2002 Indy Racing League season

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2002 Indy Racing League season
Indy Racing League
Season
Races	15
Start date	March 2
End date	September 15
Awards
Drivers' champion	Sam Hornish, Jr.
Indianapolis 500 winner	Hélio Castroneves
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2001	2003 (ICS)

The 2002 Indy Racing League (IRL) season was one of transition, with many CART teams participating in a partial IRL schedule while retaining "lame duck" status in their original series with their CART engine suppliers Toyota and Honda. On the IRL front, the Infiniti engine was in its "lame duck" year and the General Motors engine was now branded as a Chevrolet rather than an Oldsmobile as that marque was being phased out. Sam Hornish, Jr. won 5 races on his way to his second straight championship ahead of Penske Racing juggernaut Hélio Castroneves who won three races, including a second straight Indy 500, on his way to second in the championship.

2002 Indy Racing League schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	March 2	Grand Prix of Miami	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Jeff Ward	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
2	March 17	Bombardier ATV 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Hélio Castroneves	Robbie Buhl	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves
3	March 24	Yamaha Indy 400	California Speedway	Fontana, California	Jaques Lazier	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
4	April 21	Firestone Indy 225	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	Gil de Ferran	Tomas Scheckter	Gil de Ferran	Scott Sharp
5	May 26	86th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Bruno Junqueira	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Hélio Castroneves
6	June 8	Boomtown 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Tomas Scheckter	Eddie Cheever	Tomas Scheckter	Jeff Ward
7	June 16	Radisson Indy 225	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado	Gil de Ferran	Felipe Giaffone	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran
8	June 29	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Gil de Ferran	Buddy Lazier	Gil de Ferran	Sam Hornish, Jr.
9	July 7	Ameristar Casino Indy 200	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Airton Daré
10	July 20	Firestone Indy 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee	Billy Boat	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Alex Barron
11	July 28	Michigan Indy 400	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter
12	August 11	Belterra Casino Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky	Sarah Fisher	Tomas Scheckter	Felipe Giaffone	Felipe Giaffone
13	August 25	Gateway Indy 250	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois	Gil de Ferran	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Gil de Ferran
14	September 8	Delphi Indy 300	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Buddy Rice	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
15	September 15	Chevy 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Vitor Meira	Buddy Rice	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.

• All 2002 Indy Racing League races running on Oval/Speedway.

Team and Driver Chart

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Sponsor(s)	Notes
Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	9	Jeff Ward	Target
			22	Kenny Bräck	Target	Indy 500 only.
			33	Bruno Junqueira	Target	Indy 500 only.
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Pennzoil
			15	Dan Wheldon	Pennzoil	Joliet and Texas 2 only.
Penske Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	3	Helio Castroneves	Marlboro
			6	Gil de Ferran	Marlboro	Injured at Joliet.
			6	Max Papis	Marlboro	Replacing de Ferran at Texas 2.
Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	Paul Tracy	7-Eleven	Indy 500 only.
			27	Dario Franchitti	7-Eleven	Indy 500 only.
			39	Michael Andretti	Archipelago/Motorola	Indy 500 only.
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	7	Al Unser, Jr.	Corteco/Bryant
			8	Scott Sharp	Delphi
			78	Tony Renna	Kruse Special	Replaced Unser at Nashvile and Michigan with car #7.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Chevrolet	11	Richie Hearn	A. J. Foyt Racing
			11	Eliseo Salazar	Banco de Chile	Nine Races
			14	Airton Daré	Harrah's
			41	Greg Ray	Harrah's
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan	22	Robbie Buhl	Team Purex/Aventis
			23	Sarah Fisher	Team Purex/Aventis/Allegra/Smart Blade	Missed Miami, Phoenix, Fontana, Texas, Pikes Peak.
			24	Memo Gidley	Team Purex/Aventis	Fontana only.
Team Rahal	Dallara	Chevrolet	19	Jimmy Vasser	Miller Lite	Fontana and Indy 500 only.
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	17	Tony Kanaan	Hollywood cigarettes	Indy 500 only.
			21	Felipe Giaffone	Hollywood cigarettes
Team Cheever	Dallara	Nissan	51	Eddie Cheever	Red Bull
			52	Tomas Scheckter	Red Bull
			53	Max Papis	Red Bull	Indy 500 only.
310 Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	30	George Mack	310 Racing
Blair Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	44	Alex Barron	Rayovac
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	Bud Light
Conquest Racing	Dallara	Nissan	34	Laurent Redon	Mi-Jack

