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 Wednesday, March 21, 2001
Young Hornish races to glory
By Jack Arute
Special to ABC Sports Online
You would have thought that Sam Hornish Jr. had been there before. When the 21-year-old cruised into Victory Lane at the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 Sunday, he low-keyed his win.
"I knew we were going to have a good day. I was pretty much in the mindset to try to get into the top three," Hornish said.
|  | | Sam Hornish celebrates his season-opening victory in Phoenix. |
Hornish became the youngest driver in any form of North American open-wheel racing to win a race and he did so in dominating style. The Defiance, Ohio native led 140 of the 200 laps.
For the Pennzoil Panther crew, it meant starting the IRL season where it left off in 2000. Scott Goodyear captured the '00 IRL curtain closer at Texas Motor Speedway. It also validated Panther's preseason feeling that with Hornish, it had a diamond in the rough.
Right from the start of their relationship, Hornish and the Panther team was fast. Panther crew chief Kevin "Rocket" Blanch knew that if he could establish the same sort of communication and confidence with this sophomore that he had with Goodyear, his team would excel.
While Hornish asked for opportunities to unleash quick laps in testing, Blanch and Panther co-owner John Barnes opted for logging laps and establishing consistency. They refused to deviate from their plan, right through the practice sessions leading up to Phoenix qualifying.
On Friday afternoon, while other teams switched to qualifying trim, Hornish logged 40 lap segments, striving for uniform lap times. During one run, he deviated by no more than three-tenths of a second from lap 1 to 41.
A spin in Saturday morning's practice session brought reality to the team. But when it came time to qualify, "all we did was tape her up and send him out," said Blanch. The spin however, was on the driver's mind. Hornish admitted that he became "chicken" in Turn 1.
At 21, you might think Hornish's crew would have to guard against youthful exuberance. But as one crew member pointed out, "He's a 21-year-old with a 35-year-old's head."
Starting on the outside of the front row, Hornish pulled around and away from pole sitter Greg Ray in the first corner despite Blanch's warning to take it easy the first couple of laps. That's when he knew he had the car to beat. "I thought about Lap 1 when I got in the lead by passing on the outside," Hornish said when he thought he was the driver to beat.
An excellent indication of Hornish's maturity came during the team's first pit stop. While exiting his pit box, Buddy Lazier came across Hornish's nose, clipping the Panther car's front wing.
Instead of panic, Sam persevered and went on to victory.
It has established the operation co-owned by Gary Pedigo, John Barnes and Detroit Lions QB Jim Harbaugh as the team to beat. All with a driver that was just 16 years old when the IRL held its first event in January of 1996.
Hornish says that his team won't allow him to celebrate too long.
"(Owner) John Barnes says we have a 'Harbaugh Rule.' It means that you can celebrate the win for 24 hours and then its over."
No one would blame Hornish if he violates that team rule and basks in the glory for a little longer.
Jack Arute mans the pits for ABC Sports' auto racing coverage. He writes a column every Monday for ABC Sports Online.
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Sam Hornish Jr. races to the finish line to capture the IRL opener.
Sam Hornish Jr. talks with ABC's Jack Arute after capturing his first win.