2002 Indy Racing League season

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

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

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	Eddie Cheever	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.

BOLD indicates a Superspeedway.

Team and driver chart

Team	Chassis	Engine	#	Drivers	Notes
Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	Jaques Lazier	Homestead to Nazareth.
				P. J. Jones	Indianapolis only, did not qualify.
				Raul Boesel	Indianapolis and Texas 1.
				Mark Dismore	Pikes Peak to Michigan.
				Vitor Meira	Kentucky to Texas 2.
			31	Robby Gordon	Indianapolis only.
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet	3	Helio Castroneves
			6	Gil de Ferran	Injured at Chicago. Missed Texas 2.
				Max Papis	Replaced de Ferran at Texas 2.
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish Jr.	Did not use the #1 team was entitled to using, choosing instead to keep minority partner Jim Harbaugh's number in the NFL, #4.
			15	Dan Wheldon	Chicago and Texas 2 only.
Treadway Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	5	Rick Treadway	Indianapolis only.
			55		Homestead to Nazareth, Texas 1, and Kansas.
				Arie Luyendyk	Indianapolis and Michigan.
				Will Langhorne	Kentucky, Chicago, and Texas 2.
				Robby McGehee	Gateway only.
			67	Rick Treadway	Texas 2 only.
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	7	Al Unser Jr.	All races except Nashville and Michigan.
				Tony Renna	Nashville and Michigan only.
			8	Scott Sharp
			78	Tony Renna	All races starting at Kentucky.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	9	Jeff Ward
			22	Kenny Bräck	Indianapolis only.
			33	Bruno Junqueira
Cahill Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	10	Robby McGehee	Homestead to Indianapolis.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Chevrolet	11	Eliseo Salazar	Injured while testing at Fontana. Missed all races from Nazareth to Kansas.
				Richie Hearn	Replaced Salazar at Nazareth only.
				Greg Ray	Replaced Salazar from Indianapolis to Kansas only.
				Donnie Beechler	Indianapolis only, did not qualify.
			14	Airton Daré
			41	Greg Ray	All races from Nashville to Gateway only.
Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Infiniti	12	Shigeaki Hattori	Phoenix to Pikes Peak.
				Raul Boesel	Kansas to Texas 2.
Walker Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	15	Oriol Servià	Indianapolis only, did not qualify.
Racing Professionals	G-Force	Chevrolet	16	Jon Herb	Homestead to Indianapolis.
	Dallara				Texas 1 to Richmond.
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	17	Tony Kanaan	Indianapolis only.
			21	Felipe Giaffone
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Tyce Carlson	Homestead and Phoenix only.
				Jeret Schroeder	Fontana Only.
				John de Vries	Texas 1 Only.
				Cory Kruseman	Texas 2 Only.
Team Rahal	Dallara	Chevrolet	19	Jimmy Vasser	Fontana and Indianapolis only.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	20	Richie Hearn	Indianapolis, and Pikes Peak to Kentucky.
				Greg Ray	Chicago and Texas 2 Only.
				Anthony Lazzaro	Gateway Only, DNS.
			55		Pikes Peak only.
			99		Homestead, Phoenix, Nazareth, Indy (DNQ).
				Richie Hearn	Fontana, Texas 1 Only.
				Mark Dismore	Indianapolis only, did not qualify.
				Jimmy Kite
Convergent Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	20	Hideki Noda	Homestead to California.
Indy Regency Racing			28		Gateway to Texas 2.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	23	Sarah Fisher	Indianapolis and all races starting at Richmond only.
			24	Robbie Buhl	Injured while qualifying at Fontana, missed race and Nazareth.
				Memo Gidley	Replaced Buhl at Fontana only.
				Sarah Fisher	Replaced Buhl at Nazareth only.
Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	Paul Tracy	Indianapolis only.
			27	Dario Franchitti
			39	Michael Andretti
310 Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	30	George Mack	Indianapolis only.
			31		All races except Indianapolis. Team made an agreement with Team Menard to use the number for Robby Gordon, who used the number at the time in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Duesenberg Brothers Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	32	Memo Gidley	Indianapolis only.
				Johnny Herbert
Conquest Racing	Dallara	Infiniti	34	Laurent Redon
Brayton Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	37	John de Vries	Homestead to Texas 1.
				Scott Harrington	Indianapolis and Michigan only.
Blair Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	44	Alex Barron
Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara	Infiniti	51	Eddie Cheever
			52	Tomas Scheckter	All races through Michigan only. Withdrew after Kentucky.
				Buddy Rice	Replaced Scheckter from Gateway onwards.
			53	Max Papis	Indianapolis only.
				Buddy Rice	Michigan and Kentucky only.
				Robby McGehee	Texas 2 only.
CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	54	Robby McGehee	Pikes Peak, Richmond, and Kansas only.
			98	Billy Boat	Homestead to Richmond.
		Infiniti			Kansas to Texas 2.
Zali Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	81	Billy Roe	Homestead and Indianapolis.
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier

