Hornish Holds Off Crowd at Phoenix

Sam Hornish Jr.’s dramatic shootout with Dario Franchitti and teammate Helio Castroneves in Saturday’s XM Indy 500 at Phoenix International Raceway deserved a better audience.

One of the smallest crowds in Indy Racing League history, graciously estimated at between 15,000 and 18,000, witnessed a tense Penske-Toyota vs. Andretti-Honda duel that saw six lead changes through the final laps on the odd-shaped Phoenix Mile.

The race ended on a two-lap shootout following a yellow caution flag. Hornish, Franchitti and Castroneves were lined up closely behind pace car driver Johnny Rutherford. As the green flag came out, Franchitti made a bold move to pass Hornish on the outside of the first turn.

“I just picked my lane, down on the bottom, and kept with it,” Hornish said. “I took it right down the front straightaway. I knew it was hard to pass on the outside of Turn 1. I had tried it myself against Dario and couldn’t make it, so I knew that when he went to the outside of me, he’d have a hard road to go.”

Making his Toyota-powered Dallara as wide as possible, Hornish kept Franchitti high on the outside and when the Scotsman’s momentum caused him to slide into the second turn wall, Hornish had his second win at Phoenix and his 13th since moving into the series in 2000.

It also gave him the IRL points lead after two races.

Castroneves, who had raced side-by-side with his Penske teammate midway in the race, did not challenge him over the final two laps and finished second.

“Sam and I are so equal, it was just incredible racing with him,” Castroneves said. “We work so well together, one of us finds something that works, we share it. It was a good finish for Penske, I’m happy to finish second.”

Tony Kanaan, who started in the last row because of a pre-race engine change, finished third, with Franchitti holding on for fourth despite tagging the wall. Both are on the Honda-powered Andretti-Green team.

Kanaan, the IRL champion, gave what fans there were a spectacular show at the start. In the first two laps, the green 7-Eleven machine passed 12 cars as it zig-zagged its way through traffic. Kanaan actually took the lead on Lap 79, but a refueling problem dropped him back to 21st.

“I always say that the best car should win, but I don’t think the best car won today,” said the garrulous Brazilian. “You know, I won’t take anything away from those guys but definitely, I ran with them, and I think we were as competitive as them.”

Kanaan’s troubles began Friday when his crew was forced to change engines, causing him to start last because he missed qualifying. Then, when he finally got to the front, he pitted and sped off with a smile.

“It was a fantastic stop,” Kanaan said. “I said, ‘Great job, guys,’ to the crew. Then they said, ‘Well, you got to come back, you got no fuel in.’ So I came back in. After all that, third place is not too bad.”

The smaller than usual attendance was caused by a number of things, including the decision to race on Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday, the fact that budget-minded race fans are waiting for NASCAR to fill the seats here next month, a chilly morning that saw sprinkles in parts of the Valley of the Sun and a general malaise that has infected the IRL for years.