2002 Indy Racing League

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.
Manufacturers' Cup	Chevrolet
Rookie of the Year	Laurent Rédon
Indianapolis 500 winner	Hélio Castroneves
	← 2001 2003 (ICS) →

Sam Hornish Jr. (left) won his second Drivers' Championship (second straight title) while Hélio Castroneves (right) finished second in the championship.

The 2002 Indy Racing League (IRL) was one of transition, with two reigning CART championship teams, Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing, joining the series with full time entries. The Oldsmobile engine was rebranded as a Chevrolet, and both Honda and Toyota announced their participation in the series starting in 2003 while Infiniti announced its withdrawal.

Sam Hornish Jr. won 5 races on his way to his second straight championship ahead of Penske juggernaut Hélio Castroneves, winner of two races including a second straight Indy 500, on his way to second in the championship. The season was also notable for seeing six drivers win their first career Indycar races.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	#	Drivers	Rounds
Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	Jaques Lazier	1–4
				P. J. Jones^{[N 1]}	5
				Raul Boesel	5–6
				Mark Dismore	7–11
				Vítor Meira R	12–15
			31	Robby Gordon	5
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet	3	Hélio Castroneves	All
			6	Gil de Ferran	1–14
			6	Max Papis	15
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish Jr.	All
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	15	Dan Wheldon R	14–15
Treadway Racing	G-Force Dallara^{[N 2]}	Chevrolet	5	Rick Treadway R	5
			55	Rick Treadway R	1–4, 6, 9
				Arie Luyendyk	5, 11
				Anthony Lazzaro R	7
				Will Langhorne R	12, 14–15
				Robby McGehee	13
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	7	Al Unser Jr.	1–9, 12–15
			7	Tony Renna R	10–11
			78	Tony Renna R	12–15
			8	Scott Sharp	All
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	9	Jeff Ward	All
			22	Kenny Bräck	5
			33	Bruno Junqueira	5
Cahill Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	10	Robby McGehee	1–5
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Chevrolet	11	Eliseo Salazar	1–3, 10–15
				Richie Hearn	4
				Greg Ray	5–9
			14	Airton Daré	All
			14	Donnie Beechler^{[N 3]}	1
			41	Donnie Beechler^{[N 3]}	5
			41	Greg Ray	10–13
Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Infiniti	12	Shigeaki Hattori	2–7
			12	Raul Boesel	9–15
			67	Rick Treadway R	15
Walker Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	15	Oriol Servià	5
Racing Professionals	G-Force Dallara^{[N 4]}	Chevrolet	16	Jon Herb	1–8
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	17	Tony Kanaan	5
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	21	Felipe Giaffone	All
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Tyce Carlson	1–2
				Jeret Schroeder	3
				John de Vries R	6
				Scott Mayer R	14
				Cory Kruseman R	15
			99	Anthony Lazzaro R ^{[N 5]}	5
			99	Jimmy Kite	5
Team Rahal	Dallara	Chevrolet	19	Jimmy Vasser	3, 5
Convergent Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	20	Hideki Noda R	1–3
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	20	Richie Hearn	5, 7–12
				Greg Ray	14–15
				Anthony Lazzaro R	13
			99	Anthony Lazzaro R	1–2, 4
				Richie Hearn	3, 6
				Mark Dismore	5
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	24	Robbie Buhl	1–3, 5–15
				Memo Gidley	3
				Sarah Fisher	4
			23	Sarah Fisher	5, 8–15
Team Green	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	Paul Tracy	5
			27	Dario Franchitti	5
			39	Michael Andretti	5
Indy Regency Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	28	Hideki Noda R	13–15
310 Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	31	George Mack R	All
Duesenberg Brothers Racing CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	32	Johnny Herbert^{[N 6]}	5
			32	Memo Gidley	5
			54	Robby McGehee	7–9
Conquest Racing	Dallara	Infiniti	34	Laurent Redon R	All
Brayton Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	37	John de Vries R ^{[N 7]}	1–5
Brayton Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	37	Scott Harrington	5, 11
Blair Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	44	Alex Barron	All
Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara	Infiniti	51	Eddie Cheever	All
			52	Tomas Scheckter R	1–12
			52	Buddy Rice R	13–15
			53	Buddy Rice R	11–12
				Max Papis	5
				Robby McGehee	15
Zali Racing	G-Force	Chevrolet	81	Billy Roe	1, 5
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	All
CURB/Agajanian/Boat Indy Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet Infiniti^{[N 8]}	98	Billy Boat	All

Season Summary

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	March 2	Grand Prix of Miami	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida
2	March 17	Bombardier ATV 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
3	March 24	Yamaha Indy 400	California Speedway	Fontana, California
4	April 21	Firestone Indy 225	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5	May 26	86th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
6	June 8	Boomtown 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
7	June 16	Radisson Indy 225	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado
8	June 29	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia
9	July 7	Ameristar Casino Indy 200	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas
10	July 20	Firestone Indy 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee
11	July 28	Michigan Indy 400	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
12	August 11	Belterra Casino Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky
13	August 25	Gateway Indy 250	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois
14	September 8	Delphi Indy 300	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois
15	September 15	Chevy 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
Sources:^[1]^[2]

