Hornish Crowned IRL Champion

Sam Hornish, Jr. became the youngest champion in major open-wheeled racing history on September 2nd, as he captured second place in the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and in doing assured that he would stand alone as the 2001 Indy Northern Light Racing Series Champion. The Chicagoland race was won by Jaques Lazier, younger brother of former champion Buddy Lazier. It was his first victory in the IRL.

Lazier, who was in his second race since joining Team Menard won the race from the pole. He said after the race, "We have jelled quicker than I ever thought possible. The win is dedicated to my team and to my wife, who's back home taking care of our own little baby. What an awesome day. All the thanks goes to John (Menard). John Menard, I can't thank you enough for going out on a limb and believing in me. Everything is going so well in my life -- knock on wood. I've got a baby on the way. Life is just good right now." In the process, he set the third fastest time in IRL history, with an average speed of 172.146.

This followed the victory by Al Unser, Jr. in the Gateway Indy 250 in St. Louis the previous weekend. For Unser, it was his first win of the 2001 season and possibly indicates a return to the form that led him to two Indianapolis 500 victories. Unser, at least, hopes so. He told reporters, "This team never gives up and that's what it's all about. You've got to keep trying and never give up. You can always make tomorrow a better day than what today was. It was a super race."

The win by "Little Al" was also the first win for the G Force chassis since Juan Montoya won the 2000 Indianapolis 500. In the race, Unser was followed by Mark Dismore in second place and Sam Hornish, Jr. in third. The winning speed for the event was 136.379 m.p.h. The other contender for the championship, Buddy Lazier finished ten laps off the pace, as he had fuel pump problems. "No fuel pressure at all. All day long, the fuel alarm was going off in the car, probably a couple of hundred times the fuel alarm went off. It's miserable. You know, when you got three races to go in a championship battle, it's really miserable."

In other news from the IRL, Tony George announced the formation of a new league to help develop drivers for the IRL. The Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series, which uses the Infiniti Q45 motor, is designed to give maximum racing excitement for the lowest price. The launch of this new series is the natural evolution of the Indy Racing League," George said. "It was a goal of the Indy Racing League to debut the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series with a sound business model in place. With our partners at Dallara and Infiniti, this will be a successful series that will add value to promoters when they host an Indy Racing League weekend."

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