2002 Daytona 500

2002 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 36 in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date	February 17, 2002 (2002-02-17)
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds approaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed	130.810 miles per hour (210.518 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Duel 2 Winner	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Most laps led
Driver	Sterling Marlin	Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps	78
Winner
No. 22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, and Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Nielsen Ratings	10.9/26 (18.8 million viewers)

The 2002 Daytona 500, the 44th running of the event, was held on February 17 at Daytona International Speedway as the first of 36 races of the 2002 Winston Cup Season. Rookie Jimmie Johnson, driving the No.48 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole with fellow Daytona 500 rookie Kevin Harvick qualifying 2nd, making this the first time the field would be led by two first-time Daytona 500 drivers. Ward Burton, driving the No.22 Caterpillar-sponsored Dodge for Bill Davis Racing, won the race. This race was the last for long-time veteran driver Dave Marcis.

As part of the television contract signed at the end of the 2000 NASCAR season, the 2002 Daytona 500 was televised by NBC. Allen Bestwick provided the play-by-play in the booth with color commentators Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. The prerace show was hosted by Bill Weber, who reported from the pits with Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, and Dave Burns. This was the first time NBC televised the Daytona 500.

Race summary

Early favorite Tony Stewart was struck with an engine failure on lap 3. The race's first caution flew whenDale Earnhardt, Jr., another favorite, ran over debris and cut a tire on lap 23 while running in 2nd place. He managed to come through the pack into the Top 10 with a new nose after the tire tore up the right-front fender. On lap 79, Dave Marcis had problems with his engine causing him to exit the race, and this brought his Winston Cup career to an end. Just before halfway, Earnhardt, Jr. got into more trouble, when his brakes failed while trying to pit, bringing out yet a third caution. On the following restart, Brett Bodine spun off of Kenny Wallace's bumper, and the yellow flag came back out for the 4th time.

On lap 138, rookie Shawna Robinson and Mike Skinner touched exiting turn 2, bringing out the 5th caution of the day. But the course of the race took a twist on lap 148 when contact between Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick (both racing in the Top 5) triggered the "Big One", collecting 18 cars. Contenders Matt Kenseth, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, John Andretti, Jerry Nadeau, and Earnhardt, Jr. (his third incident in the race) were eliminated.

In a restart with 5 laps to go, 1997 and 1999 winner Jeff Gordon led 1994 and 1995 winner Sterling Marlin. A chain reaction began between the 8th and 9th positions after one driver missed a gear. 5 cars were damaged, including the defending Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, who spun into the pits and nearly hit the pace car being driven by Jay Leno. Up front, Marlin came through the gears a bit quicker than Gordon, and took his momentum to the inside. Gordon went to block only to turn himself. Marlin just beat Ward Burton to the caution flag but on the backstretch during the red flag, he got out of the car and pulled on his damaged right-front fender. NASCAR rules forbid working on the car under a red flag, except for non-points events. Thus he was penalized before the restart. Burton (a resident of South Boston) and Elliott Sadler (from Emporia) were 1st and 2nd for the state of Virginia. 1986 winner Geoffrey Bodine was the feel-good story of the day, finishing 3rd at the track that nearly claimed his life in a 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, which was Phoenix Racing's best finish until winning with Brad Keselowski at the 2009 Aaron's 499.

Burton's Daytona 500 win was the first for Dodge since 1974, when Richard Petty won.

Results

References