"We had a great battle with those guys at the end," said Hornish, who gave Penske Racing its first open-wheel victory at Kansas Speedway and notched his 16th in the series. "We had a good car all day long. The Marlboro Team Penske car was good on the bottom and good on the top. We put on a good show for the fans at the end of the race."

Hornish also passed teammate Helio Castroneves for the series point lead with eight races in the books and a week off before another challenging stretch of three consecutive races (1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway on July 15; The Milwaukee Mile on July 23 and the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway on July 30). Panther Racing's Vitor Meira was third for the second consecutive year, with Wheldon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, fourth and Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan advancing eight positions to fifth. Castroneves overcame a potentially dangerous early race situation when his car sustained rear wing damage to finish sixth. Vision Racing's Tomas Scheckter posted his fourth consecutive top 10, followed by Kosuke Matsuura. Rookie Marco Andretti was ninth and with fellow rookie Jeff Simmons claiming his first career top 10.
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Firestone has placed for bid on the popular auction website eBay the Honorary Starter’s position for the Firestone Indy 200. From now through July 6, anyone interested may bid on the honor, with the highest bidder (provided the offer meets the minimum reserve bid) invited by Firestone Racing to climb into the flag stand before the race and then wave the green flag as the Indy cars thunder past to commence the annual thrilling race at Nashville Superspeedway. Best of all, proceeds from the top bid go directly to charity – United Way of Metropolitan Nashville.

“We realize the average fan rarely, if ever, has an opportunity to serve as Honorary Starter for a race of any kind,” said Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing, “so we thought it would be nice to open the possibility to everyone. I have been fortunate enough to serve as Honorary Starter for the Firestone Indy 200 in the past, and let me tell you, it’s one of the more memorable experiences of my career in racing. We’re sure the winning bidder will enjoy the entire evening we have planned and know that he or she will also enjoy having helped many others in the process with the donation going to United Way.”

The winning bidder receives four grandstand tickets for the race from Firestone Racing, admission to Firestone’s pre-race hospitality area and the opportunity to meet Andrew Firestone, great-grandson of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. founder Harvey Firestone and recently the star of the ABC-TV reality show “The Bachelor.” Prior to taking position in the flag stand to start the race, the winning bidder also will be decked out in Firestone Racing apparel and receive a lesson in “proper flag waving” from the official IRL starters. Transportation to and accommodations for the event weekend are the responsibility of the winning bidder. To view and bid on this rarest of opportunities, follow this Internet link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200002868430&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11 -- Or, go to www.eBay.com and enter item number 200002868430 in the item search. Bidding ends at 10:35:16 PDT on Thursday, July 6.