2003 Firestone Indy 400
Appearance
42°03′58.68″N 84°14′29.18″W / 42.0663000°N 84.2414389°W
Second | ![]() |
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Third | ![]() |
The 2003 Firestone Indy 400 was the tenth round of the
Mo Nunn Racing driver Alex Barron beat Sam Hornish Jr. by about one hundredth of a second, with polesitter Tomas Scheckter finishing 3rd. Reminiscent of Danny Sullivan's "spin and win" at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, Barron spun while in the lead with thirty seven laps to go but he avoided contact with the wall or other cars and was able to use the draft
to work his way back to the front and remain side-by-side with Hornish for the lead during the final twenty laps.
Barron was in his second race for
air resistance generated by the 220 mph (350 km/h) speeds meant that Barron physically could not complete the pass and move down to the inside line that Hornish was running. On the final lap of the race, Barron moved his car directly behind Hornish on the back-straight to take advantage of the draft; from there he used the extra momentum to dart back to the outside in Turns 3 and 4, get alongside Hornish, and cross the finish line first by just 0.0121 seconds, at the time the fourth closest finish in IndyCar history.[2]
The win was both Barron's and Mo Nunn Racing's second win in IndyCar competition; it would also be the last win for both driver and team. It was also the race with the fastest average speed in IndyCar history at 180.917 mph (291.158 km/h) until next year's race in 2004.
Qualifying
July 26, 2003 - Qualifying Speeds | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Driver | Time | Leader | Speed | Team |
1 | ![]() |
32.3657 | — | 222.458 mph (358.011 km/h) | Chip Ganassi Racing |
2 | ![]() |
32.3704 | +0.005 | 222.425 mph (357.958 km/h) | Chip Ganassi Racing |
3 | Helio Castroneves
|
32.4393 | +0.074 | 221.953 mph (357.199 km/h) | Team Penske |
4 | ![]() |
32.4563 | +0.091 | 221.837 mph (357.012 km/h) | Panther Racing |
5 | ![]() |
32.5108 | +0.145 | 221.465 mph (356.413 km/h) | Kelley Racing |
6 | ![]() |
32.5222 | +0.157 | 221.387 mph (356.288 km/h) | Mo Nunn Racing
|
7 | ![]() |
32.5286 | +0.163 | 221.344 mph (356.219 km/h) | Access Motorsports |
8 | ![]() |
32.5878 | +0.222 | 220.942 mph (355.572 km/h) | Team Rahal
|
9 | ![]() |
32.5988 | +0.233 | 220.867 mph (355.451 km/h) | Team Penske |
10 | ![]() |
32.6580 | +0.292 | 220.467 mph (354.807 km/h) | Kelley Racing |
11 | Tora Takagi
|
32.7036 | +0.338 | 220.159 mph (354.312 km/h) | Mo Nunn Racing
|
12 | ![]() |
32.7350 | +0.369 | 219.948 mph (353.972 km/h) | Fernández Racing |
13 | ![]() |
32.8099 | +0.444 | 219.446 mph (353.164 km/h) | Andretti Green Racing
|
14 | ![]() |
32.8577 | +0.492 | 219.127 mph (352.651 km/h) | Andretti Green Racing
|
15 | ![]() |
32.9059 | +0.540 | 218.806 mph (352.134 km/h) | Andretti Green Racing
|
16 | ![]() |
32.9442 | +0.579 | 218.551 mph (351.724 km/h) | A. J. Foyt Enterprises
|
17 | ![]() |
33.1127 | +0.747 | 217.439 mph (349.934 km/h) | Team Menard |
18 | ![]() |
33.3599 | +0.994 | 215.828 mph (347.341 km/h) | Team Cheever
|
19 | ![]() |
33.5761 | +1.210 | 214.438 mph (345.105 km/h) | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
20 | ![]() |
33.5852 | +1.220 | 214.380 mph (345.011 km/h) | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
21 | ![]() |
33.7884 | +1.423 | 213.091 mph (342.937 km/h) | Hemelgarn Racing |
Source:[3] |
Race
Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | ![]() |
Mo Nunn Racing
|
200 | 2:12:39 | 6 | 50 |
2 | 4 | ![]() |
Panther Racing | 200 | +0.0121 secs | 4 | 411 |
3 | 10 | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | +0.6686 secs | 1 | 372 |
4 | 8 | ![]() |
Kelley Racing | 200 | +0.7108 secs | 10 | 32 |
5 | 9 | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | +2.3281 secs | 2 | 30 |
6 | 12 | Tora Takagi
|
Mo Nunn Racing
|
200 | +2.4371 secs | 11 | 28 |
7 | 6 | ![]() |
Team Penske | 200 | +2.8965 secs | 9 | 26 |
8 | 55 | ![]() |
Fernández Racing | 200 | +8.7049 secs | 12 | 24 |
9 | 31 | ![]() |
Kelley Racing | 200 | +33.4300 secs | 5 | 22 |
10 | 13 | ![]() |
Access Motorsports | 199 | +1 Lap | 7 | 20 |
11 | 52 | ![]() |
Team Cheever
|
198 | +2 Laps | 18 | 19 |
12 | 91 | ![]() |
Hemelgarn Racing | 196 | +4 Laps | 21 | 18 |
13 | 24 | ![]() |
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 196 | +4 Laps | 19 | 17 |
14 | 14 | ![]() |
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
|
179 | Gearbox | 16 | 16 |
15 | 23 | ![]() |
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 167 | Clutch | 20 | 15 |
16 | 11 | ![]() |
Andretti Green Racing
|
160 | Engine | 15 | 14 |
17 | 3 | Helio Castroneves
|
Team Penske | 70 | Radiator | 3 | 13 |
18 | 15 | ![]() |
Team Rahal
|
64 | Contact | 8 | 12 |
19 | 27 | ![]() |
Andretti Green Racing
|
37 | Electrical | 14 | 11 |
20 | 26 | ![]() |
Andretti Green Racing
|
19 | Engine | 13 | 10 |
21 | 2 | ![]() |
Team Menard | 16 | Fuel leak | 17 | 9 |
Source:[4] |
- ^ Includes 1 bonus point for leading the most laps.
- ^ Includes 2 bonus points for pole position.
Race Statistics
- Lead changes: 30 among 6 drivers
|
|
Standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.
References
- ^ "2003 Michigan Indycars". Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ indycar (2016-02-22), Top 10 Closest Finishes in INDYCAR History, retrieved 2017-10-08
- ^ "IRL: Michigan starting lineup". Motorsport.com. July 26, 2003. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ^ "IRL: Michigan race results". Motorsport.com. July 27, 2003. Retrieved October 8, 2017.