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2002 Indianapolis 500
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The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 Indy Racing League season.
Hélio Castroneves, who also won the 2001 running became the fifth driver in Indy 500 history to win back-to-back races. It is largely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history.
On the 199th lap, second place Paul Tracy attempted to pass Hélio Castroneves for the lead in the third turn.
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Encyclopedia
The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 Indy Racing League season.
Hélio Castroneves, who also won the 2001 running became the fifth driver in Indy 500 history to win back-to-back races. It is largely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history.
On the 199th lap, second place Paul Tracy attempted to pass Hélio Castroneves for the lead in the third turn. At the same time, a crash occurred on another part of the track, bringing out the caution flag. Indy Racing League officials ruled that the yellow came out before Tracy completed the pass, and Castroneves was declared the victor. After an official protest was filed, and after an appeals hearing, Castroneves' victory was upheld on July 2, 2002.
News
During the offseason, several CART teams again committed to entries in the IRL-sanctioned Indy 500 for 2002. Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Team Green all announced they would return from 2001. Rahal Letterman Racing also announced they would join the CART teams and cross party lines to race at Indy. Due to the MSA, Team Green announced that they would not have primary sponsor KOOL, but their cars would carry the colors of associate sponsor 7-Eleven.
Robby Gordon announced on March 28 that he would attempt "double duty," for 2002 by racing in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Tony Stewart, who attempted the feat in 1999 and 2001, announced he would not do so for 2002. John Andretti, who did so in 1994, also announced he would not attempt the double.
During the spring, the asphalt pavement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway underwent a diamond grinding in an effort to smooth out several bumps. In April, the new SAFER barrier was retrofitted to the retaining walls in the turns at the Speedway. It marked the first installation of the revolutionary-new energy-absorbing technology at an American superspeedway.
Practice
On opening day, Robby McGehee became the first driver to crash into the newly-installed SAFER barrier. Scott Sharp and Helio Castroneves led the speed chart.
During the first week of practice, rain delayed the start of track activity on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Several hours of practice time were lost, with over of rain falling in those four days.
Crashes involving P.J. Jones, Mark Dismore, Max Papis, and Alex Barron occurred during the first week. During practice on the morning of pole day, Paul Tracy suffered a major accident in turn 2, demolishing his lone car. Without a backup car, the team was forced to make repairs.
The top of the speed chart changed widely over each day, with no driver atop the leaderboard more than twice all month. Speeds flirted with the barrier for the first time since 1996. Bruno Junqueira finally cracked around 3:30 p.m. on Friday May 10.
During the second week of practice, three additional days were delayed or halted by rain. Paul Tracy returned to the track late in the week, in preparation to qualify on the second weekend.
Time Trials
Three days of time trials were scheduled for 2002. On pole day May 11, Bruno Junqueira was the first car to make a qualifying attempt. He finished at , the fastest pole speed since 1996. His speed held up all afternoon, and he secured his first Indy 500 pole position. he was also the first driver since Emerson Fittipaldi in 1990 to win the pole after qualifying as the coveted "first in the field." The front row was rounded out by IRL-regular Robbie Buhl, and Raul Boesel in the Team Menard car.
Defending champion Hélio Castroneves managed only 13th starting position, while veteran Michael Andretti was the second slowest of the day at .
The second day of time trials, May 12 was rained out, pushing all remaining time trials to bump day, May 19.
On bump day, 9 spots remained open in the field. Rain delayed the start by over an hour, but several cars lined up to make attempts. The field filled to 33 cars just before 2 p.m., with Billy Roe on the bubble. With light rain threatening, George Mack bumped Roe out of the field at 2:35 p.m. In doing so, he became the second African American driver (following Willy T. Ribbs) to qualify for the Indy 500.
With some cars practicing and preparing to enter the qualifying line, Team Green withdrew the slow time previously put in by Michael Andretti. The move momentarily reinstated Roe to the field. Andretti's speed greatly improved from the previous weekend, and he safely bumped his way back into the field. With Billy Boat on the bubble, rain ended qualifying early at 4:51 p.m.
Carb Day
On Thursday May 23, the final practice session was held. Indy rookie Tony Kanaan led the speed chart at . All 33 starters took laps without incident. Later in the afternoon, Penske Racing with driver Hélio Castroneves won the Coors Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge. They defeated Chip Ganassi Racing and driver Jeff Ward in the final round.
Race running
Start
After a month plagued by constant rain, race day saw clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid 70s (°F). Mari Hulman George gave the command to start engines at 10:52 a.m. EST, and all cars pulled away behind the 50th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette pace car.
