Race: Hornish wins photo finish

Series champion Sam Hornish passed race-leader Scott Sharp at the start/finish line to win by 0.0188 seconds. It was the closest finish in Indy car history and the closest 1-2-3 finish in its history as third-placed Robbie Buhl was just 0.0468 seconds behind.

The three cars were abreast crossing the start/finish line with Sharp on the low side, Hornish in the middle and Buhl on the outside in what may be the closest three-way finish in major auto racing history, including NASCAR.

Hornish's pass was the 32nd in the race, establishing an IRL record for most lead changes in a race.

As Hornish began his victory lap following his third-career victory - all coming this season -- he was handed an American flag and drove around the 1.5-mile oval to the cheers of the surprisingly large crowd.

"I knew we were just a little off on gears so in the third turn, I was able to get enough to get by him," Hornish said. "I thought Robbie was going to get by me, but everybody did a great job today. The Panther team won here last year for the season finale so this is a good way to end the season."

Despite getting beat by mere inches, Sharp was able to take pride in being part of an historic finish.

"Just an unbelievable race," Sharp said. "It was wild racing out there, almost waiting for something to happen. Hats off to Sam. I thought nobody could get around me on the outside. We came off turn 4, he still had a great run, had the momentum and got me.

"He looked a lot to try to get me, but I wouldn't let that happen. He deserved the win. We got second and finished third in the race, so we are happy."

Eliseo Salazar was fourth followed by rookie Rick Treadway.

This race was originally scheduled for September 15, but was postponed after the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States. Because of that, Texas Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League officials were unsure how many of the 70,000 fans that purchased tickets would be able to return for the rescheduled race.

The event was going head-to-head with the Texas-Oklahoma college football game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. But under bright sunshine and clear blue skies, an estimated 50,000 fans came to the speedway to watch the IRL season finale.

Because inclement weather on Friday wiped out any chance for the IRL cars to qualify, the 25-car starting lineup was based on the 2001 point's standings, which meant newly-crowned champion Hornish started on the pole alongside Buddy Lazier.

Hornish got a big lead when the green flag waved to start the race, but Lazier pulled even with the driver at the end of the first lap. However, further back in the field, Billy Boat spun out coming off the fourth turn and even further back, Sarah Fisher crashed in the fourth turn in an unrelated accident.

The green flag waved to restart the race on lap 9 with Hornish in front battling Buddy Lazier and later Jaques Lazier.

In the closing stages of the race, the top four cars raced side-by-side in rows of two for most of the final 28 laps.