2003 Firestone Indy 400
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2.000 mi / 3.219 km
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 10 of 16 in the 2003 IndyCar season
| |||
 | |||
| Date | July 27, 2003 | ||
| Official name | Firestone Indy 400 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 400.000 mi / 643.738 km | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |  Tomas Scheckter (Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Time | 32.3657 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Bryan Herta (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Time | 32.2730 (on lap 12 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Alex Barron (Mo Nunn Racing) | ||
| Second | Sam Hornish Jr. (Panther Racing) | ||
| Third | Tomas Scheckter (Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
The 2003 Firestone Indy 400 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on July 27, 2003, in Brooklyn, Michigan at Michigan International Speedway. Contested over 200 laps, it was the 10th round of the 2003 IRL IndyCar Series and the second running of the event. Alex Barron of Mo Nunn Racing won the race starting from the sixth position. Panther Racing driver Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and Tomas Scheckter came in third for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Scheckter won the pole position, the fifth of his career and second consecutive at Michigan, by posting the fastest lap of qualifications. Hornish Jr. led 126 laps—more than any other competitor—as his performance was boosted by a new variant of the Chevrolet Indy V8 engine, which sparked controversy among some drivers. Along with Hornish Jr., the first position was hotly contested throughout the race by Scheckter, Scott Dixon, and Barron, the latter of whom spun into Scheckter on the 164th lap but avoided causing any damage to his car. The last green-flag stint, beginning on lap 169, saw Hornish Jr. and Barron battle for the win, with Hornish Jr. utilizing the inside line to his advantage. Barron finally nosed ahead of Hornish Jr. on the final lap to take the victory by 0.0121 seconds, the fourth-closest finish in IndyCar Series history (at the time). Barron, substituting for the injured Felipe Giaffone, earned his and Mo Nunn Racing's second and final win in IndyCar Series competition.
With six races left in the season, Tony Kanaan, who led the Drivers' Championship prior to the race, fell to second behind fifth-place finisher Dixon as Gil de Ferran was relegated from second to third. Toyota continued holding their lead in the Manufacturers' Championship over Honda and Chevrolet.
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The Firestone Indy 400 was the tenth of 18 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2003 IRL IndyCar Series and the second annual edition of the event dating back to 2002. It was held on July 27, 2003 in Brooklyn, Michigan, United States, at Michigan International Speedway, a four-turn 2 mi (3.2 km) asphalt tri-oval track with 18-degree banking in the corners, 12-degree banking in the front stretch, and 5-degree banking in the back stretch, and was contested over 200 laps and 400 miles (640 km).[1][2] Before the race, Tony Kanaan led the Drivers' Championship with 303 points, 14 more than Gil de Ferran in second and 15 more than Scott Dixon in third. Hélio Castroneves held fourth on 282 points and Kenny Bräck, with 245 points, was fifth.[3] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Toyota led on 84 points, followed by Honda with 67 and Chevrolet with 47.[4] Tomas Scheckter was the defending race winner.[5] Between the 21 entries for the race,[6] the lone driver change was of Mo Nunn Racing's No. 21 car, which was driven by Alex Barron for the second consecutive race while Felipe Giaffone recovered from injuries that he suffered in a crash during the Kansas Indy 300.[7]
A private testing session was held for rookie drivers Dan Wheldon and Roger Yasukawa at Michigan International Speedway on July 1 to prepare for the Firestone Indy 400. Wheldon and Yasukawa completed a combined total of over 160 laps without incident, and both drivers later stated that the pack racing at Michigan would force competitors to have patience in order to succeed.[8] Chevrolet debuted the "Generation IV" variant of their Indy V8 engine, manufactured by Cosworth, for this race after General Motors received clearance from the Indy Racing League (IRL). Although mid-season engine changes are usually forbidden, IRL vice president Brian Barnhart noted that Chevrolet was at a "performance deficiency" compared to Honda and Toyota.[9] Sam Hornish Jr. was selected to drive with the engine in the Firestone Indy 400 as he was the highest Chevrolet driver in the Drivers' Championship standings; the next-highest Chevrolet driver in the standings would obtain the new engine for the succeeding Emerson Indy 250.[10] The IRL's decision to permit the new engine drew criticism from drivers, with Dixon calling the decision "kind of shady" and Greg Ray feeling that it was a bad move from a financial standpoint.[11][12]
Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions preceded the race on Sunday, two on Friday and two on Saturday. The first two sessions lasted 90 minutes and were both divided into two groups that were determined by the entrant points standings and received equal track time. The third lasted 60 minutes and the fourth 30 minutes.[13][14] Hornish Jr. was fastest in the first practice session on Friday morning with a time of 32.1677 seconds, nine hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Bräck. Dixon, Bryan Herta, and Barron rounded out the top-five.[15] Later that day, Dixon's time of 32.3605 seconds made him the quickest driver of the second practice session, besting Hornish Jr., Scheckter, Barron, and Wheldon.[16] On Saturday morning, Dixon again led the third practice session with a time of 32.3682 seconds, with Scheckter in second, Ray in third, Hornish Jr. in fourth, and Barron in fifth.[17]
During the qualifying session later in the morning, held under warm and somewhat windy conditions, each driver was required to complete up to two timed laps, with the fastest of the two determining their starting position.[18] Scheckter earned his fifth career pole position and his second consecutive at Michigan with a quickest time of 32.3657 seconds.[19] He was joined on the grid's front row by his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dixon, who held the pole position until Scheckter's lap.[20] A gust of wind helped Castroneves qualify third,[21] ahead of Hornish Jr. in fourth and Al Unser Jr. in fifth.[22] Barron, Ray, and Bräck occupied the next three positions.[23] De Ferran took the ninth position after his team alleviated a mechanical issue during the third practice session,[21] while Scott Sharp started in 10th.[24] The rest of the starting positions were taken by Tora Takagi, Yasukawa, Andretti Green Racing teammates Wheldon, Herta, and Kanaan, A. J. Foyt IV, Vítor Meira, Buddy Rice, Robbie Buhl, Sarah Fisher, and Buddy Lazier.[23]
The fourth and final practice session on Saturday afternoon was led by Scheckter with a time of 32.4822 seconds, with second-quickest driver Sharp trailing by four hundredths of a second. Barron was third, Herta fourth, and Wheldon fifth.[25]