Race summaries

Grand Prix of Miami

This race was held on March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Gil de Ferran
3. Hélio Castroneves
4. Jeff Ward
5. Eliseo Salazar
6. Tomas Scheckter
7. Felipe Giaffone
8. Alex Barron
9. Anthony Lazzaro
10. Airton Daré

Bombardier ATV 200

This race was held on March 17 at Phoenix International Raceway. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Hélio Castroneves
2. Gil de Ferran
3. Sam Hornish, Jr.
4. Eliseo Salazar
5. Al Unser, Jr.
6. Jaques Lazier
7. Buddy Lazier
8. Billy Boat
9. Rick Treadway
10. Hideki Noda

Yamaha Indy 400

This race was held on March 24 at California Speedway. Eddie Cheever won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Jaques Lazier
3. Laurent Rédon
4. Gil de Ferran
5. Hélio Castroneves
6. Felipe Giaffone
7. Buddy Lazier
8. Scott Sharp
9. Jimmy Vasser
10. Jeff Ward

Firestone Indy 225

This race was held on April 21 at Nazareth Speedway. Gil de Ferran won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Scott Sharp
2. Felipe Giaffone
3. Gil de Ferran
4. Sarah Fisher
5. Hélio Castroneves
6. Alex Barron
7. Eddie Cheever
8. Billy Boat
9. Anthony Lazzaro
10. Shigeaki Hattori

86th Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was held on May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bruno Junqueira sat on pole. The race end was one of the most controversial in history as Paul Tracy passed Hélio Castroneves just as the yellow was coming out for a crash. Race officials ruled that the pass occurred after the yellow.

Top ten results

1. Hélio Castroneves
2. Paul Tracy
3. Felipe Giaffone
4. Alex Barron
5. Eddie Cheever
6. Richie Hearn
7. Michael Andretti
8. Robby Gordon
9. Jeff Ward
10. Gil de Ferran

Boomtown 500

This race was held on June 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Jeff Ward
2. Al Unser, Jr.
3. Airton Daré
4. Hélio Castroneves
5. Felipe Giaffone
6. Shigeaki Hattori
7. Billy Boat
8. Buddy Lazier
9. Richie Hearn
10. Alex Barron

Radisson Indy 225

This race was held on June 16 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Gil de Ferran won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Gil de Ferran
2. Hélio Castroneves
3. Sam Hornish, Jr.
4. Felipe Giaffone
5. Scott Sharp
6. Al Unser, Jr.
7. Laurent Rédon
8. Eddie Cheever
9. Airton Daré
10. Alex Barron

SunTrust Indy Challenge

This race was held on June 29 at Richmond International Raceway. Gil de Ferran won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Gil de Ferran
3. Felipe Giaffone
4. Tomas Scheckter
5. Al Unser, Jr.
6. Airton Daré
7. Richie Hearn
8. Jeff Ward
9. Robby McGehee
10. Alex Barron

Ameristar Casino Indy 200

This race was held on July 7 at Kansas Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Airton Daré
2. Sam Hornish, Jr.
3. Hélio Castroneves
4. Felipe Giaffone
5. Gil de Ferran
6. Scott Sharp
7. Buddy Lazier
8. Alex Barron
9. Billy Boat
10. Richie Hearn

