FONTANA, Calif., March 24 (UPI) -- Sam Hornish Jr. won the Yamaha 400 in the second-closest finish in IRL history Sunday, touching wheels with Jaques Lazier on an exciting last lap and capturing the race by .0281 seconds for his second win of the year.
Hornish also prevailed in the closest finish in series history when he edged Scott Sharp by .0188 seconds to win the Chevy 500 last October at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 2001 IRL champion raced side-by-side with Lazier on lap 199 before moving in front. Lazier made an aggressive low move in turn 2 to momentarily get the lead, but Hornish went high and had regained the edge by the turn 4 corner.
Rookie Frenchman Laurent Redon finished third after starting fifth. Brazilian duo Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves of Team Penske were fourth and fifth, respectively, after starting in the middle of the pack.
This was the first IRL race at the two-mile California Speedway, which has hosted CART since 1997. The CART races here produced plenty of passing because of the Handford Device rear-wing.
