2002 The 500

2002 Fontana

Race details
Race 18 of 19 in the 2002 CART season
California Speedway track layout
Date	November 3, 2002
Official name	2002 The 500 Presented by Toyota
Location	California Speedway, Fontana, California, United States
Course	2 Mile Banked Oval 2.029 mi / 3.265 km
Distance	250 laps 507.250 mi / 816.250 km
Weather	Mostly Cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Tony Kanaan (Mo Nunn Racing)
Time	31.483
Fastest lap
Driver	Oriol Servià (Patrick Racing)
Time	31.469 (on lap 234 of 250)
Podium
First	Jimmy Vasser (Team Rahal)
Second	Michael Andretti (Team Motorola)
Third	Patrick Carpentier (Team Player's)

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	Cause
34-37	Junqueira (4) lost wheel
99-104	Jourdain (9) spin; Tagliani (33) spin
238-241	da Matta (1) tow in
245-247	Franchitti (27) fire

Notes

Laps Leader 1-8 Michael Andretti 9-11 Tony Kanaan 12-16 Michael Andretti 17-18 Paul Tracy 19 Michael Andretti 20-22 Paul Tracy 23-32 Jimmy Vasser 33 Michael Andretti 34-38 Jimmy Vasser 39-45 Michael Andretti 46-47 Paul Tracy 48-49 Michael Andretti 50-51 Paul Tracy 52-54 Michael Andretti 55 Paul Tracy 56-57 Michael Andretti 58 Paul Tracy 59 Michael Andretti 60-61 Paul Tracy 62 Michael Andretti 63-64 Paul Tracy 65 Tony Kanaan 66-70 Dario Franchitti 71-75 Tony Kanaan 76-98 Jimmy Vasser 99 Tony Kanaan 100-131 Jimmy Vasser 132-134 Michel Jourdain Jr. 135-137 Dario Franchitti 138-164 Jimmy Vasser 165-167 Michel Jourdain Jr. 168-170 Dario Franchitti 171-197 Jimmy Vasser 198-201 Michel Jourdain Jr. 202 Dario Franchitti 203-213 Cristiano da Matta 214-222 Jimmy Vasser 223 Cristiano da Matta 224-229 Jimmy Vasser 230-231 Cristiano da Matta 232-235 Dario Franchitti 236-242 Jimmy Vasser 243-248 Michael Andretti 249-250 Jimmy Vasser

Driver Laps led Jimmy Vasser 148 Michael Andretti 37 Dario Franchitti 16 Paul Tracy 15 Cristiano da Matta 14 Michel Jourdain Jr. 10 Tony 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).