Hearn

JOLIET, Ill. -- So much for Richie Hearn's fast start.

Leading by almost 2½ seconds 13 laps into the race, the pole-sitter ran into steering problems and couldn't hold on. He lost the lead on the 38th lap, and wound up 14th -- a lap behind winner Sam Hornish Jr.

"I just picked up a huge understeer and from then on, I could not run in traffic," Hearn said. "We kept cranking the front wing in, and I was just hanging on. I only had my spotter about half the time. It's really hard to run in that pack not knowing where you are."

It was another tough race for Hearn, who's had his share of disappointments the past four years. Though he was third at the Indianapolis 500 in 1996, the best finish by a rookie that year, he hasn't had a full-time ride since 1999. His only other race this season was Indianapolis, and a crash knocked him out on the 61st lap.

But when Team Menard was looking for a replacement for Vitor Meira, who is out with a broken wrist, Hearn got the call. He turned some of the fastest times in practice at the Chicagoland Speedway, then won the pole with a qualifying-record lap of 223.159 mph.

He was hoping for another big day Sunday. In the first two Delphi Indy 300s, the pole-sitter has gone on to win the race.

"It's hard to do this once every six months, running in a pack of cars like that," Hearn said. "I know I probably could have done better on my in-laps on my pit stops, but that's what you get for not racing.

"I hope I can get a ride and just keep working on it."

Still in first

	Castroneves

With one of the tightest points race in years, this wasn't what Helio Castroneves needed.

The points leader was in position for his 11th top-10 finish of the season Sunday when his car stalled on the backstretch on the 186th lap. Something in his gearbox had broken, ending his day and dropping him all the way to 20th.

He earned just 10 points. Though that was enough to keep him in first place in the points standings, he leads rookie Scott Dixon by just 12 points with two races to go.

The top five drivers are separated by only 41 points.

"What a disappointing way to end the weekend," said Castroneves, who had won two of his previous three races. "Trust me, Marlboro Team Penske is going to put this weekend behind them and work very hard to make sure we are ready for Fontana."

Black flagged
Felipe Giaffone's return to the Indy Racing League ended badly.

Racing for the first time since a July 6 crash that broke his right leg and pelvis, Giaffone was running fourth when he was black-flagged on the 176th lap for blocking. Giaffone had to drive through the pits, and he wound up 15th.

"I'm so mad that if I say anything, people are really going to be mad at me," he said. "I know at one point I came close to (Scott) Dixon or (Tomas) Scheckter, which I saw right away and moved my car to the other side. Then they black-flagged me.

"I really want to see the tape," Giaffone added. "I'm really, really disappointed."

Crash course

	Brack

Kenny Brack had the day's only crash, spinning into the wall on the 120th lap.

"I'm OK," he said. "I just banged my foot a little."

Brack was running in a pack of cars when his car suddenly spun out, turning 180 degrees and hitting the wall. The left side of his car was damaged, and flames appeared briefly.

The car rolled down to the infield grass and came to a stop. Brack climbed out of the car as crews arrived. He was taken to the infield care center for observation.

"I thought somebody hit me," Brack said. "There was a big bang and the rear end came around in a hurry. Something must have broke, because it snapped around so quickly.

"It's just unfortunate we didn't get to run to the end," he added. "I think we could have had something to stay up front."

Pit stops
Sam Hornish Jr.'s victory was his second of the year and 10th of his career. ... Ed Carpenter, the first driver to ever run IRL and a Menards Infiniti Pro Series races on the same weekend, finished 13th. ... Tony Kanaan started at the back of the field after pitting on the parade lap to check his tires. He wound up sixth. ... Tomas Scheckter led 76 laps, most in the race. ... Byran Herta had the fastest lap in the race, running 223.602 mph on the 117th lap.