Race results

Rnd	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	Homestead	Sam Hornish Jr.	Jeff Ward	Sam Hornish Jr.	Sam Hornish Jr.
2	Phoenix	Hélio Castroneves	Robbie Buhl	Sam Hornish Jr.	Hélio Castroneves
3	Fontana	Eddie Cheever	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish Jr.	Sam Hornish Jr.
4	Nazareth	Gil de Ferran	Tomas Scheckter	Gil de Ferran	Scott Sharp
5	Indianapolis	Bruno Junqueira	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Hélio Castroneves
6	Texas 1	Tomas Scheckter	Eddie Cheever	Tomas Scheckter	Jeff Ward
7	Pikes Peak	Gil de Ferran	Felipe Giaffone	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran
8	Richmond	Gil de Ferran	Buddy Lazier	Gil de Ferran	Sam Hornish Jr.
9	Kansas	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Airton Daré
10	Nashville	Billy Boat	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish Jr.	Alex Barron
11	Michigan	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter
12	Kentucky	Sarah Fisher	Tomas Scheckter	Felipe Giaffone	Felipe Giaffone
13	Gateway	Gil de Ferran	Sam Hornish Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Gil de Ferran
14	Chicagoland	Sam Hornish Jr.	Buddy Rice	Sam Hornish Jr.	Sam Hornish Jr.
15	Texas 2	Vítor Meira	Buddy Rice	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish Jr.

BOLD indicates a Superspeedway. Note: All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Race summaries

Grand Prix of Miami

This race was held on March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole. The race was dominated by Sam Hornish Jr. who at one point had a lap on the entire field. On lap 193 of 200, while Hornish was leading by more than 20 seconds, fourth placed Robbie Buhl's engine expired, bringing out the yellow and packing up the field. The green came back out on Lap 197, but Airton Dare crashed immediately in turn 2 on the restart. The race finished under yellow, with Hornish on the top step of the podium. Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves were second and third respectively, for Team Penske in their first race of their first full season in the IRL.

Top ten results

Bombardier ATV 200

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

Top ten results

Inaugural Yamaha Indy 400

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

Top ten results

Inaugural Firestone Indy 225

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

Top ten results

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 and declared Castroneves the winner.

Top ten results

Boomtown 500

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

Top ten results

Radisson Indy 225

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

Top ten results

SunTrust Indy Challenge

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

Top ten results

Ameristar Casino Indy 200

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

Top ten results

Firestone Indy 200

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

Top ten results

Inaugural Michigan Indy 400

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

Top ten results

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

Gateway Indy 250

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

Top ten results

Delphi Indy 300

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

Top ten results

Gil de Ferran was injured during a crash in this race and would miss the season finale at Texas.

Chevy 500

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

Top ten results

Max Papis filled in for the injured Gil de Ferran at Penske; however, he finished 21st due to a blown engine.

By winning the race, Sam Hornish Jr. won his second championship in a row.

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 RY	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 R	6	24	24	21	26*	17*	16	4	15*	13	1*	22				210
15	Richie Hearn			14	14	6	9	12	7	10	4	10	24				204
16	George Mack R	13	20	16	18	17	21	13	20	18	15	20	17	16	14	28	184
17	Robbie Buhl	12	13	Wth		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 R											2	12	4	9	6	140
23	Greg Ray					33	12	18	12	19	20	17	25	19	17	14	128
24	Tony Renna R										10	4	7	24	15	9	121
25	Vítor Meira R												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 R	24	9	22	16	29	23			23						19	76
29	Mark Dismore					32		11	11	20	18	18					73
30	Anthony Lazzaro R	9	17		9	Wth		22						DNS			70
31	Jon Herb	DNS	11	19	22	DNQ	22	21	19								70
32	Hideki Noda R	23	10	25										17	24	27	54
33	John de Vries R	17	22	23	DNS	Wth	11										53
34	Paul Tracy					2											40
35	Will Langhorne R												18		13	23	36
36	Dan Wheldon R														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	Wth														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 R															26	4
49	Jeret Schroeder			27													3
50	Tony Kanaan					28											2
51	Bruno Junqueira					31											1
–	Donnie Beechler	Wth				DNQ											0
–	Jimmy Kite					DNQ											0
–	Oriol Servià					DNQ											0
–	Scott Mayer R														DNS		0
–	Johnny Herbert					Wth											0
–	P. J. Jones					Wth											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)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position (2 points)
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps (1 point)
DNS	Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

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.

Footnotes

^ Injured during a practice crash at Indianapolis.
^ Used by Anthony Lazzaro at Pikes Peak; entry run in cooperation with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
^ Injured during a practice crash at Homestead.
^ Raced from Texas onwards; both chassis were used during the Indy 500 month.
^ Replaced during the second week of Indy 500 practice.
^ Withdrew during Bump Day due to a racing conflict.
^ Replaced at Indianapolis ahead of Bump Day.
^ Used from Kansas onwards.