2005. He increased his career-win total to 27, tops in the Truck Series.

Fourth place and one win wasn't enough.

``Fourth sucks, so we aren't going to do that again,'' said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. ``We ran good all year. The points just didn't fall where we wanted.''

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team spent three days last month testing at Daytona International Speedway preparing for the Feb. 17 season opener. Hornaday spent most of his time getting to know his new crew.

He is about the only person returning to the team. Many of Hornaday's 2005 crew members moved up to the KHI NASCAR Busch Series team or to other NASCAR teams. Hornaday has a new crew chief, new crew members and, if things work out, a new perspective.

Chris Rice is on board as Hornaday's crew chief. Wally Rogers, Hornaday's crew chief last year, is with KHI's Busch Series team.

``We are definitely focused this year,'' Hornaday said. ``We have a new crew chief, Chris Rice, and basically a whole new team. The guys know what to expect this year, so they are going to try some different things. I think we are going to put some Busch stuff in the truck this year to try and figure out what we got to do.''

The Truck Series is stacked with talented drivers, much different than when Hornaday started in the series more than a decade ago. Ted Musgrave, Dennis Setzer and Todd Bodine, all NASCAR veterans, are among the top contenders.

Bodine and Musgrave might be even tougher to beat than in previous years. They will be teammates, driving Toyota Tundras for Germain Motor Co.

``The competition has gotten really great, really high,'' Hornaday said. ``It used to be drivers who were racing to try and make a name for themselves. Now you've also got drivers who already have made names for themselves.''

Musgrave won the Truck Series championship last year, but his Ultra Motorsports team decided to pull out of the Truck Series and left Musgrave without a ride.

He didn't have to wait long to land with another team.

Bodine has a chance to write some Truck Series history. He closed the 2005 season with wins in the past three races. If he captures the season opener at Daytona, he will become the first Truck Series driver to win four races in a row.

Hornaday, Greg Biffle and Mike Skinner also have won three straight Truck Series races.

Hornaday said he hopes his new crew will bring back some of those winning days.

``Chris brings a different attitude to the truck team. He's a smiley, happy guy,'' Hornaday said. ``All these young kids are fired up to go racing, so it's going to be fun. We just have to keep focused, and Wally had some great notes from last year, so we will just do what we have to do.''

--Indy Racing Leauge: Valencia's Bryan Herta had a top-five car during two days of testing at Phoenix International Raceway last week. It was the first time since the season finale at California Speedway in October that IRL drivers were allowed to test with their teams.

Herta, before driving with Buddy Rice, Rob Finlay and Michael Valiente to an 11th-place finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race on Jan. 29, had one of the fastest cars in testing at Phoenix, which, like California Speedway, is not on the 2006 IRL schedule.

He clocked the third fastest time Jan. 24, running 82 laps and topping out at 173.627 mph. His Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan posted the top speed at 174.621 mph on the first day of testing.

Herta slipped to fifth-fastest on the second day of testing, Jan. 25, despite improving his speed to 176.216 mph. Dan Wheldon, a driver for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, was fastest the second day, at 178.483 mph.

``We definitely had a good couple of days in the car,'' said Herta, a Hart High graduate and driver of the No. 7 Honda-powered entry for Andretti Green Racing. ``It just makes it a little difficult to test some place where you're not racing.

``You just try to do more big-picture stuff and learn things for down the road. Any time the car is on the track, you want to go fast.''