Richmond: Hornish Jr beats de Ferran

De Ferran had led 168 of the 250 laps, but had no answer for Hornish as Sam charged beneath him into the first turn of the 199th lap and drove away for the win.

De Ferran's pole speed was 8mph faster that last year, and with the extra speed came an increase in the "marbles" left by used rubber fragments just outside the groove. Combined with the seemingly incompatible rubber laid down on the racing surface by the previous USAC Silver Crown race, these made the 0.75-mile track surprisingly treacherous.

First to get caught out was points leader Helio Castroneves. Holding second behind team-mate de Ferran, he spun coming out of Turn Two and bounced off the inside wall on lap eight. "I don't know what happened," said the Brazilian. "I was just taking it easy, but obviously not. Today just wasn't my day."

After repairs, he returned to the track 147 laps later to finish an eventual 17th and keep the championship lead by a mere three points from Hornish.

The night's scariest moment took place in the pits on the 91st lap. Buddy Lazier, who had worked his way up to third, pitted with a small fire near the right-side exhaust. Instead of tending only to the fire, however, his Hemelgarn crew went ahead with a "routine" pit stop while a single fireman tended to the flames under the car. When the fuel man pulled the hose from the car, spilled methanol splashed over it and an inferno immediately ensued. Lazier was quickly hauled out of the cockpit by his crew and carried away to safety as water thrown onto the blaze from every direction put it out. Happily no one was hurt, but Buddy was out of the race.

The race, which marked the halfway point in the 2002 IRL season, was slowed by eight cautions for 94 laps, so that the winner's average speed was a mere 99.124mph. Next round is next Sunday, July 7, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet 250
Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet 250
Felipe Giaffone G-Force-Chevrolet 250
Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti 250
Al Unser Jr Dallara-Chevrolet 250
Airton Dare Dallara-Chevrolet 250
Richie Hearn Dallara-Chevrolet 250
Jeff Ward G-Force-Chevrolet 249
Robby McGehee Dallara-Chevrolet 247
Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet 246
Mark Dismore Dallara-Chevrolet 246
Greg Ray Dallara-Chevrolet 228 mechanical
Robbie Buhl G-Force-Infiniti 208 running
Eddie Cheever Dallara-Infiniti 180 contact T4
Laurent Redon Dallara-Infiniti 180 contact T4
Sarah Fisher G-Force-Infiniti 158 contact T4
Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet 103 running
Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 91 fire in pits
Jon Herb G-Force-Chevrolet 80 contact T4
George Mack G-Force-Chevrolet 54 contact T2
Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet 40 contact T4
Billy Boat Dallara-Chevrolet 29 contact T4