2002 CART FedEx Championship Series

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:American Championship Car season 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.

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

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. 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
Template:Flagicon Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B02/00	Toyota	4	Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira	All	Target Coors Light 1
			12	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	All
			44	Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon	4–19
Template:Flagicon Walker Racing	Reynard 02i	Toyota	5	Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi	All	Pioneer
Template:Flagicon Newman/Haas Racing	Lola B02/00	Toyota	6	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	All	Havoline 12 Chevron 7
			11	Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi	All	Eli Lilly
Template:Flagicon PWR Championship Racing	Lola B02/00	Toyota	7	Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon	1–3	PWR Championship Racing
			17	Template:Flagicon Oriol Servià	1–3	Air Eight
Template:Flagicon Team Rahal	Lola B02/00	Ford-Cosworth	8	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser	All	Shell
			9	Template:Flagicon Michel Jourdain Jr.	All	Gigante
Template:Flagicon Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 02i	Honda	10	Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	1–3	Pioneer
	Lola B02/00				4–19
Template:Flagicon Herdez Competition	Lola B02/00	Ford-Cosworth	16	Template:Flagicon Mario Domínguez  R	1–4	Herdez
			55		5–19
Template:Flagicon Team St. George Template:Flagicon Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford-Cosworth	19	Template:Flagicon Darren Manning  R	15	RAC AutoWindscreens
				Template:Flagicon André Lotterer  R	19	J.A.G. Sports
Template:Flagicon Patrick Racing	Reynard 02i	Toyota	20	Template:Flagicon Townsend Bell  R	1–9	Visteon
				Template:Flagicon Oriol Servià	10–19
Template:Flagicon Sigma Autosport	Lola B02/00	Ford-Cosworth	22	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	1–5	Rockwell FirstPoint
Template:Flagicon Team KOOL Green	Reynard 02i	Honda	26	Template:Flagicon Paul Tracy	1–2	KOOL 18 Team Green 1
	Lola B02/00				3–19
	Reynard 02i		27	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	1–3
	Lola B02/00				4–19
Template:Flagicon Team Motorola	Reynard 02i		39	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	1–2	Motorola
	Lola B02/00				3–19
Template:Flagicon Team Player's	Reynard 02i	Ford-Cosworth	32	Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier	All	Player's 18 It's Your World 1
			33	Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani	All
Template:Flagicon Fernández Racing	Lola B02/00	Honda	51	Template:Flagicon Adrián Fernández	1–10, 12–17	Tecate
				Template:Flagicon Max Papis	11, 18
				Template:Flagicon Luis Díaz  R	19
			52	Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano	All	Alpine

 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. 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. 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.

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. Joining him at Rahal was Michel Jourdain Jr. who left Herdez Competition. Rahal's 2001 drivers, Kenny Bräck and Max Papis moved to Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Sigma Autosport. 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. Mario Domínguez signed on for another single car effort with Herdez Competition.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Dale Coyne Racing reappeared under its own name and ran André Lotterer at the final race of the season at Mexico City.

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 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.
• 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

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location
1	March 10	Template:Flagicon Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey	S  Fundidora Park	Monterrey, Mexico
2	April 14	Template:Flagicon Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	S  Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California
3	April 27	Template:Flagicon Bridgestone Potenza 500	O  Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan
4	June 2	Template:Flagicon Miller Lite 250	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
5	June 9	Template:Flagicon Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300	R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California
6	June 16	Template:Flagicon G.I. Joe's 200	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
7	June 30	Template:Flagicon CART Grand Prix of Chicago	O  Chicago Motor Speedway	Cicero, Illinois
8	July 7	Template:Flagicon Molson Indy Toronto	S  Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
9	July 14	Template:Flagicon Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank	S  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
10	July 28	Template:Flagicon Molson Indy Vancouver	S  Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia
11	August 11	Template:Flagicon CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
12	August 18	Template:Flagicon Motorola 220	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
13	August 25	Template:Flagicon Molson Indy Montreal	R  Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Montreal, Quebec
14	September 1	Template:Flagicon Shell Grand Prix of Denver	S  Denver Civic Center	Denver, Colorado
15	September 14	Template:Flagicon Sure for Men Rockingham 500	O  Rockingham Motor Speedway	Corby, United Kingdom
–	September 21	Template:Flagicon German 500 (Cancelled)	O  EuroSpeedway Lausitz	Klettwitz, Germany
16	October 6	Template:Flagicon Grand Prix Americas	S  Miami Bayfront Park Street Circuit	Miami, Florida
17	October 27	Template:Flagicon Honda Indy 300	S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia
18	November 3	Template:Flagicon The 500 Presented by Toyota	O  California Speedway	Fontana, California
19	November 17	Template:Flagicon Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante Presented by Banamex/VISA	R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road course
 S  Street circuit