At the start, polesitter Bruno Junqueira took the lead and led the first 32 laps. A record-setting pace early on saw 29 laps completed before the first yellow. Greg Ray brought out the first caution with a crash in turn 1 Junqueira and the rest of the leaders pitted, but he stalled exiting the pits, giving the lead over to rookie Tomas Scheckter.
Mid race
A sequence of pit stops around the 65th lap shuffled the leaderboard. Indy rookie Tony Kanaan took over the lead on lap 70. On lap 78, Sam Hornish, Jr. brushed the wall, damaging his suspension. He drove the car to the pits for repairs. Three laps later, while the leaders pitted, fifth place Robby Gordon suffered a large fire and explosion in his pit stall. The explosion blew the top off the pit-side fuel tank. Gordon was uninjured, and the car was able to continue.
On lap 90, with Kanaan still leading, Jimmy Vasser and Bruno Junqueira both slowed with mechanical problems. An oil leak on the track went unnoticed, and leader Kanaan spun in the oil, crashing into turn 3. Rick Treadway also became involved in the incident.
Scheckter resumed the lead after Kanaan dropped out. Meanwhile Sam Hornish, Jr. returned to the track, albeit several laps down.
Second half
With as many as 13 cars on the lead lap, a very long stretch of green flag racing commenced. Two sequences of green-flag pit stops shuffled the lead among Gil de Ferran, Scott Sharp, Felipe Giaffone, and Alex Barron. However, Scheckter still found himself back into the lead by lap 166. With 30 laps to go, Scheckter held an 8.3-second lead over Paul Tracy.
Finish
On lap 173, after leading 85 laps during the race, leader Tomas Scheckter slid high in turn four and crashed against the wall down the frontstretch. Under the yellow, the leaders pitted. Exiting the pits, Gil de Ferran lost a wheel that was not secured, and fell out of contention. Gambling on fuel, Hélio Castroneves stayed out and took over the lead.
On lap 180, the green flag came back out with Castroneves leading, and Felipe Giaffone running second. The lap car of Dario Franchitti (the teammate of Tracy, driving a car painted nearly identical to Tracy's) slipped by to get in front of the field. With ten laps to go, Castroneves still led Giaffone, with Paul Tracy charging into third. Castroneves was starting to run low on fuel, and his pace started to slow. Giaffone closed within a half-second.
With less than 3 laps to go, Giaffone dove below Castroneves, attempting to take the lead. The lapped car of Franchitti pulled alongside Castroneves, effectively blocking Giaffone. Castroneves held off the challenge, and third place Paul Tracy managed to move past Giaffone for second. Giaffone later complained that Franchitti was unfairly blocking to help his teammate Tracy. With 2 laps to go, Castroneves led Tracy by only 0.22 seconds at the start/finish line. Down the backstretch, Tracy started to move to the outside, in an attempt to make a pass for the lead. While they were approaching turn 3, a crash occurred on a different part of the track.
The lapped car of rookie Laurent Redon got loose in turn 1, allowing Buddy Lazier (running in 8th place) to dive below him in turn 2. Redon came down on Lazier, the two cars touched, and both crashed hard into the outside wall exiting turn 2. At the same time the crash occurred in turn 2, Tracy and Castroneves were almost side-by-side in turn three. A yellow flag came out for the crash, and Tracy completed the pass. Castroneves backed off the throttle, which allowed Giaffone to pass him, as well as the lap car of Sam Hornish, Jr. Many believed at the time that Castroneves was out of fuel, or was nearly out of fuel, and thought that was the reason he suddenly had slowed down.
Believing he had just taken the lead with one lap to go, Tracy proclaimed on his two-way radio "Yeah baby!". Barry Green soon responded "there's a problem." Officials in race control, led by Brian Barnhart, stated that Castroneves was the leader.
On the final lap, Tracy, Giaffone, and the lap car of Hornish, had broken away, and crossed the finish line approximately 19 seconds before the rest of the field. The Corvette pace car, was not able to enter the track and pick up the field. At a slowed pace, and running low on fuel, Castroneves, with the lap car of Dario Franchitti immediately behind him (in a car painted nearly identical to Tracy's) took the checkered flag as the winner. He drove around the track to the frontstretch, jumped out of his car, and climbed the catchfence just as he did a year earlier in 2001.
Despite the concern for fuel, and after running 42 laps since his last pit stop, Castroneves completed his victory lap, and had 1 gallon of fuel remaining in the tank.
