With Team Penske dominating the IndyCar Championship this year, Sam Hornish Jr. continues his surge in the IRL title chase by taking his second victory in a row in Kansas. Since his memorable Indianapolis 500 win in May, the Defiance, Ohio native has been very consistent in oval races with two wins and a fourth place finish. His latest victory in Kansas elevates him to the top of the standings, passing teammate Helio Castroneves for the points lead with six races to go in 2006.

The two-time IRL champion is poised to take his third title - his first for team owner Roger Penske.

Hornish dominated most of Sunday's race, but a late caution allowed defending series champ Dan Wheldon to challenge him for the lead. Wheldon, who had zero luck in previous races, passed Hornish with three laps to go. However, his luck quickly went out as Hornish retook the lead on the final lap and crossed the finish line 0.0793 of a second ahead of the Target Chip Ganassi driver for the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 win.

"We had a great battle with those guys at the end," said Hornish. "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."

And more importantly, Hornish might be able to take his third series title to go along with his Indy 500 win this year.

"(The season) already has been special," Hornish said. "I won Indy. That makes the whole year special. That was the main thing for me."

Meanwhile, Wheldon's hope to defend his title is starting to fade despite a strong showing in Kansas.

"I'm just disappointed in coming up short again," said Wheldon. "We gave everything we had. We just need to keep working harder and try to win. Sam just seemed like he had a little bit more speed. His car was good. He just blew right by me on the backstretch."

Vitor Meira once again put his Panther Racing machine up for another fine third place finish. The always underrated driver once again proved his worth by beating big name drivers such as Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Points leader Castroneves suffered a crash early, but was able to recover after repairs thanks to great team work at Team Penske. The Brazilian salvaged a sixth place finish and minimized the damage in his quest for the IRL title.

"I was just trying to move forward through the field, and I got stuck in a little dirty air" Castroneves explained his early crash in the wall. "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 Marlboro 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."