Race results

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

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MTY Template:Flagicon LBH Template:Flagicon MOT Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon POR Template:Flagicon CHI Template:Flagicon TOR Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon VAN Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon MTL Template:Flagicon DEN Template:Flagicon ROC Template:Flagicon MIA Template:Flagicon SUR Template:Flagicon FON Template:Flagicon MXC Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta 1* 8 13 11 1* 1* 1* 1* 16 12 13 1 2 3 2 1* 8* 11 2 237 2 Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira 11 17 1 10 4 2 2 14 13 9 4 3 13 1* 5 5 14 9 3 164 3 Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier 7 19 4 15 5 5 16 10 1* 5 1* 7 15 17 3 16 2 3 4 157 4 Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti 2 9 3 12 19 3 3 13 14 1 17 12 1* 18 1 10 7 10 5 148 5 Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi 3 13 12 4 2 13 14 3 12 13 2 6 7 5 17 2 11 7 15 122 6 Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck 18 5 17 8 3 15 18 2 4 18 6 14 18 7 8* 13 4 12 1 114 7 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser 20 2 20 9 8 16 17 6 6 17 8 5 5 10 7 3 12 1* 11 114 8 Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani 5 16 2 19 10 12 7 7 5 7 7 2 11 12 18 4 6 8 10 111 9 Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti 12 1* 16 7 11 9 15 11 2 6 3 10 8 13 10 8 9 2 17 110 10 Template:Flagicon Michel Jourdain Jr. 4 4 5 5 9 6 10 12 9 4 11 9 6 9 11 6 10 13 13 105 11 Template:Flagicon Paul Tracy 8 7 19 1* 17 17 9 16 3 2* 18 13* 4 8 19 12 3 17 16 101 12 Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan 16 20 15* 16 12 8 8 17 8 3 14 4 3 6 15 9 5 4 8* 99 13 Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon 6 18 9 6 6 7 6 5 15 16 5 17 10 2 12 18 15 6 7 97 14 Template:Flagicon Adrián Fernández 13 10 7 2 18 14 13 9 11 8 18 12 4 14 7 17 59 15 Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi 14 6 8 14 16 18 4 8 7 15 12 15 14 15 6 15 18 18 6 53 16 Template:Flagicon Oriol Servià 10 11 6 14 10 16 16 11 4 17 16 5 9 44 17 Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano 15 12 10 18 14 11 5 4 10 11 9 11 9 16 16 14 13 15 14 43 18 Template:Flagicon Mario Domínguez  RY  17 14 11 17 15 10 11 18 17 10 16 8 17 14 13 11 1 16 18 37 19 Template:Flagicon Max Papis 9 3 18 3 13 15 14 32 20 Template:Flagicon Townsend Bell  R  19 15 14 13 7 4 12 15 18 19 21 Template:Flagicon Darren Manning  R  9 4 22 Template:Flagicon André Lotterer  R  12 1 23 Template:Flagicon Luis Díaz  R  19 0 Pos Driver MTY Template:Flagicon LBH Template:Flagicon MOT Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon POR Template:Flagicon CHI Template:Flagicon TOR Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon VAN Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon MTL Template:Flagicon DEN Template:Flagicon ROC Template:Flagicon MIA Template:Flagicon SUR Template:Flagicon FON Template:Flagicon MXC Template:Flagicon 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

• Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos	Country	MTY Template:Flagicon	LBH Template:Flagicon	MOT Template:Flagicon	MIL Template:Flagicon	LAG Template:Flagicon	POR Template:Flagicon	CHI Template:Flagicon	TOR Template:Flagicon	CLE Template:Flagicon	VAN Template:Flagicon	MOH Template:Flagicon	ROA Template:Flagicon	MTL Template:Flagicon	DEN Template:Flagicon	ROC Template:Flagicon	MIA Template:Flagicon	SUR Template:Flagicon	FON Template:Flagicon	MEX Template:Flagicon	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Brazil	1	8	1	4	1	1	1	1	8	3	2	1	2	1	2	1	5	4	2	325
2	Template:Flagicon Canada	5	7	2	1	5	5	7	7	1	2	1	2	4	8	3	4	2	3	4	247
3	Template:Flagicon United States	12	1	14	7	7	4	12	6	2	6	3	5	5	10	7	3	9	1	11	164
4	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	2	9	3	12	19	3	3	13	14	1	17	12	1	18	1	10	7	10	5	148
5	Template:Flagicon Mexico	4	4	5	2	9	6	10	9	9	4	11	8	6	4	11	6	1	13	13	142
6	Template:Flagicon Sweden	18	5	17	8	3	15	18	2	4	18	6	14	18	7	8	13	4	12	1	113
7	Template:Flagicon New Zealand	6	18	9	6	6	7	6	5	15	16	5	17	10	2	12	18	15	6	7	96
8	Template:Flagicon Japan	14	6	8	14	14	11	4	4	7	11	9	11	9	15	6	14	13	15	6	73
9	Template:Flagicon Spain	10	11	6							14	10	16	16	11	4	17	16	5	9	44
10	Template:Flagicon Italy	9	3	18	3	13						15							14		32
11	Template:Flagicon Germany																			12	1
Pos	Country	MTY Template:Flagicon	LBH Template:Flagicon	MOT Template:Flagicon	MIL Template:Flagicon	LAG Template:Flagicon	POR Template:Flagicon	CHI Template:Flagicon	TOR Template:Flagicon	CLE Template:Flagicon	VAN Template:Flagicon	MOH Template:Flagicon	ROA Template:Flagicon	MTL Template:Flagicon	DEN Template:Flagicon	ROC Template:Flagicon	MIA Template:Flagicon	SUR Template:Flagicon	FON Template:Flagicon	MEX Template:Flagicon	Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Lola	401
2	Template:Flagicon Reynard	235
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

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

See also

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