2002 CART season

The 2002 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-fourth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 10 and concluding in Mexico City, Mexico on November 17. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Cristiano da Matta. Rookie of the Year was Mario Domínguez.

2002 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races20 19
Start dateMarch 10
End dateNovember 17
Awards
Drivers' champion Cristiano da Matta
Constructors' Cup Lola
Manufacturers' Cup Toyota
Nations' Cup Brazil
Rookie of the Year Mario Domínguez

Sports television channel ESPN dropped CART coverage for the 2002 season. CBS and Speed Channel took its place for two seasons.[1]

Drivers and teams

Bridgestone became the exclusive tire supplier for CART, replacing Firestone, an association that would continue until the final Champ Car season in 2007.[2] The 2002 season was the last to feature multiple engine manufacturers.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2002 CART Championship Series season.

Team Chassis Engine No Drivers Races Primary Sponsors
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2/00 Toyota 4 Bruno Junqueira All Target
Coors Light 1
12 Kenny Bräck All
44 Scott Dixon 4–19
Walker Racing Reynard 02i Toyota 5 Toranosuke Takagi All Pioneer
Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2/00 Toyota 6 Cristiano da Matta All Havoline 12
Chevron 7
11 Christian Fittipaldi All Eli Lilly
PWR Championship Racing Lola B2/00 Toyota 7 Scott Dixon 1–3 PWR Championship Racing
17 Oriol Servià 1–3 Air Eight
Team Rahal Lola B2/00 Ford-Cosworth 8 Jimmy Vasser All Shell
9 Michel Jourdain Jr. All Gigante
Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 02i Honda 10 Tony Kanaan 1–3 Pioneer
Lola B2/00 4–19
Herdez Competition Lola B2/00 Ford-Cosworth 16 Mario Domínguez  R  1–4 Herdez
55 5–19
Team St. George
Dale Coyne Racing		 Lola B2/00 Ford-Cosworth 19 Darren Manning  R  15 RAC AutoWindscreens
André Lotterer  R  19 J.A.G. Sports
Patrick Racing Reynard 02i Toyota 20 Townsend Bell  R  1–9 Visteon
Oriol Servià 10–19
Sigma Autosport Lola B2/00 Ford-Cosworth 22 Max Papis 1–5 Rockwell FirstPoint
Team KOOL Green Reynard 02i Honda 26 Paul Tracy 1–2 KOOL 18
Team Green 1
27 Dario Franchitti 1–3
Lola B2/00 26 Paul Tracy 3–19
27 Dario Franchitti 4–19
Team Player's Reynard 02i Ford-Cosworth 32 Patrick Carpentier All Player's 18
It's Your World 1
33 Alex Tagliani All
Team Motorola Reynard 02i Honda 39 Michael Andretti 1–2 Motorola
Lola B2/00 3–19
Fernández Racing Lola B2/00 Honda 51 Adrián Fernández 1–10, 12–17 Tecate
Max Papis 11, 18
Luis Díaz  R  19
52 Shinji Nakano All Alpine
R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Team changes

The biggest change to the team lineup in the 2002 CART season was the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League.[3] The departure of Team Penske, a CART stalwart from its earliest days, was an early sign of a major shift in the CART-IRL rivalry. Several other major CART powers would follow Penske to the IRL for the 2003 season. Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Mo Nunn Racing both set up separate IRL teams in 2002, but continued to compete in CART for the time being, though Mo Nunn downsized his team to a single car. They would be among the teams to leave CART for the IRL in 2003. Blair Racing also left CART for IRL.[4] Patrick Racing downsized their effort to a single car, while Forsythe Racing shut down their third car driven by Bryan Herta in 2001 for lack of sponsorship.[5]

Driver changes

1996 series champion Jimmy Vasser, one of two former champions in the 2002 field (the other being Michael Andretti), left Patrick Racing for Team Rahal.[6] Joining him at Rahal was Michel Jourdain Jr. who left Herdez Competition.[7] Rahal's 2001 drivers, Kenny Bräck and Max Papis moved to Target Chip Ganassi Racing[8] and Sigma Autosport.[9] Papis took the seat previously occupied by Oriol Servià, who replaced the retiring Maurício Gugelmin at PWR Championship Racing. The 2002 season started with two rookies. 2001 Dayton Indy Lights champion Townsend Bell led a one car effort at Patrick Racing.[10] Mario Domínguez signed on for another single car effort with Herdez Competition.[11]

