Ron Hornaday Jr. is a well-known persona among the NASCAR fans. The four-time Truck Series champ’s fame earned him numerous ‘Most Popular Driver’ awards. However, there’s another interesting aspect of Ron Hornaday Jr.’s story that many fans do not know yet. A story where his life’s at stake.

The NASCAR community knows that he was very close to Kevin Harvick. He also helped Harvick build his career when the latter joined the NASCAR Cup Series. But their relationship went beyond the track. In fact, Kevin Harvick was one of Hornaday’s best friends. So when Hornaday appeared on the Dinner with Racers podcast, he couldn’t help but talk about the contribution of his valuable friend Harvick to his life, being the reason why he’s still alive.

Ron Hornaday Jr. recalls Kevin Harvick’s life-saving intervention

Fans may recall that Hornaday’s health was deteriorating rapidly during his Truck series days in the 2000s. He had lost a lot of weight. It was an alarming situation, and Hornaday’s doctor could not find out the reason behind it. So what did Kevin Harvick do?

Harvick insisted that Ron Hornaday Jr. should meet his doctor in order to dig deeper into his declining health. And that was when he came to know about his condition.

“I knew something was wrong…Crulley takes me to the hospital. I said, ‘Gene, I already went through all this.’ He said, ‘No, this is Kevin’s doc. Kevin wants you to see this guy.’ The doc grabs my hair and says, ‘You got Graves’ disease.’ My wife, Lindy, is talking to him. She says, ‘Okay, what do we do? You’ve got two more months left to race and all the stuff.’ He says, ‘No, he will be dead by then…'”

It was a very dangerous and shocking revelation for Hornaday Jr. If Harvick hadn’t stayed persistent towards his health, Ron Hornaday would’ve succumbed to the severity of Graves’ disease. In fact, we can realize the extent of his suffering from the fact that his weight went down from 200 lbs to 130 lbs within the span of two and a half months.

Before his diagnosis, Hornaday was only trying the regular old-fashioned method of changing his diet. His doctor tried everything: “up the butt, down the throat, CAT scans. He can’t find anything.”

Courtesy of Kevin Harvick’s timely intervention, Hornaday could procure the right medication after his diagnosis. He had to go through a heavy dosage of Synthroid, and that he’d have to continue taking it for his entire life. His Graves’ disease could only stay under control owing to the medication.

Ron Hornaday also recalled some funny incidents related to the medication itself. He says that his wife used to turn off the lights during bedtime and comment that his throat was glowing. Taking a light-hearted jab at himself, he called himself a “nightlamp” for his wife.

But the story doesn’t just stop here. Though Kevin Harvick’s doctor prescribed him Synthroid, which saved his life, his best friend had to intervene once again when things got a little tricky.

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Kevin Harvick busted the false claims of a reporter for Hornaday Jr.

The medication that Ron Hornaday Jr. takes, Synthroid, is a form of steroid. It was an expensive drug that he procured through a bodybuilder. But somehow, a notorious reporter got the information that he was using the same.

The reporter threatened that he would end Hornaday’s career by busting his “steroid usage.” Once again, Ron Hornaday had to approach his friend, Harvick.

“Well, he basically tried to get me fired. So here I had to call Kevin, and luckily, Kevin’s at a function with all the bigwigs at NASCAR, and explain the story. They said, ‘Well, bring all your paperwork, all your hospital stuff…'”

That’s two times when Kevin Harvick’s intervention proved highly important for Ron Hornaday Jr. After saving his life, Harvick did not hesitate a moment before giving it his all to save his career.

Hornaday Jr. also recalls the brotherhood and support of his fellow drivers, Bobby Labonte, Carl Edwards, and others who did not doubt his integrity. “I do appreciate that not only Kevin, but the entire series was like, hey, it’s the medical thing going on.”

At the end of the day, a press conference took place during which the reporter tried to accuse Ron Hornaday Jr. of doping. The meticulous planning and mitigation that Hornaday and Harvick had done together led to the reporter getting kicked out for false claims.

This is a story that is worth remembering for members of the NASCAR community. It goes on to show how Kevin Harvick was a solid wall that his drivers could lean on whenever they had a tough situation. Meanwhile, did you know about this fascinating aspect of Ron Hornaday Jr.’s career in the Truck Series?