The 2002 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-fourth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 10 and concluding in Mexico City 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' championBrazil Cristiano da Matta
Constructors' CupUnited Kingdom Lola
Manufacturers' CupJapan Toyota
Nations' CupBrazil Brazil
Rookie of the YearMexico Mario Domínguez
← 2001
2003 →

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

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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 B02/00 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 B02/00 Toyota 6   Cristiano da Matta All Havoline 12
Chevron 7
11   Christian Fittipaldi All Eli Lilly
  PWR Championship Racing Lola B02/00 Toyota 7   Scott Dixon 1–3 PWR Championship Racing
17   Oriol Servià 1–3 Air Eight
  Team Rahal Lola B02/00 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 B02/00 4–19
  Herdez Competition Lola B02/00 Ford-Cosworth 16   Mario Domínguez  R  1–4 Herdez
55 5–19
  Team St. George
  Dale Coyne Racing
Lola B02/00 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 B02/00 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 B02/00 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 B02/00 3–19
  Fernández Racing Lola B02/00 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

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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

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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

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Rule changes

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  • 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 in addition to the mandatory stop.
    • 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 as they had all the fuel needed 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).
    • For Rounds 1-12, 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.
    • Starting at Montreal for the rest of the season, following numerous events where cars waited until the second half of the session to go out, CART officials changed the 60 minute session to be a 15 minute practice, followed by a 10 minute break, followed by 35 minutes of qualifying with 30 minutes of green-flag running guaranteed.
  • 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 other 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 in the aftermath of the death of Dale Earnhardt, the HANS Device became mandatory at all events, and all pit crew members were required to wear helmets.

Season summary

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Schedule

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Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date
1   Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey  R  Fundidora Park Monterrey, Mexico March 10
2   Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  R  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   Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California June 9
6   G.I. Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 16
7   CART Grand Prix of Chicago  O  Chicago Motor Speedway Cicero, Illinois June 30
8   Molson Indy Toronto  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 7
9   Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank  R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 14
10   Molson Indy Vancouver  R  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia July 28
11   CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 11
12   Motorola 220  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  R  Denver Civic Center Denver, Colorado September 1
15   Sure for Men 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  R  Miami Bayfront Park Street Circuit Miami, Florida October 6
17   Honda Indy 300  R  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 Presented by Banamex/VISA  R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico November 17

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

Race results

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Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Lead most laps Winning driver Winning team Report
1   Monterrey   Adrián Fernández   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
2   Long Beach   Jimmy Vasser   Bruno Junqueira   Michael Andretti   Michael Andretti Team Motorola Report
3   Motegi   Bruno Junqueira   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
4   Milwaukee   Adrián Fernández   Kenny Bräck   Paul Tracy   Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green Report
5   Laguna Seca   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
6   Portland   Cristiano da Matta   Bruno Junqueira   Cristiano da Matta
  Kenny Bräck
  Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
7   Chicago   Dario Franchitti   Paul Tracy   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
8   Toronto   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
9   Cleveland   Cristiano da Matta   Paul Tracy   Patrick Carpentier   Patrick Carpentier Team Player's Report
10   Vancouver   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Paul Tracy   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
11   Mid-Ohio   Patrick Carpentier   Cristiano da Matta   Patrick Carpentier   Patrick Carpentier Team Player's Report
12   Road America   Bruno Junqueira   Bruno Junqueira   Paul Tracy   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
13   Montreal   Cristiano da Matta   Dario Franchitti   Dario Franchitti   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
14   Denver   Bruno Junqueira   Kenny Bräck   Bruno Junqueira   Bruno Junqueira Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
15   Rockingham   Kenny Bräck   Jimmy Vasser   Kenny Bräck   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Report
16   Miami   Tony Kanaan   Christian Fittipaldi   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta Newman/Haas Racing Report
17   Surfers Paradise   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Cristiano da Matta   Mario Domínguez  R  Herdez Competition Report
18   Fontana   Tony Kanaan   Oriol Servià   Jimmy Vasser   Jimmy Vasser Team Rahal Report
19   Mexico City   Bruno Junqueira   Shinji Nakano   Tony Kanaan   Kenny Bräck Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report

Final driver standings

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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 17 59
15   Toranosuke Takagi 14 6 8 14 16 18 4 8 7 15 12 15 14 15 6 15 18 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

Nations' Cup

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  • Top result per race counts towards Nations' 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 Constructors' Cup

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Pos Chassis Pts
1   Lola 401
2   Reynard 235
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

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Pos Engine Pts
1   Toyota 332
2   Honda 283
3   /   Ford-Cosworth 259
Pos Engine Pts

Driver breakdown

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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

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Notes

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  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. 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. ^ "CHAMPCAR/CART: Traction control approved for 2002".

References

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