In-season changes

Rule changes
  • The biggest rule change was the implementation of mandatory pit windows.
    • A maximum pit window was established; meaning each car go no further than a specified number of laps without pitting. As a result, there were a minimum number of pit stops per race.
    • To count as a mandatory stop, all 4 tires had to be changed. Adding fuel on a pit stop was officially optional to encourage teams to go off sequence with an early stop.
    • Failure to pit within the specified number of laps resulted in a drive-through penalty.
    • The rule closing pit road when a full course caution flag was displayed was eliminated to prevent teams from missing their window due to a caution flag coming out.
    • All mandated pit stops must be completed before the white flag lap.
    • The goal of the rule was to eliminate fuel economy runs and allow drivers to run as hard as they could the entire run had all the fuel to do so. However, teams ended up changing their strategy to conserve fuel so they could release the car from their pit stops as soon as the tire changes were complete. This led to a series of incidents where cars were being released back on track before the tire changes were complete and loose wheels coming off cars once back on track. To deter this CART instituted a mid-season 1-lap penalty and $5,000 fine for any car losing a wheel after a pit stop in addition to the time lost recovering the car to remount the tire.
  • Traction control was formally legalized after CART officials determined they could not successfully enforce a ban.[21]
  • After several controversies with changing turbo boost in recent years, CART and its engine manufacturers agreed to a reduction of the boost to 34" to remain in place for the entire 2002 season. While technically a reduction by 2" from where engines ended in 2001, lap times and horsepower numbers were still on par and in most cases faster and higher than last year.
  • Road & Street course qualifying was changed. The race weekend would feature two qualifying sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The fastest driver in each session received one championship point and was guaranteed a front-row start regardless of the results of the other session (the front row guarantee was added at Long Beach). Each session was 60 minutes in length with 45 minutes of guaranteed green flag running. Teams could complete a maximum of 15 green flag laps per session, though causing a yellow/red flag would result in the loss of your fastest lap. In addition to their weekend allotment of tires, teams were given 2 additional sets of tires per qualifying session which had to be returned to Bridgestone immediately after the session was over.
  • In the event of a late-race caution, CART officials were allowed to use the red flag to stop the race, clean up the crash, and attempt a green-flag finish.
  • Starting at the Mid-Ohio round, cars that spun off track into the gravel trap were allowed to be pushed back on track by the safety team and get back into the race as long as there was not another significant race-ending damage to the car. Previously a car stuck in a gravel trap would be ruled out of the event.
  • Following suit with other Motorsports series, the HANS Device became mandatory at all events, and all pit crew members were required to wear helmets.

Season summary

Schedule
Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date
1 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey  S  Fundidora Park Monterrey, Mexico March 10
2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 14
3 Bridgestone Potenza 500  O  Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan April 27
4 Miller Lite 250  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin June 2
5 Grand Prix of Monterey  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California June 9
6 G.I. Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 16
7 Grand Prix of Chicago  O  Chicago Motor Speedway Cicero, Illinois June 30
8 Molson Indy Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 7
9 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland  S  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 14
10 Molson Indy Vancouver  S  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia July 28
11 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 11
12 Grand Prix of Road America  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 18
13 Molson Indy Montreal  R  Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Montreal, Quebec August 25
14 Shell Grand Prix of Denver  S  Denver Civic Center Denver, Colorado September 1
15 Rockingham 500  O  Rockingham Motor Speedway Corby, United Kingdom September 14
– German 500 (Cancelled)  O  EuroSpeedway Lausitz Klettwitz, Germany September 21
16 Grand Prix Americas  S  Miami Bayfront Park Street Circuit Miami, Florida October 6
17 Honda Indy 300  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia October 27
18 The 500 Presented by Toyota  O  California Speedway Fontana, California November 3
19 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante  R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico November 17