Firestone Indy 200

This race was held on July 20 at Nashville Superspeedway. Billy Boat won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Alex Barron
2. Gil de Ferran
3. Sam Hornish, Jr.
4. Richie Hearn
5. Raul Boesel
6. Eddie Cheever
7. Felipe Giaffone
8. Scott Sharp
9. Hélio Castroneves
10. Tony Renna

Michigan Indy 400

This race was held on July 28 at Michigan International Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Tomas Scheckter
2. Buddy Rice
3. Felipe Giaffone
4. Tony Renna
5. Gil de Ferran
6. Hélio Castroneves
7. Sam Hornish, Jr.
8. Sarah Fisher
9. Scott Sharp
10. Richie Hearn

Belterra Casino Indy 300

This race was held on August 11 at Kentucky Speedway. Sarah Fisher won the pole, the first by a female driver in a major open wheel series.

Top ten results

1. Felipe Giaffone
2. Sam Hornish, Jr.
3. Buddy Lazier
4. Scott Sharp
5. Hélio Castroneves
6. Al Unser, Jr.
7. Tony Renna
8. Sarah Fisher
9. Alex Barron
10. Robbie Buhl

Gateway Indy 250

This race was held on August 25 at Gateway International Raceway. Gil de Ferran won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Gil de Ferran
2. Hélio Castroneves
3. Alex Barron
4. Buddy Rice
5. Sam Hornish, Jr.
6. Robbie Buhl
7. Al Unser, Jr.
8. Raul Boesel
9. Vitor Meira
10. Eddie Cheever

Delphi Indy 300

This race was held on September 8 at Chicagoland Speedway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Al Unser, Jr.
3. Buddy Lazier
4. Hélio Castroneves
5. Eddie Cheever
6. Felipe Giaffone
7. Scott Sharp
8. Vitor Meira
9. Buddy Rice
10. Dan Wheldon

Chevy 500

This race was held on September 15 at Texas Motor Speedway. Vitor Meira won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Hélio Castroneves
3. Vitor Meira
4. Scott Sharp
5. Alex Barron
6. Buddy Rice
7. Buddy Lazier
8. Eddie Cheever
9. Tony Renna
10. Laurent Rédon

Final points standings

Driver

For every race points were awarded to all starters: 50 points to the winner, 40 for runner up, 35 for third place, 32 for fourth place, 30 for fifth place, 28 for sixth place, 26 seventh place, 24 eighth place, 22 for ninth place, 20 for tenth place, winding down to 1 points for 29th place. Every lower placed driver also was awarded with 1 point. Additional points were awarded to the driver leading the most laps (2 points). No additional points were awarded for the qualifying.

