It took Sam Hornish, Jr. seven races to get to victory lane in 2007, but his win Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway further bolstered his already record-setting IndyCar career.

Hornish dominated all night at TMS, leading five times for 159 laps. A wreck on lap 197 took out many top contenders, including Ganassi Racing’s Dan Weldon, who lead four times for 52 laps. One car to escape the wreck clean was Tony Kanaan, who made a fantastic move squeezing between a errant wheel and a spinning racecar.

In previous Texas races, Hornish would have taken the checkered flag under caution at lap 200, but this year was different. The scheduled distance was increased by 10 percent in 2007, and the extra 28 laps gave fans a three-way shootout between Hornish and Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick.

“I was pretty upset at lap 200 when the yellow came out and I knew that Tony was going to have a shot to catch back up to me when we had a nine-second lead and it was under yellow and I would have won,” Hornish said. But, “if I would have been second at lap 200, I would have been glad that we had that opportunity.”

Hornish added he was glad the race didn’t finish under yellow because the drivers all want to put on a good show for fans.

Kanaan said he tried every trick in the book to get past Hornish, and was hoping Patrick would be able to get close enough to him so the two could pass the Penske driver.

“My plan was to keep putting the pressure on him [Hornish] and maybe, he would understeer on the last lap and Danica was going to help me from behind,” said Kanaan.

Patrick’s third place finish is a new career best after finishing fourth four times. With 10 laps to go, Patrick was the fastest car on the track, but was too far away from Kanaan and Hornish to do anything with the speed. When the two started to battle side by side, the air turbulence further hindered her efforts.

Andretti Racing driver and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti finished fourth after passing Vitor Meira on the last lap, but Andretti’s fourth driver, Marco Andretti did not have as good of a day. 

Andretti made contact with Tomas Scheckter on lap 87, who threw his gloves at Andretti during the following caution period. Andretti served a penalty for aggressive driving, but his trouble continued when his gearbox failed and he finished 19^th. 

Hornish’s third Texas win breaks a four-way tie between Helio Castroneves, Scott Goodyear and Scott Sharp for most wins at the Ft. Worth track. The three-time and reigning IndyCar Series champ notched his 19^th win Saturday, the most of any driver in the series.

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