Sam Hornish Jr Edges Al Unser Jr in the Closest Race Ever

[xJohnx228x]

24/10000 of a second!!! HOLY SHIT!

[blankagravity]

but it still was an intense race for some viewers and specially for the drivers

[3338MAN]

The late Dan Wheldon's first start in an IndyCar. Had a good run that day.

[Lights0ut1109]

Not the closest race ever. 2011 Talladega or 2003 Darlington are the closest.

[peruvianandproud]

GPS: Turn left, Turn left, Turn left, Turn left, Turn left....

[HollywoodSheen]

F**K chicagoland and all other 1.5 mile ovals. Such a bastardization of oval racing. ISC can go to hell

[Hiei2k7]

Big Chevy Engine pushes it over the line.

[khristian49]

I love the chicago 2002 indy car race in chicago, but back then i love champcar racing more gfrom 1993-2004 to tell the truth , but at alst indycar is rejont will champcar orzigizains.

[sesselfurzer2000]

out of turn number twoooooooooo... xD

[redsoxguy617]

sounds like the guys on radio

[PhilipTheBigOne]

There was also a NASCAR Truck Series race in 2008 (I think in Michigan, Eric Darnell won) ending in a gap 5 ten-thousands of a second. And Dixon and Castroneves in the season-finale in Chicagoland 2008 was closer than this.

[RaceKing62]

@PhilipTheBigOne I doubt the NASCAR truck one, but I do remember that season finale finish at Chicagoland in '08, and that one had Helio Castroneves beating Scott Dixon by 0.0011 seconds (11 ten-thousandths of a second.) When this one happened, It was the closest finish at the time (2002), not just to an IRL race, but to any circuit race on record (there have been drag races that were closer, but since they're drag races, they don't count)

[PhilipTheBigOne]

@RaceKing62: I'll check the Truck race! And yeah it was the closest thus far (2003 NASCAR Busch-Craven was 0.002 seconds as well).

[DrummerGuy2409]

@PhilipTheBigOne that was a crazy finish...to this day..one of my all time favorites..

[drewski31683]

I was at this race. It still is the closest finish in SERIES history. Chicagoland has 4 or 5 of the 10 closest finishes in INDYCAR. Simply incredible. Also, the Indy Lights race in 2007, (I was there too) is still the closest finish in ANY AUTO RACE ever.

[MurphyMonster]

I was going for Jr.

[CBAlexQ]

@MurphyMonster lol

[Jorge1Jigen]

I was there, great memories, chicagoland is a crappy track for nascar but a great track for indy cars

[gprefect]

You,ve never been to a race.

[PeterMayer]

I've been to plenty of real racing with real race cars. Not like these tubs of crap...wagons.

[PeterMayer]

Side by side racing, we've never seen that before...the IRL is a friggin bore, I'll neve go to a race unless they get their cars up to spec of what CART was, othewise see ya!.......

[cgdale]

@PeterMayer You'll never go to a race? Good. People will be glad.

[PeterMayer]

@cgdale Hey Gomer jackass, me and "THOUSANDS" of other people. Do you not see? Open wheel is DEAD thanks to your fellow moron hero, Tony George. Attendance is a joke, low, low, LOW sponsorships, HORRIBLE TV ratings. And I'm glad. The IRL will not last as it now stands. The cars are ugly, they are horrible sounding, and they are slow as shit. When you know what the fuck you're talking about, give some us a call....

[MrHartfordHockey]

ricky craven and kurt busch made it saem edgy but this is so close too

[therrydicule]

This is not the closet finish... The closet finish is the Chicagoland 100 in indylight in 2007 with 0.0005... That 5/10000 of a second.

[rbb9753]

It was the closest known closed-circuit finish at the time.

[therrydicule]

Yes it was.... At the time, to speech about a race finishing with a gap of 1/1000 of a second was crazy and "impossible", and then that happen and everybody say "what the hell? How can this happen? Wow!".

[406590]

@therrydicule this was posted before that

[therrydicule]

@406590 I just put the information there for the curious, that all.

[hristoitchov]

Great finish, did they say 0.0024 of a second the gap between 1st and 2nd ?

[rbb9753]

Yes, they did. IIRC, that might be the closest closed-circuit race in history. (There have been closer drag races.)