Box score
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | C | E | Laps | Status | Entrant |
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| 1 | 13 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves (W) | 229.052 | 13 | D | C | 200 | 3:00:10.8714 | Team Penske |
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| 2 | 29 | 26 | Paul Tracy | 228.006 | 23 | D | C | 200 | (-)19.4404 | Team Green |
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| 3 | 4 | 21 | Felipe Giaffone | 230.326 | 4 | G | C | 200 | (-)18.2114 | Mo Nunn Racing |
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| 4 | 26 | 44 | Alex Barron (R) | 228.580 | 18 | D | C | 200 | +1.4037 | Blair Racing |
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| 5 | 6 | 51 | Eddie Cheever (W) | 229.786 | 6 | D | I | 200 | +2.4549 | Team Cheever |
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| 6 | 22 | 20 | Richie Hearn | 227.233 | 29 | D | C | 200 | +3.2022 | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
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| 7 | 25 | 39 | Michael Andretti | 228.713 | 15 | D | C | 200 | +3.5895 | Team Green |
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| 8 | 11 | 31 | Robby Gordon | 229.127 | 11 | D | C | 200 | +6.1206 | Team Menard |
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| 9 | 15 | 9 | Jeff Ward | 228.557 | 17 | G | C | 200 | +7.5654 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
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| 10 | 14 | 6 | Gil de Ferran | 228.671 | 16 | D | C | 200 | +28.5425 | Team Penske |
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| 11 | 21 | 22 | Kenny Bräck (W) | 227.240 | 28 | G | C | 200 | +32.8195 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
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| 12 | 12 | 7 | Al Unser, Jr. (W) | 229.058 | 12 | D | C | 199 | Running | Kelley Racing |
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| 13 | 30 | 14 | Airton Daré | 227.760 | 25 | D | C | 199 | Running | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
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| 14 | 24 | 55 | Arie Luyendyk (W) | 228.848 | 14 | G | C | 199 | Running | Treadway Racing |
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| 15 | 20 | 91 | Buddy Lazier (W) | 227.495 | 27 | D | C | 198 | Accident | Hemelgarn Racing |
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| 16 | 2 | 24 | Robbie Buhl | 231.033 | 2 | G | I | 198 | Running | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
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| 17 | 32 | 30 | George Mack (R) | 227.150 | 31 | G | C | 198 | Running | 310 Racing |
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| 18 | 23 | 98 | Billy Boat | 226.589 | 33 | D | C | 198 | Running | CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports |
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| 19 | 28 | 27 | Dario Franchitti (R) | 228.177 | 20 | D | C | 197 | Running | Team Green |
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| 20 | 27 | 12 | Shigeaki Hattori (R) | 228.192 | 19 | D | I | 197 | Engine | Bradley Motorsports |
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| 21 | 3 | 2 | Raul Boesel | 230.613 | 3 | D | C | 197 | Running | Team Menard |
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| 22 | 16 | 34 | Laurent Rédon (R) | 228.106 | 21 | D | I | 196 | Accident | Conquest Racing |
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| 23 | 18 | 53 | Max Papis (R) | 227.941 | 24 | D | I | 196 | Running | Team Cheever |
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| 24 | 9 | 23 | Sarah Fisher | 229.439 | 9 | G | I | 196 | Running | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
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| 25 | 7 | 4 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | 229.585 | 7 | D | C | 186 | Running | Panther Racing |
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| 26 | 10 | 52 | Tomas Scheckter (R) | 229.210 | 10 | D | I | 172 | Accident | Team Cheever |
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| 27 | 8 | 8 | Scott Sharp | 229.486 | 8 | D | C | 137 | Engine | Kelley Racing |
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| 28 | 5 | 17 | Tony Kanaan (R) | 230.253 | 5 | G | C | 89 | Accident | Mo Nunn Racing |
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| 29 | 17 | 5 | Rick Treadway (R) | 228.039 | 22 | G | C | 88 | Accident | Treadway Racing |
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| 30 | 19 | 19 | Jimmy Vasser | 227.743 | 26 | D | C | 87 | Gearbox | Rahal Letterman Racing |
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| 31 | 1 | 33 | Bruno Junqueira | 231.342 | 1 | G | C | 87 | Gearbox | Chip Ganassi Racing |
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| 32 | 33 | 99 | Mark Dismore | 227.096 | 32 | D | C | 58 | Handling | Kelley Racing |
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| 33 | 31 | 11 | Greg Ray | 227.155 | 30 | D | C | 28 | Accident | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
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!colspan=2|Lap Leaders
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! Laps
! Leader
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| 1-32 > Bruno Junqueira
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| 33-63 | Tomas Scheckter
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| 64-66 | Tony Kanaan
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| 67 | Scott Sharp
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| 68 | Gil de Ferran
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| 69 | Al Unser, Jr.
