Hornish finishes 22nd after leading toward the end

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- While the crowd at Michigan International Speedway roared their approval at the winner of Sunday's LifeLock 400, Sam Hornish Jr. stood next to his hauler and wondered how on earth he finished 22nd.

With 30 laps remaining, Hornish was battling Jimmie Johnson for the lead. But he was facing three potential problems: He knew he didn't have enough fuel to go the distance, there was some debris on the grill of his No. 77 Dodge that was causing his engine to overheat, and the car was getting almost too loose to drive.

LifeLock 400

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
2.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
3.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
4.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
5.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
6.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
7.	Carl Edwards	Ford
8.	David Ragan	Ford
9.	Elliott Sadler	Dodge
10.	Jamie McMurray	Ford
22.	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge

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Crew chief Chris Carrier decided to bring Hornish in on Lap 179 -- and solved two of the issues: the fuel and the debris. But with only two fresh tires in an effort not to lose a lap, Hornish still had his hands full.

He finally lost control in Turn 4 on Lap 198, spinning into the grass near the pit entrance -- saving it, only to have it loop back the other way. Still, he was able to re-fire the car and remain on the lead lap through the green-white-yellow-checkered finish.

"I feel really bad for the guys," Hornish said. "They got me in good position. We had a good strategy where we were able to run longer and still run respectable times, like a lot of other guys were.

"But then we had the overheating problem and had to stop. And in trying to make sure we stayed on the lead lap, we only took two tires and it was just super-loose the last run there. I don't know where we would have ended up if things had played out."

Hornish said he would have rather gambled on four tires during that final stop, but not knowing what other teams might do forced the No. 77 crew to play it conservatively.

"We could have made it a different way and the yellow could have come out and we could have been a lap down," Hornish said. "It's just one of those things where the series of circumstances play out and I've got a lot of faith in what they're doing and what they're trying to do out there.

"Sometimes I second-guess a little bit too much, but we're all still learning each other and trying to do the best we can to get the most out of it. I'm really happy with the way all the guys on the crew have been working. I feel like I've let them down a lot more than they've let me down."

This was Hornish's Cup debut at Michigan, but he had three top-five finishes in six career IndyCar starts, including finishing second to Alex Barron in 2003.

Starting 35th, Hornish quickly moved through the field, working his way into the top 20 by Lap 30. He moved into the top 10 during several green-flag stops -- and was able to remain on the lead lap, which put him in a position to gamble on track position.

That came following Bobby Labonte's spin on Lap 147. Having recently pitted, Hornish stayed out while many of the other lead-lap cars headed for pit road, putting the No. 77 directly behind Johnson on the restart. And Hornish was able to grab the lead on Lap 162 before Johnson reclaimed it.

"It was a lot of fun," Hornish said. "It shows you how much track position is worth, how much strategy is worth. In order to go out there and have a strong car, where you can start playing out some of those other strategies, not really force your hand but show what you're holding, it makes it a lot easier.

"I could tell Jimmie was trying hard. His back end was moving around and I wanted to go lead some laps. I knew if I could get some clean air, it might help our overheating condition, too. I just couldn't get by him once I did get to him. Then I tried to just back up a little bit and try to get some good runs on him, also try to get up there and let some of that dirty air off the back and try to blow whatever was on there off."

Hornish was just trying to hang on at the end, hoping for a caution that might allow him to get the adjustments he so desperately needed. Unfortunately, he was the one who brought out the yellow.

Still, after finishes of 13th at Lowe's and 18th at Dover, Hornish was happy to bounce back from a lousy weekend at Pocono, where he wound up 42nd. But he still lamented the fact that the finishing position didn't reflect how well the team performed on Sunday.

"We were so loose the last 20 laps," Hornish said. "Every time I tried to touch the gas, it was coming around. I don't know. It almost felt like [the tire] was going down or something. It's unfortunate but the guys on the crew have been working real hard. I'm real happy with the progress they're making and everything they're doing.

"These guys deserved a lot better finish today."