DAYTONA, Fla., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The opening round of the
International Race of Champions series had a definite Indy
Racing League flavor Friday.
Although NASCAR Winston Cup star Tony Stewart won Friday's race
when he passed Al Unser Jr. with two laps to go, Stewart was the
1997 IRL champion. Unser is currently in the IRL although he
continues to look for a full-time ride this season.
And the driver that finished second to Stewart was Sam Hornish
Jr., the defending IRL champion. Stewart won the race averaging
175.610 miles per hour and beat Hornish by a mere 0.111 seconds.
It was Stewart's second career IROC win and his second
victory during SpeedWeeks. Stewart won last Sunday's Budweiser
Shootout and finished second to Michael Waltrip in the second
Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race on Thursday.
Stewart tucked himself behind Unser's car for much of the
40-lap, 100-mile race before making his move with two laps to go
and win the opener of a four-race series that pits drivers from
NASCAR and open-wheel racing in identically prepared cars.
"In our Winston Cup car, you really want to be leading," Stewart
said. "With these cars, you want to be second. Being second and
in single file with two to go in these IROC cars is just about a
perfect situation.
"It was just a matter of finding the right time and the right
place to go. Who would have ever thought I'd be comfortable on a
superspeedway, but I'm starting to really like this place."
The IROC cars draft much better than the current rules
configuration of the NASCAR Winston Cup cars. That makes the
racing at Daytona a little more flamboyant in the IROC race.
"It was a fun race (Friday)," Stewart said. "It's always fun
when you know you're racing with 11 other cars that are just as
even as yours and it's up to you to do your job behind the
steering wheel."
Unser, who left CART after the 1999 season to join the IRL, led
23 laps. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner started sixth and
took the lead on the fourth lap.
Stewart attempted to make a pass for the lead on the 39th lap
when he pulled low alongside Unser. The cars behind Stewart
followed as Hornish, IRL veteran Scott Sharp and three-time
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague followed.
That left Unser helpless in the draft and his bid to break a tie
with Dale Earnhardt for most victories in IROC came to a sudden
end. Unser is tied with the driver who was killed in last year's
Daytona 500 with 11 IROC wins each.
In a series that is heavily favored toward NASCAR racers,
Hornish had a fantastic debut by finishing second in his first
IROC event.
"The first 10 laps, I got hit about 10 times," said the
22-year-old Hornish. "It was a lot of fun after that. I was
hesitating: I kind of wanted to push Al, but every time I had
been on the outside I got stuck out there by myself. So I
figured second was better than going back to fifth, and I
decided to just push Tony."
Friday was Hornish's first race in a stock car.
"I take it the exact same seriousness that I drive my IRL car,"
Hornish said. "I don't like to lose in anything. I'm going to
put as much effort as I can to be able to be up front. I don't
like to finish in the back so I'm going to have to keep aspiring
to do both series that I'm running well and in the same fashion
and try to stay up front as much as I can."
Hornish and defending Indianapolis 500 champion Helio
Castroneves collided on the first lap of the race. Because the
incident happened on the opening lap, Castroneves was able to
get into a backup car at the restart of the race.
"I just tried to push Tony (Stewart) by, helping him on the
outside line," Hornish recalled. "He had to come down, I don't
know what for. But he moved down right in front of Helio and I
don't know if it took the air off of Helio's car, and he just
kind of pinched me in between him and the wall."
Stewart realized his margin of victory was a close one.
"Once we got by Al Jr., it was just a matter of making sure I
could stay in the lead," Stewart said. "I was watching the
mirrors and making sure I didn't give Sam an opportunity to get
a run at me."
Sharp, who began his racing career as a sports car driver before
one season in CART, has been a regular in the IRL since the
series began in 1996. His third-place finish is the best of his
IROC career.
"I actually had a great time," Sharp said. "It was so much fun.
Everyone said IROC is a blast. The cars were really well
balanced today and the guys did a great job. We got more and
more confident as we went on. It was a lot rougher that I
thought it would be. But when they gave it to me, I tried to
just give it back a little bit."
