2002 The 500
Introduction The '''2002 The 500 presented by Toyota''' was the eighteenth round of the 2002 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on November 3, 2002 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California, United States.The race was won by Jimmy Vasser, the final Champ Car victory for the 1996 season champion. The race was completed in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 42.9877 seconds, for an average speed of 195.185 MPH under the common 2.000 mile measuring standard used by NASCAR and INDYCAR. Because of CART's discrepancy in listing the track at 2.029 miles for a 507.25 mile race, they listed the average speed at 197.995 MPH. Regardless, it was the record for the fastest 500 mile race ever contested until it was broken at the 2014 Pocono IndyCar 500 (2:28:13). The 500 at Fontana was the final 500 mile race in Champ Car history. A 500-mile race scheduled at the same race track in 2003, the 2003 King Taco 500, was cancelled because of wildfires in Southern California. No further 500 mile races were scheduled by CART for the remainder of its history. Also, other than the famed Indianapolis 500, it was the last 500-mile open wheel race for ten years, when IndyCar Series held the 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Fontana as the season finale.
Qualifying results  Pos Nat Name Team Time 1  Tony Kanaan Mo Nunn Racing '''31.483''' 2  Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing '''31.601''' 3  Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing '''31.679''' 4  Michael Andretti Team Motorola '''31.685''' 5  Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green '''31.734''' 6  Jimmy Vasser Team Rahal '''31.736''' 7  Alex Tagliani Team Player's '''31.737''' 8  Patrick Carpentier Team Player's '''31.740''' 9  Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green '''31.759''' 10  Max Papis Fernández Racing '''31.798''' 11  Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal '''31.804''' 12  Shinji Nakano Fernández Racing '''31.836''' 13  Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing '''31.877''' 14  Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing '''31.923''' 15  Kenny Bräck Target Chip Ganassi Racing '''31.981''' 16  Tora Takagi Walker Racing '''32.050''' 17  Mario Domínguez Herdez Competition '''32.087''' 18  Oriol Servià Patrick Racing '''32.277'''
Race  Pos  No  Driver  Team  Laps  Time/Retired  Grid  Points 1 8  Jimmy Vasser Team Rahal 250 2:33:42.977 6 '''21''' 2 39  Michael Andretti Team Motorola 250 +0.400 4 '''16''' 3 32  Patrick Carpentier Team Player's 250 +1.794 8 '''14''' 4 10  Tony Kanaan Mo Nunn Racing 250 +2.502 1 '''13''' 5 20  Oriol Servià Patrick Racing 249 + 1 Lap 18 '''10''' 6 44  Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 249 + 1 Lap 14 '''8''' 7 11  Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing 249 + 1 Lap 13 '''6''' 8 33  Alex Tagliani Team Player's 248 + 2 Laps 7 '''5''' 9 4  Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing 247 + 3 Laps 2 '''4''' 10 27  Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green 242 Engine 9 '''3''' 11 1  Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing 236 Engine 3 '''2''' 12 12  Kenny Bräck Target Chip Ganassi Racing 235 Drive shaft 15 '''1''' 13 9  Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal 218 Engine 11 '''0''' 14 51  Max Papis Fernández Racing 214 Engine 10 '''0''' 15 52  Shinji Nakano Fernández Racing 202 Upright 12 '''0''' 16 55  Mario Domínguez Herdez Competition 107 Engine 17 '''0''' 17 26  Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green 86 Throttle 5 '''0''' 18 5  Tora Takagi Walker Racing 85 Contact 16 '''0'''
Caution flags Laps Cause34-37  Junqueira (4) lost wheel99-104  Jourdain (9) spin; Tagliani (33) spin238-241  da Matta (1) tow in245-247  Franchitti (27) fire
Notes Laps Leader1-8  Michael Andretti9-11  Tony Kanaan12-16  Michael Andretti17-18  Paul Tracy19  Michael Andretti20-22  Paul Tracy23-32  Jimmy Vasser33  Michael Andretti34-38  Jimmy Vasser39-45  Michael Andretti46-47  Paul Tracy48-49  Michael Andretti50-51  Paul Tracy52-54  Michael Andretti55  Paul Tracy56-57  Michael Andretti58  Paul Tracy59  Michael Andretti60-61  Paul Tracy62  Michael Andretti63-64  Paul Tracy65  Tony Kanaan66-70  Dario Franchitti71-75  Tony Kanaan76-98  Jimmy Vasser99  Tony Kanaan100-131  Jimmy Vasser132-134  Michel Jourdain Jr.135-137  Dario Franchitti138-164  Jimmy Vasser165-167  Michel Jourdain Jr.168-170  Dario Franchitti171-197  Jimmy Vasser198-201  Michel Jourdain Jr.202  Dario Franchitti203-213  Cristiano da Matta214-222  Jimmy Vasser223  Cristiano da Matta224-229  Jimmy Vasser230-231  Cristiano da Matta232-235  Dario Franchitti236-242  Jimmy Vasser243-248  Michael Andretti249-250  Jimmy Vasser Driver  Laps ledJimmy Vasser  148Michael Andretti  37Dario Franchitti  16Paul Tracy  15Cristiano da Matta  14Michel Jourdain Jr.  10Tony Kanaan  10* '''New Race Record''' Jimmy Vasser 2:33:42.977* '''Average Speed''' 197.995 mph (Fastest 500 mile race in history; using the CART standard of 2.029 miles;  195.185 mph using the more recognised 2.000 mile distance)
References *  Vasser wins fastest 500-mile open wheel race in Fontana*  Qualifying Results*  Race Results''NOTE:  In 2002, both Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (500 miles), and Indy Racing League, LLC (400 miles) held races at Fontana. Both sanctioning bodies scheduled races in 2003, but the CART event was called off because of wildfires. From 2004-05, only the IRL held races for open-wheel racing at Fontana. In 2012, the next open-wheel California 500 was held, again by the now-unified Indy Racing League, LLC (dba INDYCAR).''