Hornish now leads the championship. source: irl.racing-live.com Team Penske's Sam Hornish Jr. won his second straight IRL IndyCar race and third of the season Sunday with an impressive performance in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Hornish led 149 of 200 laps on the 1.5-mile oval. It was his 17th IndyCar victory, extending his all-time IRL lead, and was accomplished on his 27th birthday. "It's a great way to celebrate my birthday," Hornish said. "We're just so happy right now." Hornish also took the lead in the championship with eight of 14 races completed. He has 300 points and team-mate Helio Castroneves is second with 280. "We're real happy to get out of here with the points lead," he said. Castroneves recovered from a spin and outside wall contact to finish sixth in the No. 3 Dallara/Honda/Firestone. He damaged the rear wing in Turn 4 on the 38th lap and fell to 15th while making three pit stops on consecutive laps to have it replaced. "I was trying to move forward through the field and I got stuck in a little dirty air," Castroneves said. "Before I knew it, I was in the wall. It's a little disappointing to lose some points in the championship, but under the circumstances, I'm quite happy with our performance today. The Team Penske guys did a great job getting me back out on the track." "I thought when I crashed, that was it, but when my guys fixed the car, I was like, 'Wow, I'm still in it.' It took a little while to get back in the groove, but I was able to battle through the field and bring the car home near the top."
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