The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 68

R4 MONDAY, MAY 30, 2005 RACE RESULTS THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM Ornish endures disappoint! gday Bessie Stickle The Star Tough finish: Sam Hornish Jr. slides along the wall in turn two after crashing during lap 147. Hornish led a race-high 77 laps but failed to finish the full distance of 200 laps for the sixth year in a row. "It's such a shame. He was running a great race," the Brazilian said.

"I just saw him on the side and I thought, 'Man, that's not Castroneves, at least, went away with a smile on his face. Hornish did not. His best finish remains in 2001, when he placed 14th, four laps down. After earning a starting spot alongside Kanaan in the middle of the front row, his best Indy qualifying effort, the Defiance, Ohio, native firmly believed this was his year to get over the hump. A win by his crew in Friday's pit stop competition only added to his confidence.

And the longer the day went on, as he and Kanaan played hopscotch at the front, it began to look like that confidence would be rewarded. But for the third time in his still relatively brief Indy career, an accident ended his day early. "It's not any fun, but that's how it goes, I guess," he said. "You do everything you can, and again today, that wasn't enough." Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at (317)444-6184. Bourdais was the one to drive away, but his escape proved brief.

He hit the wall on lap 198 while running sixth and dropped to 12th in the final order. That still was better than Hornish's 23rd, which tied him for the second-lowest 500 finish by a driver who led the most laps. From his vantage point, owner Roger Penske saw two determined drivers, neither willing to yield. "I don't think you can blame it on anybody," he said. "It was just a tough, tough, tough deal for Sam.

He ran a helluva race." Penske remained stuck on 13 Indy wins as Hornish's teammate, two-time (2001-02) champion He-lio Castroneves, limped home ninth. His car's steering was damaged early in the race and he did well just to stay on the lead lap. "We were clipped on the right front and after that I was just surviving. It was a long day," Castroneves said. "I can't believe we finished ninth.

That's the highest position probably we had." Castroneves didn't see what happened to his teammate but saw the result. By Steve Ballard steve.ballardiiindystar.com Sam Hornish Jr. was hardly greedy in setting his goals for his sixth Indianapolis 500. He just wanted to finally finish what he started. At the 350-mile mark Sunday, Hornish was in position to do a lot more than that.

But fate intervened and the two-time Indy Racing League champion again departed Indianapolis Motor Speedway lamenting what might have been. Sitting in the Team Penske garage and watching the final laps of the race unfold on television, Hornish had every reason to believe he could have been the one challenging Dan Wheldon for the victory. Instead, he was left to digest how he could have led a race-high 77 laps yet failed to complete all 200 for the sixth year in a row. "We led a couple of laps last year, a few more this year and maybe next year we'll lead some more," he said. "But you've got to get to the end.

Hopefully, some day we will." After spending the fust two- tended Hornish could have backed off if he felt he was in peril. One thing they could agree on is that Hornish got the worst of it. He got out of the racing groove and couldn't keep his car from drifting up the track into the SAFER barrier. While not exactly pointing his finger at the reigning Champ Car World Series champion, Hornish said the Frenchman's unfamiliar-ity with high-speed ovals was a factor. "I think if it had been Wheldon thirds of the race jockeying at the front in a spirited passing duel with Tony Kanaan, Hornish fell back slightly on worn tires.

On lap 147, three laps away from his next scheduled pit stop, he and Sebastien Bourdais entered turn one side by side, with Bourdais having the preferred inside line. What happened next is a matter of whom you ask. Hornish contended he was pinched to the outside farther than was necessary. Bourdais con or one of the guys we regularly run with, he would have made more room," Hornish said. "He knows if he doesn't, he's going to see me again at the next race." Bourdais, whose next race is a Champ Car event Saturday at Milwaukee, wasn't buying it.

"I had to go very low because I didn't want to make contact," he said. "He took a chance and tried to make it on the outside. I was like, 'holy it doesn't work this way. Somebody has to give up." Brack shows he can still race By Phillip B. Wilson phillip.wilsonindystar.com A scripted happy ending it was not, but at the end of his 26th-place run in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Kenny Brack walked away without a job but with peace of mind.

Rahal Letterman Racing's replacement for injured defending champion Buddy Rice showed something to himself and potential future employers he can still drive. The second-weekend qualifier, with the fastest run to make the field, had his car up to 18th before a loose steering column nut parked his comeback after 92 laps. "It's the greatest automobile race in the world, but in the grand scheme of things, a sporting event is a sporting event," Brack said af- OUR DEALERSHIP IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC TODAY TOMORROW BUT THERE'S HOT A SALESPERSON 111 SIGHT! WW HIT -k i ik ik. ter his first IndyCar Series race since a devastating crash 19 months ago at Texas. "I came here and got an opportunity to prove to myself that I can be back at the highest level of motor sports.

That's the victory for me." Before this month, it appeared the 1999 500 winner's career might be over. But when Rice got hurt in a May 11 practice crash and wasn't cleared to return, team owner Bobby Rahal didn't hesitate to call the driver for whom Rice had stepped in after Texas. "Kenny did great," said Scott Roembke, team chief operating officer. "We let Kenny down today, somewhere, somehow mechanically. "We broke something in the steering system somewhere.

There was a little dead spot in there and this isn't the place you want to be running around without the steering not totally under you. We'll go away and cheer the other two on." That's just what Brack did, too. He stayed on pit road to watch teammates Vitor Meira and Dan-ica Patrick charge to the front. Meira finished second, Patrick fourth. Brack started 23rd and planned to bide his time until the opportunity to pass presented itself.

In 10 laps, he was up to 19th. Seventy laps in, he was 18th. "I will go home and I will sleep better after this day than I would have slept after retiring in a race prior to the accident," he said. Because Rice hopes to be back at Texas in two weeks, Brack doesn't know when he'll drive again. But it didn't seem to matter an hour after this race.

"I've done it my way. I've worked my way back," he said. "And I write my chapters in my book now. I don't have anybody else forcing me to go one way or another. Whatever way I'm going in the future, I don't know yet, but it's in my hands and not in anybody else's." Feel free to shop our lot Sunday and Monday.

Almost every vehicle on our lot will be clearly marked with Memorial Day sales prices. Select your new or pre-owned vehicle on Sunday or Monday then stop in the dealership on Tuesday, May 31st to purchase the vehicle. Doors open at First come, first served. Pricing good through Tuesday, May 31st (NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING) vji 4 A -V -v -1 -V -V ik Franklin Police Department Now accepting applications tor new police officers beginning May 23. Applications may be completed online at www.franklinpolice.us, or picked up.

Sam Riche The Star Moving up: Kenny Brack's 26th-place finish doesn't reflect the progress he made in the race. Roembke said Brack should have some callers if the driver chooses to keep going. "Kenny has got to decide if he wants to run again," Roembke said. "He proved his point to people in qualifying and practice and even during the race for a little while that he can still get the job done." Brack didn't want to say definitively that he would be back. If anything, he left the option open.

"Who knows with me; we'll see," he said, "but there are plenty more chances to win here if you want to do that. "I haven't hunted for a ride. These things happen, anyway. I'm very grateful for everybody to give me this opportunity. We could have been where Vitor and Danica were if everything had gone our way." Call Star reporter Phillip B.

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