Team: Pennzoil Panther Racing
Nationality: American
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STATS
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Year
|
Rank
|
Wins
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Top 5
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Top 10
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Poles
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Best finish
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2002
|
1
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5
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11
|
12
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2
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1st, five times
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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.
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| 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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