2002 CART season

2002 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races	19
Start date	March 10
End date	November 17
Awards
Drivers' champion	Cristiano da Matta
Constructors' Cup	Lola
Manufacturers' Cup	Toyota
Nations' Cup	Brazil
Rookie of the Year	Mario Domínguez
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2001	2003

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.

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 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
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola B2/00	Toyota	1	Cristiano da Matta	17-19
			6		1-16
			11	Christian Fittipaldi	All
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B2/00	Toyota	4	Bruno Junqueira	All
			12	Kenny Bräck	All
			44	Scott Dixon	4-19
Walker Racing	Reynard 02i	Toyota	5	Toranosuke Takagi	All
PWR Championship Racing	Lola B2/00	Toyota	7	Scott Dixon	1-3
			17	Oriol Servià	1-3
Team Rahal	Lola B2/00	Ford-Cosworth	8	Jimmy Vasser	All
			9	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	All
Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 02i	Honda	10	Tony Kanaan	All
Herdez Competition	Lola B2/00	Ford-Cosworth	16	Mario Domínguez	1-4
			55		5-19
Team St. George Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B2/00	Ford-Cosworth	19	Darren Manning	15
				André Lotterer	19
Patrick Racing	Reynard 02i	Toyota	20	Townsend Bell	1-9
				Oriol Servià	10-19
Sigma Autosport	Lola B2/00	Ford-Cosworth	22	Max Papis	1-5
Team KOOL Green	Reynard 02i	Honda	26	Paul Tracy	1-2
			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
			33	Alex Tagliani	All
Team Motorola	Reynard 02i	Honda	39	Michael Andretti	1-2
	Lola B2/00				3-19
Fernández Racing	Lola B2/00	Honda	51	Adrián Fernández	1-10, 12-17
				Max Papis	11, 18
				Luis Díaz	19
			52	Shinji Nakano	All

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 shutdown 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

• Lack of sponsorship led to the shutdown of PWR Championship Racing after the third race in Motegi, Japan. Scott Dixon landed in a third car at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, while Oriol Servià was sidelined for the time being.^[12][13]
• Having already dropped the Bettenhausen name from its team name with the conclusion of the 2001 season, Herdez Competition changed their car number from 16 to 55 beginning with the fifth round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. #16 had long been associated with Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. and his race team.
• The fifth race at Laguna Seca was the last appearance for Sigma Autosport, which, like PWR earlier in the season, found their sponsorship well run dry, leaving Max Papis without a ride.^[14]
• A run of disappointing performances and a two probation sanctions from CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach Sr. led to the firing of Townsend Bell from Patrick Racing after the ninth round at Cleveland. Oriol Servià drove the #20 car for the remainder of the season.^[15]
• Adrián Fernández fractured his hip in a crash in the tenth race at Vancouver and sat out the following race at Mid-Ohio. Max Papis substituted for him.^[16]
• Dale Coyne helped put together what was described as an "all-England" team named Team St. George for a one shot effort for the fifteenth race at Rockingham, England. Darren Manning was chosen to be the driver. The team used Coyne's traditional #19 car.^[17]
• After clinching the season championship by winning the sixteenth race in Miami Cristiano da Matta ran with #1 on his car for the rest of the season.
• Adrian Fernández was involved in a crash in the seventeenth race at Surfer's Paradise, Australia and suffered two thoracic fractures, which forced him to sit out the final two races of the season. Max Papis sat in for him again at Fontana and Luis Díaz substituted at Mexico City.^[18][19]
• Dale Coyne Racing reappeared under its own name and ran André Lotterer at the final race of the season at Mexico City.^[20]

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Date
1	Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix	Fundidora Park	Monterrey, Mexico	March 10
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	April 14
3	Bridgestone Potenza 500	Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan	April 27
4	Miller Lite 250	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	June 2
5	Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	June 9
6	G.I. Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	June 16
7	CART Grand Prix of Chicago	Chicago Motor Speedway	Cicero, Illinois	June 30
8	Molson Indy	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	July 7
9	Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	July 14
10	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia	July 28
11	CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	August 11
12	Motorola 220	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 18
13	Molson Indy Montreal	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Montreal, Quebec	August 25
14	Shell Grand Prix of Denver	Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado	September 1
15	Rockingham 500	Rockingham Motor Speedway	Corby, United Kingdom	September 14
16	Grand Prix Americas	Miami Bayfront Park Street Circuit	Miami, Florida	October 6
17	Honda Indy 300	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia	October 27
18	The 500 Presented by Toyota	California Speedway	Fontana, California	November 3
19	Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante Presented by Banamex/Visa	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico	November 17

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

Season Summary

Race results

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

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

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 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 19 15 14 13 7 4 12 15 18 19 21 Darren Manning 9 4 22 André Lotterer 12 1 23 Luis Díaz 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 & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) 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 Rookie of the Year 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 5's	Top 10's	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

Notes

1. CBS set for first CART broadcast in seven years - Crash.net
2. "Bridgestone set as tire for 2002". motorsport.com. 2001-10-31. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
3. "Penske, a driving force behind the launch of CART leaves for IRL". motorsport.com. 2001-12-06. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
4. "Blair Racing forms new team". motorsport.com. 2002-01-09. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
5. "Forsythe Hilliard shop to shutdown, Herta out of ride". motorsport.com. 2001-11-13. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
6. "Vasser signs with Team Rahal for 2002". motorsport.com. 2001-10-12. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
7. "Michel Jourdain Jr., Gigante sign with Team Rahal". motorsport.com. 2002-01-30. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
8. "Kenny Brack signs with Ganassi Racing for 2002". motorsport.com. 2001-08-16. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
9. "Papis signs with Sigma for 2002 season". motorsport.com. 2002-01-21. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
10. "Patrick Racing signs Townsend Bell". motorsport.com. 2002-12-20. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
11. "Team Herdez names Dominguez as 2002 driver". motorsport.com. 2002-12-06. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
12. "Dixon moves to Ganassi Racing". motorsport.com. 2002-05-29. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
13. "PWR suspends operation of Servia's No. 17". motorsport.com. 2002-05-16. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
14. "Portland: Sigma Autosport withdraws from event". motorsport.com. 2002-06-15. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
15. "Servia replaces Bell at Patrick Racing". motorsport.com. 2002-07-23. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
16. "Mid-Ohio: Papis to replace injured Fernandez". motorsport.com. 2002-08-05. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
17. "Manning named Team St. George Rockingham driver". motorsport.com. 2002-09-06. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
18. "Papis to substitute for Fernandez at Fontana". motorsport.com. 2002-10-29. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
19. "Fernandez to sit out Mexico GP". motorsport.com. 2002-11-14. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
20. "Dale Coyne to field car at Mexico City". motorsport.com. 2002-11-08. Retrieved 2010-02-05.

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2002". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
• "2002 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
• "FedEx Renews Title Sponsorship Agreement with Championship Auto Racing Teams; FedEx Championship Series Roars into 2002" (Press release). FedEx Corporation. 2001-11-07. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
• "Standings after Mexico City". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also

• 2002 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• 2002 Indianapolis 500
• 2002 Indy Racing League season
• 2002 Infiniti Pro Series season