the team. At the Indianapolis 500, Hornish qualified in 13th place. He finished 14th, four laps behind after an early spin. He continued to drive well, clinching the championship before the final race of the season (a second-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway). Since the winner of each race receives 50 points, Hornish's 66-point advantage clinched the championship with one race remaining. At the season-ending race at Texas he started in the pole position, leading for 115 laps in his third win of the season. Hornish won the championship with 503 points, 105 points ahead of second-place Buddy Lazier. At age 22, he was the youngest champion in series history. In 2002 Hornish returned to Panther Racing, with the team changing manufactures and running a Chevrolet V8. At the season-opening Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami, he qualified in the pole position and led for 166 of 200 laps to win his fourth career race in the series. Hornish then won the Yahmaha Indy 400 at California Speedway, defeating Jaques Lazier by 0.028 second. At the Indianapolis 500, he qualified in 7th place. In the race Hornish brushed the wall on lap 78, damaging his suspension. He returned to the race and finished 25th place, ten laps behind. Hornish won the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway three races later. At the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland he defeated Al Unser Jr. by 0.0024 second, the closest finish in series history. In the final race of the season at Texas, Hornish started in third place and led for 79 laps to win by 0.0096 second. He won his second consecutive championship, amassing five wins and 11 top-five finishes over the season. The beginning of the 2003 season saw Hornish struggle in comparison with his previous two years at Panther. At the Indianapolis 500, he qualified in 18th place; in the race, he retired with a blown engine after completing 195 of the 200 laps. Hornish finished the race in 15th place, dropping to a tie with Buddy Rice for 12th place in points. At the following race at Pikes Peak, he started in 14th place and finished fifth (his first lead-lap finish of the season). Around this time, Panther Racing and several other teams using the Chevrolet engine built by General Motors (the parent company of Chevrolet) switched to a new engine by Cosworth which was badged as a Chevrolet