2002 The 500
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2.029 mi / 3.265 km
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 18 of 19 in the 2002 CART season
| |||
_-_Speedway.svg) Layout of the California Speedway | |||
| Date | November 3, 2002 | ||
| Official name | The 500 Presented by Toyota | ||
| Location | California Speedway Fontana, California, United States | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.029 mi / 3.265 km | ||
| Distance | 250 laps 507.250 mi / 816.250 km | ||
| Weather | Mostly cloudy | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |  Tony Kanaan (Mo Nunn Racing) | ||
| Time | 31.483 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Oriol Servià (Patrick Racing) | ||
| Time | 31.469 (on lap 234 of 250) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |  Jimmy Vasser (Team Rahal) | ||
| Second | Michael Andretti (Team Motorola) | ||
| Third |  Patrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing) | ||
The 2002 The 500 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART)-sanctioned open-wheel racing competition that was held on November 3, 2002, at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps, it was the 18th and penultimate round of the 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series and the sixth running of the event. Team Rahal driver Jimmy Vasser won the race from the sixth position. Michael Andretti, driving for Team Motorola, finished second, and Patrick Carpentier finished third for Forsythe Racing.
Tony Kanaan won his fourth career pole position by posting the fastest lap of qualifications. The early portions of the race were dominated by Andretti and Team Green teammate Paul Tracy, though the latter driver eventually fell out with engine issues. Vasser overtook Kanaan for the lead following a cycle of pit stops on lap 76 and dominated a majority of the race, only conceding the lead to Michel Jourdain Jr. and Dario Franchitti during pit stop sequences. With each cycle of stops, series champion Cristiano da Matta inched closer to Vasser until he finally assumed the lead on lap 203. After Vasser's team made a slight mistake during his final pit stop, da Matta seemed poised to take the win until his engine expired on lap 236. Andretti overtook Vasser for the lead on the ensuing restart, but after Franchitti suffered an engine failure, CART officials issued the red flag to ensure a green-flag finish. Vasser took the lead from Andretti shortly after the last restart to earn his 10th and final victory in CART and second at California Speedway.
With an average speed of 197.995 mph (318.642 km/h), this was the fastest 500-mile race in American open-wheel car racing history until 2014. The race wound up being CART's last at California Speedway as the 2003 running of the event was cancelled because of the Old Fire.
The 500 was confirmed to be included on Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART)'s 2002 schedule in November 2001.[1] It was the 18th of 19 races scheduled by CART, the sixth annual edition of the event, and was held on November 3, 2002 at the California Speedway, a 2.029 mi (3.265 km) four-turn oval circuit, in Fontana, California, United States.[2] It was to be contested for 250 laps over a distance of 507.250 miles (816.340 km).[3] Each team was allotted 250 U.S. gal (950 L) of fuel and allowed to start the race with up to 35 U.S. gal (130 L); in addition, drivers were mandated to enter pit road at a 33-lap interval.[4]
Heading into the race, Newman/Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta, the defending champion of The 500,[5] garnered 219 points and led the Drivers' Championship,[6] which he had already clinched following his victory in the Grand Prix Americas on October 6.[7] Bruno Junqueira held second with 144 points, and Dario Franchitti was third with 135 points.[8] Patrick Carpentier and Christian Fittipaldi occupied the fourth and fifth positions with 131 and 116 points, respectively.[9] In the Constructors' Championship, Lola, which had secured the championship with Junqueira's win in the Grand Prix of Denver,[10] held first with 357 points, 148 more than Reynard.[6] As for the Manufacturers' Championship, Toyota accumulated 301 points and obtained the championship on account of Kenny Bräck's fourth-place finish at Surfers Paradise.[11] They were followed by Honda (255 points) and Ford-Cosworth (226 points).[6]
The Handford device was trimmed three inches by CART, allowing an influx of speed and a significant reduction of aerodynamic drag in the race.[12] Jimmy Vasser, who won the 1998 edition of the event and finished ninth in the Indy Racing League race at the circuit earlier that year,[13][14] predicted that The 500 would be "a wild one" due to the Handford device's new configuration.[15] After a disappointing finish in the preceding Honda Indy 300, da Matta felt confident in his ability to win at California for the second consecutive year.[5] Da Matta's teammate Fittipaldi spoke on the many physical and mental adversities that drivers have to face for The 500.[5] Paul Tracy expressed enthusiasm for the forthcoming event after testing a Honda engine at the track several weeks prior.[16] Michael Andretti reflected on his team's recent misfortunes, including a controversial loss at Surfers Paradise, and hoped to have a "perfectly trouble-free weekend" at California.[17]
Between the eighteen entries for the race, the lone driver change was of the No. 51 Fernández Racing entry. Adrián Fernández, who normally drove the car, suffered two thoracic fractures in a major opening-lap pileup at Surfers Paradise and was prohibited from competing at California.[18] In the meantime, Max Papis was chosen to substitute for the injured Fernández.[19] Tora Takagi also endured minor pelvic fractures in the accident, but he was allowed to race at California so long as he felt comfortable enough to do so.[20]
Practice and qualifying
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Three practice sessions were held prior to the race on Sunday—two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, the second 75 minutes, and the third 60 minutes.[21] In the first practice session on Friday morning, Tony Kanaan was fastest with a timed lap of 31.364 seconds, besting Franchitti, Carpentier, Alex Tagliani, and Andretti.[22] Later that afternoon, Tagliani paced the second practice session with a time of 31.252 seconds, followed by Vasser, Michel Jourdain Jr., Kanaan, and Franchitti.[23] Kanaan improved on his quickest time during the final practice session on Saturday morning, with a lap of 31.006 seconds; he outpaced Franchitti, Tagliani, Carpentier, and Jourdain Jr.[24] Kenny Bräck, fifteenth-quickest in the session,[25] spun without contact while exiting the second turn.[26]
During qualifying, which was held on Saturday afternoon and lasted 120 minutes,[21] drivers were allowed to complete up to five warm-up laps prior to their two timed laps, the fastest of which would determine their starting position.[27] Kanaan earned the fourth pole position of his CART career with a quickest time of 31.483 seconds.[28] He was joined on the grid's front row by Junqueira, who was 0.118 seconds slower[29] and held the pole position until Kanaan's lap.[30] Da Matta qualified third, Andretti fourth, and Tracy fifth. Vasser, Tagliani, Carpentier, Franchitti, and Papis took positions sixth through tenth, and Jourdain Jr., Shinji Nakano, Fittipaldi, Scott Dixon, Bräck, Takagi, Mario Domínguez, and Oriol Servià completed the starting grid.[31] After the qualifier, Kanaan jokingly ribbed on Junqueira and believed that the race would produce many passes and lead changes.[32]
Qualifying classification
Warm-up
All eighteen drivers took to the track at 09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time (UTC−08:00) for a thirty-minute warmup session under sunny weather.[33] Kanaan showed even more speed during the session, setting the fastest time at 32.180 seconds.[34] His lap was 0.041 seconds quicker than Jourdain Jr.'s fastest time; Takagi, Franchitti, and Tracy completed the top five.[35]
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