[BSNFabricating]

@rbb9753

The closest race as far as I know was the Indy Lights race at Chicago in 2007...the margi of victory if I remember right was .0005 seconds.

[godgirlsguitars]

Think that went on for 20 laps. i remember this cool race. i was rooting for Unser Jr. though :(

[madskrondyr]

You could just loop one random lap over and over angain 200 times, and noone would notice...

[timtonjes]

What do you call the greatest spectacle in racing. The indy 500. /it is two differnt types of cars. Thats all

[Salvy102]

I think any kind of automobile racing is good. I don't agree that f1 is where all the talent of the world is in, but i do believe F1 is the most prestigious series to race in. I like Nascar too, 4 the close finishes and IRL too. I don't think button has demonstrated, that he is the most talented driver on the grid, but i do believe brawn GP is better team at the moment. Button hasn't had any real battles on the track.

[AJ1964]

Button was nowhere last year. Now he has the best car and he dominates... Give the best car to anybody and he will win. Talent doesn't mean much these days in F1. And if you are calling other forms of racing a BS that means you should open your eyes. Go watch my youtube videos. You may explore a new world of racing like I did when being a F1 fan for many years I became a fan of IndyCar racing.

[AJ1964]

I have been watching racing for about 20 years and that includes F1, Indy, NASCAR, WRC, MotoGP, Offroading. I have enjoyed all of them, because I like fast cars, engineering stuff and fearless drivers. Being a fan of nearly all kind of autoracing and some bike racing I understand that F1 is not top racing. Each racing series has their own best drivers in the world. F1 is all about cars and less about drivers talent. Button is the best example.

[RaceKing62]

@AJ1964 actually, F1 is the world's top racing league, but I do agree that winning F1 is a mix of driving skill and having a good car compared to others. (the Red Bull team this year is perfect to describe that.) If it hadn't been for the great cars that they build (which are speculated of having illegal components), Sebastien Vettel would still be in the mid-field, but still wrecking people (remeber the Turkish GP this year?, you know, when Vettel took out Mark Webber, his own teammate! >:O)

[AJ1964]

Then its very funny how you came to watch this video. Seems like you're suffering a lot. :DDD CART is dead forever. IRL won the war and Tony George is the best! Openwheel cars on ovals IS the best form of racing.

[richdeveau24]

Tony George won the war, now he's stuck with a boring spec series that still struggles to keep 20+ cars on the grid. The TV package with Versus is only available in 40% of US households. There never would have been a war if it wasn't for Tony "idiot" George. CART was huge before the split, and TG ruined it all!

[hash626]

yea you're right and CART was awesome after the split up until 2001, after that the field was down sized to about 18 cars until the remerge. But I think CART of '98 was like the golden era. those cars were awesome and such a good variety of tracks. Why doesn't Indy Car race at Road America, Laguna Seca, or Portland?

[therrydicule]

Well, you are right for that... 1998 cart was great. But, indycar could go to a similar level in less 10 years... And, with a 16 race schedule, It still have place for those track in indycar series but they talk a lots about Mexico City, Road America, Laguna Seca, and a double race at Cleveland (an oval configuration of the airport and the classic track).

[hash626]

well im not really a fan of the oval configuration of cleveland but i think the original course is a whole lot better than edmonton. why don't they race at montreal for the second canada race? i would like to see indy car race at indianapolis moto gp course as well

[therrydicule]

Because of politics. Montréal try to get formula one and Nascar sprint... But, because of the winter and some "configuration work" to do(Mostly the pit lane extension use/not use, and some tire wall), their is little place for a third race week-end... It is still possible to bring 2 race there (I would say indycar and a 24 hours ALMS), but all politician would ask if it worth it ;)

The other problem is that you are in a park "downtown" so... Noise and other touristic aspects ;)

[hash626]

yea, i remember champ car raced there so i never thought bernie was trying to prevent other open wheeled series racing there. but here's an idea, indy car racing at daytona road course!

[therrydicule]

For this one it is not Bernie, but rather the municipality itself.

Daytona: no schedule trouble... And they talk about it, after it would repaired because it is bumpy even for nascar now. If I was a driver, I would ask for the road course use by the superbike with the longer bus stop, not the one use by the prototype for pure safety question: have you see the speed these cars could get?

