rpm.espn.com: Sam Hornish Jr.

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Wednesday, January 15
Updated: January 20, 2:58 PM ET

Sam Hornish Jr.
By Robin Miller
ESPN.com

Team: Pennzoil Panther Racing
Nationality: American

Sam Hornish Jr.
Hornish

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Best finish

2002 1 5 11 12 2 1st, five times

Career 8 23 26 4

2002 recap
The good: Sam Hornish Jr. earned his second straight IRL championship in stirring fashion by beating Team Penske's Helio Castroneves in a dramatic wheel-to-wheel finale at Texas. It was one of Hornish's five wins to go along with a pair of runner-up finishes and a trio of third-place runs.

Season highlight: Hornish traded the lead with Castroneves six times (officially) in the closing laps at Texas before winning by 0.0096 seconds.

The bad: He had three consecutive clunkers (Nazareth, Pa., Indianapolis and the first race at Texas).

Season lowlight: Hornish started seventh but brushed the wall, damaging his suspension, and never really contended in the Indianapolis 500 -- winding up a disappointing 25th.

Sam Hornish Jr. takes a victory lap after winning the IRL championship and the Chevy 500.

Key stat: He led 654 out of 3,100 possible laps.

2003 outlook
The savvy 23-year-old returns for third season with Pennzoil Panther Racing and figures to be Chevrolet's best shot against the Toyota and Honda invasion.

Your take
Can Hornish score a threepeat? Or will there be too much driver and engine competition? Here are your thoughts.

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