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit

Race results
Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Lead most laps Winning driver Winning team Report
1 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Adrián Fernández Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Jimmy Vasser Bruno Junqueira Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Team Motorola Report
3 Bridgestone Potenza 500 Bruno Junqueira Tony Kanaan Tony Kanaan Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
4 Miller Lite 250 Adrián Fernández Kenny Bräck Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green Report
5 Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300 Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
6 G.I. Joe's 200 Cristiano da Matta Bruno Junqueira Cristiano da Matta
Kenny Bräck		 Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
7 CART Grand Prix of Chicago Dario Franchitti Paul Tracy Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
8 Molson Indy Toronto Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
9 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank Cristiano da Matta Paul Tracy Patrick Carpentier Patrick Carpentier Team Player's Report
10 Molson Indy Vancouver Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Paul Tracy Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
11 CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Patrick Carpentier Cristiano da Matta Patrick Carpentier Patrick Carpentier Team Player's Report
12 The Grand Prix at Road America featuring the Motorola 220 Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira Paul Tracy Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
13 Molson Indy Montreal Cristiano da Matta Dario Franchitti Dario Franchitti Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
14 Shell Grand Prix of Denver Bruno Junqueira Kenny Bräck Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
15 Sure for Men Rockingham 500 Kenny Bräck Jimmy Vasser Kenny Bräck Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
16 Grand Prix Americas Tony Kanaan Christian Fittipaldi Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
17 Honda Indy 300 Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Mario Domínguez  R  Herdez Competition Report
18 The 500 Presented by Toyota Tony Kanaan Oriol Servià Jimmy Vasser Jimmy Vasser Team Rahal Report
19 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante Presented by Banamex/Visa Bruno Junqueira Shinji Nakano Tony Kanaan Kenny Bräck Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report

Final driver standings
Pos Driver MTY LBH MOT MIL LAG POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SUR FON MEX Pts
1 Cristiano da Matta 1* 8 13 11 1* 1* 1* 1* 16 12 13 1 2 3 2 1* 8* 11 2 237
2 Bruno Junqueira 11 17 1 10 4 2 2 14 13 9 4 3 13 1* 5 5 14 9 3 164
3 Patrick Carpentier 7 19 4 15 5 5 16 10 1* 5 1* 7 15 17 3 16 2 3 4 157
4 Dario Franchitti 2 9 3 12 19 3 3 13 14 1 17 12 1* 18 1 10 7 10 5 148
5 Christian Fittipaldi 3 13 12 4 2 13 14 3 12 13 2 6 7 5 17 2 11 7 15 122
6 Kenny Bräck 18 5 17 8 3 15 18 2 4 18 6 14 18 7 8* 13 4 12 1 114
7 Jimmy Vasser 20 2 20 9 8 16 17 6 6 17 8 5 5 10 7 3 12 1* 11 114
8 Alex Tagliani 5 16 2 19 10 12 7 7 5 7 7 2 11 12 18 4 6 8 10 111
9 Michael Andretti 12 1* 16 7 11 9 15 11 2 6 3 10 8 13 10 8 9 2 17 110
10 Michel Jourdain Jr. 4 4 5 5 9 6 10 12 9 4 11 9 6 9 11 6 10 13 13 105
11 Paul Tracy 8 7 19 1* 17 17 9 16 3 2* 18 13* 4 8 19 12 3 17 16 101
12 Tony Kanaan 16 20 15* 16 12 8 8 17 8 3 14 4 3 6 15 9 5 4 8* 99
13 Scott Dixon 6 18 9 6 6 7 6 5 15 16 5 17 10 2 12 18 15 6 7 97
14 Adrián Fernández 13 10 7 2 18 14 13 9 11 8 18 12 4 14 7 DNS 59
15 Toranosuke Takagi 14 6 8 14 16 18 4 8 7 15 12 15 14 15 6 15 DNS 18 6 53
16 Oriol Servià 10 11 6 14 10 16 16 11 4 17 16 5 9 44
17 Shinji Nakano 15 12 10 18 14 11 5 4 10 11 9 11 9 16 16 14 13 15 14 43
18 Mario Domínguez  RY  17 14 11 17 15 10 11 18 17 10 16 8 17 14 13 11 1 16 18 37
19 Max Papis 9 3 18 3 13 15 14 32
20 Townsend Bell  R  19 15 14 13 7 4 12 15 18 19
21 Darren Manning  R  9 4
22 André Lotterer  R  12 1
23 Luis Díaz  R  19 0
Pos Driver MTY LBH MOT MIL LAG POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SUR FON MEX Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th–6th place
Light Blue 7th–12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
Purple Did not finish
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
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie