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. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 6- Gil de Ferran
3. 3- Hélio Castroneves
4. 9- Jeff Ward
5. 11- Eliseo Salazar
6. 52- Tomas Scheckter
7. 21- Felipe Giaffone
8. 44- Alex Barron
9. 99- Anthony Lazzaro
10. 14- 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. 3- Hélio Castroneves
2. 6- Gil de Ferran
3. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
4. 11- Eliseo Salazar
5. 7- Al Unser Jr.
6. 2- Jaques Lazier
7. 91- Buddy Lazier
8. 98- Billy Boat
9. 55- Rick Treadway
10. 20- Hideki Noda

Yamaha Indy 400

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

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 2- Jaques Lazier
3. 34- Laurent Rédon
4. 6- Gil de Ferran
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 21- Felipe Giaffone
7. 91- Buddy Lazier
8. 8- Scott Sharp
9. 19- Jimmy Vasser
10. 9- 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. 8- Scott Sharp
2. 21- Felipe Giaffone
3. 6- Gil de Ferran
4. 24- Sarah Fisher
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 44- Alex Barron
7. 51- Eddie Cheever
8. 98- Billy Boat
9. 99- Anthony Lazzaro
10. 12- 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. 3- Hélio Castroneves
2. 26- Paul Tracy
3. 21- Felipe Giaffone
4. 44- Alex Barron
5. 51- Eddie Cheever
6. 20- Richie Hearn
7. 39- Michael Andretti
8. 31- Robby Gordon
9. 9- Jeff Ward
10. 6- 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. 9- Jeff Ward
2. 7- Al Unser Jr.
3. 14- Airton Daré
4. 3- Hélio Castroneves
5. 21- Felipe Giaffone
6. 12- Shigeaki Hattori
7. 98- Billy Boat
8. 91- Buddy Lazier
9. 99- Richie Hearn
10. 44- 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. 6- Gil de Ferran
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
4. 21- Felipe Giaffone
5. 8- Scott Sharp
6. 7- Al Unser Jr.
7. 34- Laurent Rédon
8. 51- Eddie Cheever
9. 14- Airton Daré
10. 44- 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. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 6- Gil de Ferran
3. 21- Felipe Giaffone
4. 52- Tomas Scheckter
5. 7- Al Unser Jr.
6. 14- Airton Daré
7. 20- Richie Hearn
8. 9- Jeff Ward
9. 54- Robby McGehee
10. 44- 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. 14- Airton Daré
2. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
3. 3- Hélio Castroneves
4. 21- Felipe Giaffone
5. 6- Gil de Ferran
6. 8- Scott Sharp
7. 91- Buddy Lazier
8. 44-Alex Barron
9. 98- Billy Boat
10. 20- Richie Hearn

Firestone Indy 200

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

Top ten results

1. 44- Alex Barron
2. 6- Gil de Ferran
3. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
4. 20- Richie Hearn
5. 12- Raul Boesel
6. 51- Eddie Cheever
7. 21- Felipe Giaffone
8. 8- Scott Sharp
9. 3- Hélio Castroneves
10. 7- 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. 52- Tomas Scheckter
2. 53- Buddy Rice
3. 21- Felipe Giaffone
4. 7- Tony Renna
5. 6- Gil de Ferran
6. 3- Hélio Castroneves
7. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
8. 23- Sarah Fisher
9. 8- Scott Sharp
10. 20- 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. 21- Felipe Giaffone
2. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
3. 91- Buddy Lazier
4. 8- Scott Sharp
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 7- Al Unser Jr.
7. 78- Tony Renna
8. 23- Sarah Fisher
9. 44- Alex Barron
10. 24- 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. 6- Gil de Ferran
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 44- Alex Barron
4. 52- Buddy Rice
5. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
6. 24- Robbie Buhl
7. 7- Al Unser Jr.
8. 12- Raul Boesel
9. 2- Vitor Meira
10. 51- 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. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 7- Al Unser Jr.
3. 91- Buddy Lazier
4. 3- Hélio Castroneves
5. 51- Eddie Cheever
6. 21- Felipe Giaffone
7. 8- Scott Sharp
8. 2- Vitor Meira
9. 52- Buddy Rice
10. 15- Dan Wheldon