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| 70-89 | Tony Kanaan
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| 90-91 | Felipe Giaffone
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| 92-120 | Tomas Scheckter
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| 121-124 | Gil de Ferran
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| 125-126 | Scott Sharp
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| 127-129 | Felipe Giaffone
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| 130-131 | Alex Barron
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| 132-149 | Tomas Scheckter
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| 150-157 | Gil de Ferran
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| 158-160 | Felipe Giaffone
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| 161-165 | Alex Barron
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| 166-172 | Tomas Scheckter
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| 173-176 | Felipe Giaffone
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| 177-200 | Hélio Castroneves
|}
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!colspan=2|Total laps led
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! Laps
! Leader
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| 85 Tomas Scheckter
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| 32 | Bruno Junqueira
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| 24 | Hélio Castroneves
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| 23 | Tony Kanaan
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| 13 | Gil de Ferran
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| 12 | Felipe Giaffone
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| 7 | Alex Barron
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| 1 | Scott Sharp
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| 1 | Al Unser, Jr.
|}
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>>
Starting grid| Row | Inside | Middle | Outside |
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| 1 | Bruno Junqueira | Robbie Buhl | Raul Boesel |
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| 2 | Felipe Giaffone | Tony Kanaan (R) | Eddie Cheever (W) |
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| 3 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | Scott Sharp | Sarah Fisher |
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| 4 | Tomas Scheckter (R) | Robby Gordon | Al Unser, Jr. (W) |
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| 5 | Hélio Castroneves (W) | Gil de Ferran | Jeff Ward |
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| 6 | Laurent Rédon (R) | Rick Treadway (R) | Max Papis (R) |
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| 7 | Jimmy Vasser | Buddy Lazier (W) | Kenny Bräck (W) |
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| 8 | Richie Hearn | Billy Boat | Arie Luyendyk (W) |
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| 9 | Michael Andretti | Alex Barron (R) | Shigeaki Hattori (R) |
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| 10 | Dario Franchitti (R) | Paul Tracy | Airton Daré |
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| 11 | Greg Ray | George Mack (R) | Mark Dismore |
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Controversy
Initial confusion
In the immediate aftermath of the race, confusion reigned among the competitors, broadcasters, and fans. Brian Barnhart, in Race Control, made the initial call at the moment, stating "yellow, yellow, yellow, three is your leader" over the director's radio channel, and such was repeated by his assistant Mel Harder over the teams' race control radio channel. Harder was in charge of activating the yellow lights around the track, and the in-car dashboard yellow light system.
On the television broadcast, commentator Paul Page erroneously stated that Castroneves was the leader because the scoring "reverted back to the previous lap." Such was not in the official rulebook. Page also, on at least one occasion, misidentified Dario Franchitti's car as that of Tracy's. ABC waited over 14 minutes before they even showed a single replay of the pass or the crash. However, ABC did air split-screen footage clearly showing the crash occurred before the pass. The footage, however, did not show conclusive evidence of when the yellow light came on.
On the live radio broadcast Mike King announced that "race control said the pass would not count." Donald Davidson echoed the same erroneous information that the scoring reverted back to the previous lap, and added that the cars did not race back to the yellow, as was the policy in NASCAR at the time.
In the pits, Barry Green immediately challenged the decision. He told Tracy over the two-way radio that there was "a problem," and later chimed sarcastically that "they (presumably IRL officials) are not going to let one of us (one of the CART teams) win." He contended that Tracy said he had completed the pass before the yellow caution light came on. Tracy said "I feel that I was ahead of him when it went yellow. I passed him, and I saw green. We’re going to protest this thing because I was ahead of him when the yellow came out."
Meanwhile, Castroneves stated the yellow had come out before the pass was made. "The only reason he passed me, it’s because the yellow came on, and I lifted off." Other drivers had different opinion. Eddie Cheever called the finish "confusing." Dario Franchitti, Tracy's teammate, said that "Paul (Tracy) had passed (Castroneves) on the outside before the yellow came out." Mario Andretti, however, spoke with Tracy after the race, and said that Tracy was "more concerned with keeping an eye on Castroneves' car" than watching the yellow lights.
Protest
Official results were posted five hours after the race, with Castroneves declared the winner and Paul Tracy second. Team Green immediately filed a protest, and the hearing was scheduled for May 27 at 10:00 a.m. During the two-hour hearing, Brian Barnhart and Indy Racing League officials denied the protest and presented the conclusions. Officials determined that Castroneves was indisputably the leader under the following relevant times:
- At the last scoring antenna (entrance of turn 3) before the caution; margin was 0.0371 seconds
- At the time of the accident of Redon and Lazier in turn 2
- At the time that race official Brian Barnhart made the radio call for a caution
- At the time that the dashboard caution lights were activated
In rejecting the protest, Barnhart stated that "Team Green did not present anything that was conclusive enough in any way, shape or form to change our mind."