[hash626]

oh yea i know, they average like 220 at indy

[therrydicule]

I think it would be more like 260+ for the top speed at a track like Daytona oval... Or, maybe we should look at the old IMSA GTP for an idea... That why I recommend the motorcycle track and the longest bus stop: it cut some of the stretch a little bit and so the car lose a bit of speed ;)

[hash626]

i know what you mean with the motorcycle track because that's the configuration on Gran Turismo 5.

[BADASSED88]

it woulb be nice if they ran more oval track and nascar run more indy tracks

[rdtli]

hi u.s fellas ... when cart and tony george broke up , in early 90s was a terrible mistake for u.s open wheel .... now its going to take a litle bit of time to new bright days shining for you there , the competition lost a lot of the pastdays glamour....as we could see past year ... i think you agree with me ... was a boring year in IRL ...teams and drivers that came from cart was not a shit prepared to the competition , including my country brothers from brazil, simply sucked

[mightycowhero]

i hope 2009 isn't dull.

[DFDSFUEIFH]

When they slowed it down, I saw that Lazier was drafting Hornish, so if he(Lazier) had went to the outside, Hornish might have not won!

[SIMIHIGH2008]

exactly

[JoeytheHDK]

I wish they hadn't changed the cars the next year. The IndyCars of the early 2000s were so cool, some of the most awesome vehicles in racing.

[franticfury]

CART in the late 90's and Early 2000s were sooo much faster with the turbo's...230mph+ at Michigan and Califorina, and they were too fast for Texas in '01.

[JoeytheHDK]

Yeah, indeed, 235 mph laps at Michigan and Cali are one thing, but what were the g-loads for Texas with the ChampCars again? 5 or so?

[InvisibleTeeth]

This and Kurt Busch/Ricky Craven at Darlington are my favorite finishes....

It's a shame that this has become a rarity in both IRL and NASCAR. I remember just a couple years ago every IRL race ended up like this. Now it's pretty much just pick a winner out of about 6 competitive cars.(Ganassi/Penske/2 of the Andretti-Green cars)

[tonybdahomeskillet]

That was the first professional series race that I ever attended, and no joke, during the last 25 laps of that race, not one person was sitting down. Closest IRL finish ever, and I got to see it. I'll never forget it.

[AyrtonSennaGODsPilot]

that was very close!

is this nashville?

[1ihatepokemon1]

it's chicagoland :)

[ZeframCo]

For me as a european, Formula 1 is the number one.

Here you can read nothing on the newspaper concerning Nascar or Indycar. Maybe the TV-stations won´t even show the races this year. It´s sad because i think they are both very action-packed racing series, definitely more exciting than F1. But I think the best, most skilled drivers are in F1, where you get more safety,more interesting tracks than ovals and of course the most money.

Personally I prefer open-wheel races like Indycar.

[AyrtonSennaGODsPilot]

yeah me two nascar and irl is good nascar better though

if you want to watch nascar and you english watch it on five US on a weekday at 7:00pm maybe monday!

[wags2010]

Formula 1 has the toughest venues in the world, but I disagree on Formula 1 drivers being the best and most skilled because their hands never have to leave the steering wheel,they have traction control, and the car almost drives itself. The most advanced racing machines doesn't make the drivers the best and most skilled. If the F1 field drove the COT of NASCAR around Monaco and did all their shifting on the floor, then I would give them second behind the world rally drivers.

[ZeframCo]

Its difficult to compare, because you need different skills.

But, generally spoken, the best drivers drive certainly there were they get the most money, and that is as far as I know F1.

and by the way: traction control is forbidden in F1 since this season. ;)

[lukeCART1]

f1 doesn't have tc

[lolliecope]

Hey tire...McDonald's is the biggest restaurant in the world-make tons of money-doesn't mean its the best.

[villy27]

but NASCAR has more of all of it...

[tire31539]

If Indycar racing is so much better than NASCAR, why are all the top Indycar drivers, including last year's champion, and the victorious driver in this video, swapping to NASCAR?

[copyright12222111155]

they've accomplished all they have set out to do in open-wheeled racing and are trying something new.

