Years After Kick-Starting Kevin Harvick’s NASCAR Career, Ron Hornaday is Set to Mentor Son Keelan

He was fierce, competitive, and super successful in NASCAR; his generosity helped many drivers establish a foothold in the promotion, including the likes of the great Jimmie Johnson, former Stewart-Haas Racing veteran Kevin Harvick, and the watermelon farmer from Alva, Ross Chastain. The person in question is the 4-time Craftsman Truck Series champion, Ron Hornaday, who has given NASCAR some of its greatest drivers to ever put on the helmet through his meticulous mentoring.

The NASCAR Hall of Famer, Ron Hornaday, isn’t leaving any stones unturned, continuing his mentorship and giving in efforts to spark the desire and turn budding drivers into championship-caliber professional race car drivers. This time around, it is Kevin Harvick’s son, Keelan Harvick, who has gotten the dream opportunity to learn the fundamentals from the only 4-time Truck Series champion.

After Kevin Harvick, it’s time for Keelan to get some lessons from Ron Hornaday

Ron Hornaday Jr has been determined and straightforward. You mess with the bull, you get the horns—that was pretty much how Hornaday saw things. His never-say-die attitude and tough guy image were pretty much the stuff of legends in NASCAR circles. Though he carried the aura of the old-school drivers with his usual hard-nosed persona, Ron Hornaday was more of a mentor for the upcoming generation of drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.

Now, the veteran is all focused on bringing up Kevin Harvick’s 11-year-old son, Keelan Harvick. Recently, the community bore witness to the sight when the 2014 Cup Series champion, his wife, and son, Keelan himself, shared the epic moment on social media as Keelan expressed his delight, noting, “Yes, it is! Cover your (eyes) Mom” against his mother’s exclaimed tweet of, “No, no, it is not” when she reacted to Harvick’s post. 

“This is going to be fun!” wrote Kevin Harvick, who also tagged his son and his mentor in the post, which the 65-year-old retweeted, posting, “Looking forward to this.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Kevin Haarvick’s daughter throws “Royal” shade at mom Delana. 

Kevin Harvick gets candid about his relationship with Hornaday

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Coming from a racing family, Ron Hornaday always had that spirit of racing. His father, Ron Hornaday Sr, was a great late-model racer on the West Coast during the late 50s and early 60s. So race cars and their dynamics were pretty much imprinted on the veteran’s mind, seeing his father doing his rounds on the track. The turning point was when the Hall of Famer caught attention by winning the SRL Southwest Tour title in 1992 and 1993, only to have the great Dale Earnhardt‘s sight set on him.

Years after he made it big in NASCAR, Kevin Harvick would detail the profound influence the veteran had on his career. He said, “Hornaday was a huge help in giving me the opportunity to have somewhere to stay. I mean, he has walked me into Dale Earnhardt’s office; he has walked me into Richard Childress’s office, and a lot of us leaned on their family. I mean, Hornaday is as blue-collared as they come.” 

The great 7-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, also came from a humble background before Ron Hornaday let him into his own house, practically raising a champion. “I needed a couch to sleep on. I moved in, they wouldn’t let me move out. I stayed there for six months until Ron, on one of his Harley rides, found a home that he thought I could afford and seemed like a good buy, and I bought my first house.” 

READ MORE: With Kevin Harvick Departing From the Cup Series, Can Kyle Busch Dethrone the Legend from This Mountain?

“They have been amazing to me and to many others in the sport, not just drivers. There are officials walking up and down the pit road that have all bunked at his home, crew members from all over the place. Ron’s contribution to our sport not only includes the amazing things he did on the track but so many things off the track,” said Jimmie Johnson, extending his gratitude to the veteran for his invaluable contribution to the sport.