IRL: Texas II Firestone race notes

Pennzoil Panther Racing driver Sam Hornish is going to need a big suitcase when he leaves Texas Monday morning. The talented driver will be carrying home the winner's trophy from the Chevy 500 along with his IRL driver's championship trophy he clinched Sept. 2 at the IRL event in Chicago. The race ended with the closest finish in IRL history, as Hornish edged past Kelley Racing driver Scott Sharp by eighteen one-thousandths of a second. Robbie Buhl finished third, an eye-blink behind the pair.

Quote from Al Speyer, Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Director: "You couldn't ask for better racing than we saw at Texas Motor Speedway today. The drivers were dodging and weaving like prizefighters all day long, and the last lap was one for the history books. We know the performance of the Firehawks contributed to this great show, and we're very pleased to have contributed to such impressive racing. We congratulate Sam and the whole Panther Racing program for the win and the championship. We're thrilled to be a part of their team. "While this event marked the end of another great IRL season, it was really just the beginning of Firestone's future. We've provided this series with safe, durable and consistent tires event after event, and our commitment is to not just maintain that record, but to improve it. We're very excited about the commitment we made here this weekend to supply Firestone Firehawk racing radials to every IRL car through the 2005 season. We've already started preparation for that role, and our commitment is to be the best tire supplier the IRL could possible have."

Quote from 2001 IRL Champion Sam Hornish Jr.: "The Firestones were awesome all day long. I don't' believe we've run in conditions as cool as this all year long, so we were curious about how they would work. And they worked great. They were very consistent and stuck good all day, especially on that last lap when I made my pass."

Firestone First At 100 Awards: Sharp earned a $10,000 bonus check from the Firestone Racing program for leading at the half-way point in today's Chevy 500. Prior to the start of the race, Motorsports Director Al Speyer presented a $10,000 check to Jacques Lazier for leading at the half-way point in the Sept. 2 race at Chicagoland Speedway. <pre>

Temperature Information (F) 3:00 p.m. 70° 95° 3:30 p.m. 67° 98° 4:00 p.m. 69° 88° 5:00 p.m. 71° 91°

-Firestone Racing-