[wags2010]

tire, i'm a big fan of both series, but the racing in this video is nothing i've ever seen on a 1.5 track in nascar, side by side and 3 wide all the way around for the entire race. that's done 4 times a year in nascar and that's only because no one has any proper solution to not having a bobby allison 1987 super crash. the answer to your question is money and health of the sport, nascar didn't split in two peices and stay that way for 12 years

[mightycowhero]

MONEY!!!

[MonacoLager1]

This is exactly why Champcar racing is less popular.

[sporgie84]

You're wrong. IndyCar cars only look better because they have more horsepower. If you brush the wall with one of those cars, you're automatically out of the race. In NASCAR, you can still run after hitting the wall hard. NASCAR actually cares about saftey, where in IndyCar, you have a great chance of dying in a crash, which is why IndyCar is the hillbilly sport, and a huge reason why NASCAR is better.

[SparkyMonololak]

Well hey at least IndyCar is willing to make technological advancements...

[monkeypoo1]

NASCAR became on eof the last series in the wall to take on the hans device, the IRL cars are incredibly safe. Until recently, in terms of modern motorsport safety, NASCAR were old crocks.

[evbo21395]

Does american motorsport want to go down the f1 route and take all the fun and passing out of that just to make it safe? I'm not going to answer that.

Go Dan Wheldon!

[dhfiuejfdhjfoiewdjmn]

they dont bump and beat beacause they actually have tallent

[sporgie84]

It's called NASCAR, you son of a bitch. If you think IndyCar is still better than NASCAR, I suggest you type in "Photo Finish at Darlington", because in that finish, the leaders actually battle for the win, instead of just being afraid to scratch the paint of their cars, like these guys were. Nice video by rbb9753, though.

[combatking08]

If Al unser jr. did drunk and beat his wife i wouldn't give him a pass. NASCAR driver arron fike got busted for cocaine and NASCAR suspened him for life. He can go race ARCA.

[YeefeiMr]

Giaffone is the best

[leerschritt5008]

just damn awesome

[fatalityfan]

this is the best racing i have ever seen =)

[hapykill]

nascar is young founded in the 50's indy is much older

[packerbacker16]

At least in america fomula 1 grand prix isnt

[packerbacker16]

but i do like the IRL being from indiana but that formula 1 grand prix stuff is not real racing

[packerbacker16]

formula 1 is stupid everyone there is a foreginer at least nascar is all american

[0143932823]

well, thats true fame and money is in NASCAR because nascar is older than INDY and that's traditional motorsport in USA and the fame is in USA only,I'm not from USA and i dont know too much of NASCAR drivers, but in latin america people watches F1 and f1 drives are famous in almost every place in this world but not in US so, i think all have good races, but F1 is something about thecnology,and telemetry but the US categories are closer than f1 thats true, but pilot's quality is not more than F1

[rbb9753]

NASCAR is older than Indy? They had NASCAR in 1910?

[jockofthebush]

nascar didnt become LEGAL until the 50's asshole. they raced on backcountry roads until the 50's when they finally got legalized

[HMS24team]

NASCAR was founded in 1948

[quetou]

Unser Jr beats his wife after drunker/drug rage and gets a pass...No EVIDENCE linking Mike Vick to weed or dog fighting and he is a scumbag? What's wrong with America?

[Quickterm]

@rbb9753 :

That's revisionist history - NASCRAP style.

[vsa2o]

@rbb9753 the indycar series wasnt around in 1910. they went under a different name, i think it was called the USAC Indianapolis Car Series. im not 100% sure but i know it was a USAC division

[fueldragster]

@vsa2o From the beginning to 1955 Championship Car racing (the traditional name of indy car) was sanctioned by AAA (Yes...that "triple A") After the 1955 Le Mans Desaster AAA pulled out of auto racing and Tony Hulman formed USAC but by the end of the 1970's the owners were fed up with USAC's backward ways and formed CART in 1979, then after that it gets complicated ;)

[xpander2k]

@0143932823 : NASCAR is successful because of Tony George. C.A.R.T. had American racing on lockdown, but when Tony George decided to create the IRL and took the INDY 500 away from C.A.R.T. it destroyed the sport. All the sponsors ran over the NASCAR which gave them the money they needed to overhaul NASCAR from a regional-southern pastime to the multi-million dollar conglomerate it is today. Had the Indy split never happened NASCAR would not be as big as it is today.