Chevy 500

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

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 2- Vitor Meira
4. 8- Scott Sharp
5. 44- Alex Barron
6. 52- Buddy Rice
7. 91- Buddy Lazier
8. 51- Eddie Cheever
9. 78- Tony Renna
10. 34- Laurent Rédon

Final points standings

Pos Driver HOM PHX CAL NAZ INDY TXS PIK RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY GAT CHI TXS Pts 1 Sam Hornish Jr. 1* 3* 1* 17 25 18 3 1 2 3* 7 2 5 1* 1 531 2 Hélio Castroneves 3 1 5 5 1 4 2 17 3 9 6 5 2* 4 2* 511 3 Gil de Ferran 2 2 4 3* 10 16 1* 2* 5 2 5 21 1 23 443 4 Felipe Giaffone 7 19 6 2 3 5 4 3 4 7 3 1* 21 6 17 432 5 Alex Barron 8 23 12 6 4 10 10 10 8 1 12 9 3 12 5 366 6 Scott Sharp 20 16 8 1 27 14 5 21 6 8 9 4 18 7 4 332 7 Al Unser Jr. 19 5 11 12 12 2 6 5 17 6 7 2 20 311 8 Buddy Lazier 22 7 7 23 15 8 15 18 7 12 13 3 15 3 7 305 9 Airton Daré 10 12 13 11 13 3 9 6 1 17 23 23 11 16 12 304 10 Eddie Cheever 25 15 20 7 5 19 8 14 16 6 22 11 10 5 8 280 11 Jeff Ward 4 18 10 19 9 1 20 8 12 11 25 16 13 21 25 268 12 Laurent Redon 15 14 3 15 22 15 7 15 22 16 11 20 22 25 10 229 13 Billy Boat 16 8 18 8 18 7 14 22 9 14 14 19 23 19 24 225 14 Tomas Scheckter 6 24 24 21 26* 17* 16 4 15* 13 1* 22 Wth 210 15 Richie Hearn 14 14 6 9 12 7 10 4 10 24 204 16 George Mack 13 20 16 18 17 21 13 20 18 15 20 17 16 14 28 184 17 Robbie Buhl 12 13 DNS 16 20 23 13 21 21 24 10 6 20 18 177 18 Sarah Fisher 4 24 16 14 22 8 8 20 22 11 161 19 Raul Boesel 21 13 11 5 15 13 8 11 22 158 20 Eliseo Salazar 5 4 15 19 19 14 14 18 16 157 21 Robby McGehee 14 21 17 13 DNQ 17 9 13 12 13 142 22 Buddy Rice 2 12 4 9 6 140 23 Greg Ray 33 12 18 12 19 20 17 25 19 17 14 128 24 Tony Renna 10 4 7 24 15 9 121 25 Vitor Meira 15 9 8 3 96 26 Jaques Lazier 18 6 2 20 90 27 Shigeaki Hattori 25 26 10 20 6 19 78 28 Rick Treadway 24 9 22 16 29 23 23 19 76 29 Mark Dismore 32 11 11 20 18 18 73 30 Anthony Lazzaro 9 17 9 DNQ 22 DNS 70 31 Jon Herb DNS 11 19 22 DNQ 22 21 19 70 32 Hideki Noda 23 10 25 17 24 25 54 33 John de Vries 17 22 23 Wth DNQ 11 53 34 Paul Tracy 2 40 35 Will Langhorne 18 13 23 36 36 Dan Wheldon 10 15 35 37 Arie Luyendyk 14 16 30 38 Michael Andretti 7 26 39 Robby Gordon 8 24 40 Jimmy Vasser 9 30 23 41 Tyce Carlson 11 DNS 23 42 Kenny Bräck 11 19 43 Max Papis 23 21 16 44 Dario Franchitti 19 11 45 Billy Roe 21 DNQ 9 46 Memo Gidley 21 DNQ 9 47 Scott Harrington DNQ 21 9 48 Cory Kruseman DNP 26 4 49 Jeret Schroeder 27 3 50 Tony Kanaan 28 2 51 Bruno Junqueira 31 1 - Donnie Beechler DNS DNQ 0 - Johnny Herbert DNQ 0 - Davy Jones DNQ 0 - P. J. Jones DNQ 0 - Jimmy Kite DNQ 0 - Oriol Servià DNQ 0 - Scott Mayer DNQ 0 Pos Driver HOM PHX CAL NAZ INDY TXS PIK RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY GAT CHI TXS Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (2 points) DNS Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part. Rookie of the Year Rookie

In every race, points are awarded to drivers on the following basis:

• Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

See also

• 2002 Indianapolis 500
• 2002 Infiniti Pro Series season
• 2002 CART season
• 2002 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• http://www.champcarstats.com/year/2002i.htm
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 119-121)