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2002 Indy Racing League
Indy Racing League
Season
Races	15
Start date	March 2
End date	September 15
Drivers
Champion	Sam Hornish, Jr.
Rookie of the Year	Laurent Rédon
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.

Contents 1 Calendar 2 Race summaries 2.1 Grand Prix of Miami 2.2 Bombardier ATV 200 2.3 Yamaha Indy 400 2.4 Firestone Indy 225 2.5 86th Indianapolis 500 2.6 Boomtown 500 2.7 Radisson Indy 225 2.8 SunTrust Indy Challenge 2.9 Ameristar Casino Indy 200 2.10 Firestone Indy 200 2.11 Michigan Indy 400 2.12 Belterra Casino Indy 300 2.13 Gateway Indy 250 2.14 Delphi Indy 300 2.15 Chevy 500 3 Final points standings 3.1 Driver

[edit] Calendar

Race No	Track	State	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Winner	Pole Position	Most Leading Laps	Fastest Race Lap
1	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Florida	March 2, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	2'08:16.4427	225.824 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Jeff Ward
2	Phoenix International Raceway	Arizona	March 17, 2002	200	1.6093=321.86 km	1'43:00.0278	187.490 km/h	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Robbie Buhl
3	California Speedway	California	March 24, 2002	200	3.2186=643.72 km	2'13:49.2106	288.620 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Eddie Cheever	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Tomas Scheckter
4	Nazareth Speedway	Pennsylvania	April 21, 2002	225	1.5223978=342.539505 km	2'14:35.0016	152.711 km/h	Scott Sharp	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Tomas Scheckter
5	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indiana	May 26, 2002	200	4.02325=804.65 km	3'00:10.8714	267.947 km/h	Hélio Castroneves	Bruno Junqueira	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter
6	Texas Motor Speedway	Texas	June 8, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'45:49.7079	273.720 km/h	Jeff Ward	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Eddie Cheever
7	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Colorado	June 16, 2002	225	1.6093=362.0925 km	1'51:08.6092	195.473 km/h	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Felipe Giaffone
8	Richmond International Raceway	Virginia	June 29, 2002	250	1.206975=301.74375 km	1'53:29.6359	159.521 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Buddy Lazier
9	Kansas Speedway	Kansas	July 7, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'42:10.1790	283.523 km/h	Airton Daré	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter
10	Nashville Superspeedway	Tennessee	July 20, 2002	200	2.1451969=429.03938 km	2'01:52.6791	211.214 km/h	Alex Barron	Billy Boat	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Tomas Scheckter
11	Michigan International Speedway	Michigan	July 28, 2002	200	3.2186=643.72 km	2'14:02.7124	288.136 km/h	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter	Tomas Scheckter
12	Kentucky Speedway	Kentucky	August 11, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'59:10.5244	243.065 km/h	Felipe Giaffone	Sarah Fisher	Felipe Giaffone	Sam Hornish, Jr.
13	Gateway International Raceway	Illinois	August 25, 2002	200	2.011625=402.325 km	1'44:22.5736	231.274 km/h	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Gil de Ferran
14	Chicagoland Speedway	Illinois	September 8, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	2'04:39.5354	232.373 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves
15	Texas Motor Speedway	Texas	September 15, 2002	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'46:28.5609	272.056 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Vitor Meira	Hélio Castroneves	Buddy Rice

[edit] Race summaries

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] Final points standings

[edit] 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

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