Nation's Cup
  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
Pos Country MTY LBH MOT MIL LAG POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SUR FON MEX Pts
1 Brazil 1 8 1 4 1 1 1 1 8 3 2 1 2 1 2 1 5 4 2 325
2 Canada 5 7 2 1 5 5 7 7 1 2 1 2 4 8 3 4 2 3 4 247
3 United States 12 1 14 7 7 4 12 6 2 6 3 5 5 10 7 3 9 1 11 164
4 United Kingdom 2 9 3 12 19 3 3 13 14 1 17 12 1 18 1 10 7 10 5 148
5 Mexico 4 4 5 2 9 6 10 9 9 4 11 8 6 4 11 6 1 13 13 142
6 Sweden 18 5 17 8 3 15 18 2 4 18 6 14 18 7 8 13 4 12 1 113
7 New Zealand 6 18 9 6 6 7 6 5 15 16 5 17 10 2 12 18 15 6 7 96
8 Japan 14 6 8 14 14 11 4 4 7 11 9 11 9 15 6 14 13 15 6 73
9 Spain 10 11 6 14 10 16 16 11 4 17 16 5 9 44
10 Italy 9 3 18 3 13 15 14 32
11 Germany 12 1
Pos Country MTY LBH MOT MIL LAG POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SUR FON MEX Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup
Pos Chassis Pts
1 Lola 401
2 Reynard 235
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup
Pos Engine Pts
1 Toyota 332
2 Honda 283
3 / Ford-Cosworth 259
Pos Engine Pts

Driver breakdown
Pos Driver Team Entries Wins Podiums Top 5s Top 10s Poles Laps Led Points
1 da Matta Newman-Haas Racing 19 7 11 11 13 7 619 237
2 Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing 19 2 6 10 12 4 196 164
3 Carpentier Team Player's 19 2 5 10 13 1 159 157
4 Franchitti Team KOOL Green 19 3 7 8 11 1 252 148
5 Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 19 0 5 7 11 1 18 122
6 Bräck Target Chip Ganassi Racing 19 1 3 6 10 1 268 114
7 Vasser Team Rahal 19 1 3 5 12 1 162 114
8 Tagliani Team Player's 19 0 2 5 12 0 115 111
9 Andretti Team Motorola 19 1 3 3 11 0 90 110
10 Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal 19 0 0 5 14 0 24 105
11 Tracy Team KOOL Green 19 1 4 5 9 0 314 101
12 Kanaan Mo Nunn Racing 19 0 2 5 11 2 145 99
13 Dixon PWR Championship Racing
Target Chip Ganassi Racing		 19 0 1 3 12 0 0 97
14 Fernández Fernández Racing 16 0 1 2 6 2 15 57
15 Takagi Walker Motorsport 19 0 0 1 7 0 0 53
16 Servià PWR Championship Racing
Patrick Racing		 13 0 0 2 6 0 0 44
17 Nakano Fernández Racing 19 0 0 2 6 0 10 43
18 Domínguez  R  Herdez Competition 19 1 1 1 3 0 5 37
19 Papis Sigma Autosport
Fernández Racing		 7 0 2 2 3 0 1 32
20 Bell  R  Patrick Racing 9 0 0 1 2 0 0 19
21 Manning  R  Team St. George 1 0 0 0 1 0 18 4
22 Lotterer  R  Dale Coyne Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23 Díaz  R  Fernández Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

See also

Notes
  1. CBS set for first CART broadcast in seven years – Crash.net
  2. "Bridgestone set as tire for 2002". motorsport.com. October 31, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  3. "Penske, a driving force behind the launch of CART leaves for IRL". motorsport.com. December 6, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  4. "Blair Racing forms new team". motorsport.com. January 9, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  5. "Forsythe Hilliard shop to shutdown, Herta out of ride". motorsport.com. November 13, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  6. "Vasser signs with Team Rahal for 2002". motorsport.com. October 12, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  7. "Michel Jourdain Jr., Gigante sign with Team Rahal". motorsport.com. January 30, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  8. "Kenny Brack signs with Ganassi Racing for 2002". motorsport.com. August 16, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  9. "Papis signs with Sigma for 2002 season". motorsport.com. January 21, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  10. "Patrick Racing signs Townsend Bell". motorsport.com. December 20, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  11. "Team Herdez names Dominguez as 2002 driver". motorsport.com. December 6, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  12. "Dixon moves to Ganassi Racing". motorsport.com. May 29, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  13. "PWR suspends operation of Servia's No. 17". motorsport.com. May 16, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  14. "Portland: Sigma Autosport withdraws from event". motorsport.com. June 15, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  15. "Servia replaces Bell at Patrick Racing". motorsport.com. July 23, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  16. "Mid-Ohio: Papis to replace injured Fernandez". motorsport.com. August 5, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  17. "Manning named Team St. George Rockingham driver". motorsport.com. September 6, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  18. "Papis to substitute for Fernandez at Fontana". motorsport.com. October 29, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  19. "Fernandez to sit out Mexico GP". motorsport.com. November 14, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  20. "Dale Coyne to field car at Mexico City". motorsport.com. November 8, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  21. https://us.motorsport.com/indycar/news/champcar-cart-traction-control-approved-for-2002/1953215/

References
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