Place	Name	Country	Team	Chassis	Engine	Total Points
1	Sam Hornish, Jr.	United States	Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	531	52	37	52	13	5	12	35	50	40	37	26	40	30	52	50
2	Hélio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet	511	35	50	30	30	50	32	40	13	35	22	28	30	42	32	42
3	Gil de Ferran	Brazil	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet	443	40	40	32	37	20	14	52	42	30	40	30	9	50	7	-
4	Felipe Giaffone	Brazil	Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	432	26	11	28	40	35	30	32	35	32	26	35	52	9	28	13
5	Alex Barron	United States	Blair Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	366	24	7	18	28	32	20	20	20	24	50	18	22	35	18	30
6	Scott Sharp	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	332	10	14	24	50	3	16	30	9	28	24	22	32	12	26	32
7	Al Unser, Jr.	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	311	11	30	19	18	18	40	28	30	13	-	-	28	26	40	10
8	Buddy Lazier	United States	Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	305	8	26	26	7	15	24	15	12	26	18	17	35	15	35	26
9	Airton Daré	Brazil	A. J. Foyt Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	304	20	18	17	19	17	35	22	28	50	13	7	7	19	14	18
10	Eddie Cheever	United States	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti	280	5	15	10	26	30	11	24	16	14	28	8	19	20	30	24
11	Jeff Ward	United States	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	268	32	12	20	11	22	50	10	24	18	19	5	14	17	9	5
12	Laurent Redon	France	Mi-Jack Conquest Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti	229	15	16	35	15	8	15	26	15	8	14	19	10	8	5	20
13	Billy Boat	United States	Agajanian/Boat Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	225	14	24	12	24	12	26	16	8
			Agajanian/Boat Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti										22	16	16	11	7	11	6
14	Tomas Scheckter	South Africa	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti	210	28	6	6	9	6	15	14	32	17	17	52	8	-	-	-
15	Richie Hearn	United States	Sam Schmidt Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	204	-	-	16		28	22	18	26	20	32	20	6	-	-	-
			A. J. Foyt Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet					16
16	George Mack	United States	310 Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	184	17	10	14	12	13	9	17	10	12	15	10	13	14	16	2
17	Robbie Buhl	United States	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan Infiniti	177	18	17	-	-	14	10	7	17	9	9	6	20	28	10	12
18	Sarah Fisher	United States	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan Infiniti	161	-	-	-	32	6	-	-	14	16	8	24	24	10	8	19
19	Raul Boesel	Brazil	Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	158	-	-	-	-	9	17	-	-
			Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti										19	30	15	17	24	19	8
20	Eliseo Salazar	Chile	A. J. Foyt Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	157	30	32	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	11	16	16	12	14
21	Robby McGehee	United States	Cahill Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	142	16	9	13	17	-	-
			Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet								13	22	17	-	-	-
			Treadway Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet														18	-
			Cheever Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti																17
22	Buddy Rice	United States	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti	140	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	40	18	32	22	28
23	Greg Ray	United States	A. J. Foyt Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	128	-	-	-	-	1	18	12	18	11	10	13	5	11
			Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet															13	16
24	Tony Renna	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	121	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	32	26	6	15	22
25	Vitor Meira	Brazil	Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	96	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	22	24	35
26	Jaques Lazier	United States	Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	90	12	28	40	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
27	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan	Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	78	-	5
			Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti				4	20	10	28	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
28	Rick Treadway	United States	Treadway/Hubbard Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	76	6	22	8	14	1	7	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-
			Treadway/Hubbard Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti																11
29	Mark Dismore	United States	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	73	-	-	-	-	1	-
			Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet								19	19	10	12	12	-	-	-	-
30	Jon Herb	United States	Racing Professionals	G-Force	Chevrolet	70	4	19	11	8	-	8	9	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Anthony Lazzaro	United States	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	70	22	13	-	22	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-
32	Hideki Noda	Japan	Convergent Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	54	7	20	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
			Indy Regency Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet														13	6	3
33	John de Vries	Australia	Brayton Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	53	13	8	7	6	-
			PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet							19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
34	Paul Tracy	Canada	Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	40	-	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
35	Will Langhorne	United States	Treadway Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	36	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	17	7
36	Dan Wheldon	United Kingdom	Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	35	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	15
37	Arie Luyendyk	Netherlands	Treadway Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	30	-	-	-	-	16	-	-	-	-	-	14	-	-	-	-
38	Michael Andretti	United States	Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	-	-	-	-	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
39	Robby Gordon	United States	Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	24	-	-	-	-	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
40	Tyce Carlson	United States	PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	23	19	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Jimmy Vasser	United States	Team Rahal	Dallara	Chevrolet	23	-	-	22	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
42	Kenny Bräck	Sweden	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	19	-	-	-	-	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
43	Max Papis	Italy	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti	16	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
			Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet																9
44	Dario Franchitti	United Kingdom	Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	11	-	-	-	-	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
45	Billy Roe	United States	Zali Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	9	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Memo Gidley	Mexico	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan Infiniti	9	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Scott Harrington	United States	Brayton Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-
48	Cory Kruseman	United States	Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
49	Jeret Schroeder	United States	PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	3	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
50	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	2	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
51	Bruno Junqueira	Brazil	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

No points (did not qualify):

Oriol Servià

Johnny Herbert

Donnie Beechler

Jimmy Kite

See also

• 2002 Indianapolis 500
• 2002 Infiniti Pro Series season
• 2002 CART season
• 2002 Toyota Atlantic Championship season