[xpander2k]

And NASCAR is nowhere near as old a the Indy car circuit or Formula 1. NASCAR started in 1947. F1 in the 1920s, and INDYCARS in 1910.

[BSNFabricating]

@0143932823

NASCAR was founded in 1947... Indy (the track) was opened in 1909, but the series that would become the National Championship (and now the IndyCar Series) began somewhere between 1902 and 1905...they didn't crown season champions for the first several years, and then did it retro-actively.

[RaceKing62]

@0143932823 nope. NASCAR was founded in 1949, where as Indy racing was founded in 1910, and for many year, Indy was not only more popular than NASCAR by a considerable amount, but it was (and still is) up there with Formula 1, and many ex-F1 World Champions have raced in the IRL (Jim Clark, Emerson Fitipaldi, Mario Andretti, and Nigel Mansell to name a few), but then in the '90s, the sponsors all foolishly moved to NASCAR, and that's why it became popular. I honestly don't see why though. :(

[rollerhockeygoalie]

come on guys:to each their own.i love watching nascar as much as i do champ car and irl.every one of these has it´s great moments.

[0143932823]

nascar is for girls, i think DANICA is better than any of the fucking nascar drivers, even MILCA DUNO, please, GO TO RUN WITH FORMULA CARS AND U WILL GET SHIT IN YOUR PANTIES, nascar is slower, it is not dangerous like formula cars

[maemikemae]

Um, Danica Patrick is WAY overated. nascar has way better drivwers because thats where all the major American drivers want to be because thats where all of the fame and money is. Thats why Tony Stewart left Indy as well as Casey Mears and Robby Gordon and others. Indy gets boring because while they are faster, they can't pass each other which makes for boring racing. They're not even allowed to block in Indy because passing is so bad.

[stantonstanton]

nascar is as boring as bat shit. real men race open wheel.

go indy !!!!!

[UnsounderGnome]

Nascar is too slow. Formula (open wheel) cars are where its at.

[ninjamonkey060]

Lol @ all of you indy noobs. nascar is the best kind of racing there is.

NASCAR also has the closest finish to a race in history

youtube(DOT COM)/watch?v=wdm2EbYbkzw

You cannot get closer than that. Period.

[msadek86]

Nascar is trailer park entertainment

[spgh46241]

I am watching this clip on Carb Day eve. I truely miss the days of new track records, and the feel of the old regulars. The times are not the same. Hornish, Wheldon, Castroneves, Dixon, and Kannan are world class drivers. The days of Parnelli Jones in the wedge of cheese are over. I don't like it, but it is reallity. It still takes a lot of guts to run 225 around a basicaly flat race track. It has fallen from grace, but the Indy 500 is still the grand daddy of them all in my book.

[stantonstanton]

noob ? what the fuck does that mean, are you a computer geek or something

[wildguy1992]

nascar is way more exciting that indy. My dog shitting is more exciting than f1.

[eviltman]

uh, 2000 and 2007 daytona 500s?

[indycarmaster11]

my dad was their

[dalejrgamer]

See, this is why the CCWS needs ovals to survive! I still believe NASCAR is exciting, but open wheel racing+Chicagoland (or insert commonly boring NASCAR track here)=close finish and great racing in the making. Screw you, Tony George!

[JohnDeereA219]

this is racing, not a show like nascar aka the wwe of auto racing, this is where its at

[edugomes89]

oau! minhas armas.

[carlEfan99]

I was there. I haven't missed a race at this race track since it's opening.

[rbb9753]

I wanted to go to the race last year but couldn't make it. I heard the racing was tremendous.

[carlEfan99]

It's amazing. The first chance you get you should go. But don't go when it's cloudy. Last years race wasn't that exciting because of clouds.

[nappa666]

RACING itself is awsome F1, Indcar, Champcar, Nascar, Sprintcars, V8 supercars, everything that is racing i get the best of all worlds when it comes to racing I dont discriminate againsts any racing serrie sno matter what it is. I get tired of people who bitch about other racing series, shut up any enjoy the racing entertainment

[oklabo]

Great side by side racing. Bo

[rbb9753]

Yeah, there's a reason I've saved this video for so long. Even if someone isn't a racing fan and never will be, this will at least let them understand what all the fuss is about.