Three-Way Photo Finish in Texas

Not only was the season finale at Texas Motor Speedway the closest finish in history, but it turned out to be a three way photo finish, with the new 2001 series champion, Sam Hornish, Jr. beating Scott Sharp and Robbie Buel to the checkered flag by just .0468 of a second. What started out as a rain filled weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, turned out to be one of the best races in IRL history.

Hornish, who took the lead for the final time on the last straight-away, came home the victor in the Chevy 500, and showed why he is the series champion for 2001. After the race, Hornish told the press, "Unbelievable! I didn't think I had enough, I just went down another gear and thought I might have enough rpm to get by him. I did, and we won." Sounds simple, doesn't it?

But in the race, the lead changed 32 times over the course of the event. This also set a new record for the IRL, the previous one being 31 lead changes. Even a disappointed Robbie Buel was excited about the outcome of the event, telling reporters, "You know, that's what the Indy Racing League is all about," Buhl said. "That's what this series has been building to. What a way to end the year and then going into next year with everything that's going on for the Indy Racing League."

Second place finisher Scott Sharp echoed Buel's excitement saying, "It's awesome! It's some unbelievable racing. You know Sam is one of the cleanest guys out here. He races you real well, has raced, I think, most everybody all year real well. We all three raced as hard as you can race, but very cleanly." During the race, the trio of drivers led the race for a total of 167 laps of the scheduled 200 laps.

Now, the IRL season has come to a close and fans have the 2002 season to look forward to. It will open at March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and will feature an expanded schedule of 15 races. New tracks which have been added include California Speedway and Nazareth Speedway. Not only the fans, but the drivers as well are excited about the upcoming season. Jaques Lazier put it best when he said, "I really think that we are at the crest of a wave right now," he said about the league. "The IRL is putting together some incredible packages for the future of the series. I believe the vision of Tony George has become clearer and clearer, and is looking very positive." I think fans of open-wheeled racing will agree.

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