The 2002 NAPA Auto Parts 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held on April 28, 2002 at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps on the asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the tenth race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his first career Winston Cup Series victory. Kurt Busch finished second and Ricky Rudd finished third.

Background

The track, California Speedway, was a four-turn superspeedway that was long. The track's turns were banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, was banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the back straightaway was banked at three degrees.

Summary There were ten drivers who failed to finish the race; with five of the drivers forcing to leave the race due to terminal crashes while five other drivers had engine issues. Nearly 10% of the 199-minute race was held under a caution flag and the average green flag run was approximately 38 laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a concussion when Kevin Harvick slowed on the track and veered into Earnhardt Jr.'s path, causing Jr. to hit the outside retaining wall parallel on the driver's side (this was before SAFER barriers were installed). The impact bent the dashboard of Jr.'s car and severely disoriented him; this ultimately forced NASCAR to pass a regulation forcing drivers to take the ambulance ride to the infield care center every time they crashed (he did not admit to have this injury until mid-September, after which NASCAR also passed a new concussion protocol).2002 Protection One 400 pre-race telecast – NBC, September 29, 2002

Race results Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Points 1 4 48 Jimmie Johnson (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 180 2 2 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 250 180 3 37 28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford 250 165 4 39 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 250 165 5 26 6 Mark Martin (W) Roush Racing Ford 250 155 6 3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 250 155 7 25 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 250 146 8 10 2 Rusty Wallace (W) Penske Racing Ford 250 142 9 32 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford 250 143 10 6 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 250 139 11 16 30 Jeff Green Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 130 12 40 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 249 127 13 29 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 249 124 14 1 12 Ryan Newman (R) Penske Racing Ford 249 126 15 11 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 249 118 16 17 24 Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 249 115 17 19 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 249 112 18 27 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 249 109 19 38 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 249 106 20 20 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 249 103 21 34 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 249 100 22 18 1 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 249 97 23 36 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Ford 249 94 24 24 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge 249 91 25 13 26 Joe Nemechek Haas-Carter Motorsports Chevrolet 249 88 26 5 25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 249 85 27 22 41 Jimmy Spencer Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 248 82 28 12 7 Casey Atwood Ultra Motorsports Dodge 248 79 29 8 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 247 76 30 30 55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 247 73 31 33 4 Mike Skinner Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 247 70 32 42 90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford 246 67 33 41 44 Steve Grissom Petty Enterprises Dodge 244 64 34 28 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 240 61 35 21 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 226 58 36 9 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 225 55 37 15 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford 193 52 38 14 19 Jeremy Mayfield (W) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 189 49 39 7 21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford 163 46 40 31 23 Hut Stricklin Bill Davis Racing Dodge 147 43 41 35 14 Stacy Compton A. J. Foyt Racing Pontiac 104 45 42 43 49 Shawna Robinson (R) BAM Racing Dodge 18 37 43 23 36 Ken Schrader MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 4 34

Race statistics Time of race: 3:19:53 Average Speed: Pole Speed: Cautions: 5 for 24 laps Margin of Victory: 0.620 sec Lead changes: 20 Percent of race run under caution: 9.6% Average green flag run: 37.7 laps

References