2002 Indy Racing League

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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.

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
				Max Papis	15
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish Jr.	All
			15	Dan Wheldon  R	14–15
Treadway Racing	G-Force Dallara[N 2]	Chevrolet	5	Rick Treadway  R	5
			55		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
				Tony Renna  R	10–11
			78		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
				Donnie Beechler[N 3]	1
			41		5
				Greg Ray	10–13
Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Infiniti	12	Shigeaki Hattori	2–7
				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
			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
				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		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		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
				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
				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
				Buddy Rice  R	13–15
			53		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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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- Vítor Meira
10. 51- Eddie Cheever

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- Vítor Meira
9. 52- Buddy Rice
10. 15- Dan Wheldon

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

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

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish Jr.**
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 2- Vítor 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

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.

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) 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.

• 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 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 119–121)