Appeals hearing
Team Green submitted a written appeal of the protest decision on June 3. A closed-door appeals hearing was scheduled for June 17. Speedway President Tony George presided over the hearing, with Indianapolis attorney Dave Mittingly assisting. Both Team Green and Penske Racing presented evidence, and several persons involved provided testimony. Among those who gave testimony included: Tracy, Castroneves, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti, Brian Barnhart (race control), Doug Boles (spotter in turn 3 for Hornish), Jeff Horton (IRL Director of Engineering,), and others.
The basis of Team Green's argument is that Tracy was the leader when the yellow lights around the track came on, and that those lights should control. While they acknowledged that Castroneves was leading at the time Barnhart called for the yellow, they argued it was irrelevant unless the yellow lights were on. They also did not dispute that it was possible that the dashboard yellow lights on Castroneves' car came on while Castroneves was still leading. They cited the inconsistencies of the dashboard system from car to car, and claimed the dashboard lights had not come on in Tracy's car until after he had made the pass.
Penske Racing's primary defense concentrated on their interpretations of the IRL rulebook. They stated that at the commencement of a yellow caution period, the positioning of the cars is a judgement call made quickly by the officials. They also stated that the ruling of a car passing another car under a caution period is specifically listed as not protestable or appealable under the existing rules.
On July 2, 2002, Tony George issued an 18-page decision to the appeal. He upheld the victory of Hélio Castroneves, and denied Team Green's appeal. In his decision, George stated that "Clearly Helio (Castroneves) was in front when the call (for the yellow) was made" and that several of the caution signals, including trackside and dashboard lights, a radio announcement and a flag closing the pits, were displayed before Tracy's pass.
Aftermath
After the decision was rendered, the reaction among fans, media, and competitors was split largely along party lines. CART supporters generally sided with Team Green and Paul Tracy denouncing the decision, while IRL supporters generally accepted the final result. Many Tracy supporters felt the decision was politically motivated, suggesting that Tony George favored Penske Racing (a full-time IRL team) and punished the part-time, rival CART-based effort of Team Green. The controversey was divisive, and worked to reopen wounds from the 1996 open wheel split. Robin Miller openly criticized the decision, and considered Tracy "the unofficial 2002 Indy winner." The day after the race, he presented video footage on RPM 2Night, which he claimed showed evidence the pass was completed under green. Shirts and hats were sold at CART events declaring Tracy the "Real IRL 500 winner," of which Tracy would be seen publicly wearing at times.
Starting with the next IndyCar Series telecast, ABC/ESPN experimented with a new on-screen graphic displaying a yellow banner or yellow symbol the instant a caution period commenced. The system was tied to official race control, and was utilized to avoid confusion about yellow-light conditions. It was adopted as commonplace on all auto racing broadcasts on all networks.
A few weeks after the decision, Barry Green announced he was selling his share of Team Green to Michael Andretti, and would be taking a sabbatical from the sport. Paul Tracy finished out a mediocre season with Green, and left the team at season's end. He won one race, and was voted the 2002 CART Most Popular Driver. During his acceptance speech, he thanked Tony George for helping him win the award, and added that the dispute strengthend his fanbase. "Since that whole disaster, I've become a fan favorite. I guess this is like my Borg-Warner Trophy."
With CART facing financial trouble at season's end, Michael Andretti took the team, now called Andretti Green Racing, full-time to the IndyCar Series for 2003. Eventually, Andretti led the team into victories in the 2005 and 2007 Indianapolis 500.
Tracy, angered by the loss, refused to return to the IRL and the Indy 500 in subsequent seasons. On September 23, 2003, when asked if he were interested in driving in the IRL in 2004, he responded "I'm not driving one of those crapwagons." The quote took on a life of its own, and was adopted as a political slogan and battle cry for IRL detractors for years to come. Under the profile section Tracy's official web site () career highlights include "2002 Indy 500 Runner Up (yeah right)" Tracy continued in the Champ Car series, finally winning a season title in 2003, although it came after most of the top teams had already defected to the IRL. He eventually left the series, and had a short stint in the NASCAR Busch Series. In the wake of the 2008 open wheel unification, Tony George himself reportedly offered Tracy a ride with Vision Racing. Tracy initially declinded, musing that "I'm not going to drive for hamburgers and hot dogs." In July 2008, Tracy finally crossed lines and signed with Vision Racing to drive in the Edmonton Indy.
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