The 2002 Pepsi 400 was the 17th stock car race of the

2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 54th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 31st modern-era Cup Series season. It began on February 10, 2002, at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 17, ...

and the 44th iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

. The race was held on Saturday, July 6, 2002, in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. At race's end,

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother o ...

, driving for

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...

, would win a crash-marred race under caution, a decision that would prove controversial with fans, as they wanted the race to finish under green. To fill out the podium, Rusty Wallace of Penske Racing and Sterling Marlin of

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Daytona International Speedway is one of three

superspeedway Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a Road racing, road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the directi ...

s to hold NASCAR races, the other two being

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice

Originally, three practice sessions were scheduled to be held, with one on Thursday and two on Saturday. However, rain on Thursday would add a one-hour additional practice session to Thursday's sessions, and rain on Friday would cancel both sessions, leaving only two sessions run on Thursday.

First practice

Originally scheduled as a two-hour practice session, the first practice session was held on Thursday, July 4, at 3:00 PM EST, but would only last for 40 minutes due to rain.

would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 48.876 and an average speed of .

Second practice

The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Thursday, July 4, at 8:00 PM EST, and would last for one hour.

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

of Robert Yates Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 48.598 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, July 5, at 10:00 PM EST after rain delayed qualifying from its original date, July 4. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional. Kevin Harvick of

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

would win the pole, setting a time of 48.638 and an average speed of . Two drivers would fail to qualify: Ed Berrier and

Steve Grissom Steven Paul Grissom (born June 26, 1963) is an American former stock car racing driver. Grissom was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. He turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alaba ...

Full qualifying results

Race

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick led the first lap of the race. The first caution did not take long as it came out on lap 2 when Tony Stewart crashed on the backstretch. Kevin Harvick led the field to the restart on lap 7. The second caution flew on lap 9 when Johnny Benson crashed in turn 3 after contact from Ken Schrader. On the restart on lap 14, Jeff Gordon took the lead from Harvick. The third caution flew on lap 17 when Mike Wallace got turned by Steve Park in the tri-oval. Jeff Burton stayed out on pit road and he was the race leader. The competition caution flew on lap 25. Before they took the green flag for the restart, Jeff Gordon came down pit road due to speculation that Gordon had a flat tire. Gordon ended up going a lap down. The race restarted on lap 30. On lap 43, Sterling Marlin took the lead from Jeff Burton. On lap 59, the 5th caution flew when Kenny Wallace crashed in turn 4. Michael Waltrip won the race off of pit road and he was the new race leader on the restart on lap 64. Green flag pit stops began on lap 114. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led when Waltrip pitted on lap 118. On lap 119, Michael Waltrip got his lead back. With 35 laps to go, the 6th caution flew when Tony Stewart spun off of turn 2.

Final laps

The race restarted with 30 laps to go in the race. With 25 laps to go, the big one struck heading into turn 1 taking out 14 cars. It started when Jeff Burton hooked Dale Jarrett in the left rear which caused Jarrett to turn left then turn his car back to the right, right in front of a pack of cars. During the wreck, Joe Nemechek got hooked by the spinning Jarrett and spun into Burton. Nemechek's car went up the racetrack and pounded the outside wall head on in turn 1. Also, Mike Skinner spun in the wreck and went up in front of Brett Bodine destroying Bodine's front end and catching Bodine's car on fire. After the hard hit into the outside wall, Nemechek would walk away but suffered a bruised left foot. The cars involved were Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Brett Bodine, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Skinner, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Steve Park, Matt Kenseth, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, Jimmie Johnson, Geoff Bodine, and Kyle Petty. The race restarted with 16 laps to go and Michael Waltrip led over his DEI teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. With 11 laps to go, the 8th caution flew for debris in turn 2. The race restarted with 6 laps to go and Michael Waltrip kept his lead. With 4 laps to go, the 9th and final caution flew for a 3 car crash on the backstretch involving Ryan Newman, Jeff Green, and Dave Blaney. Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell back from 2nd to 6th when the caution came out. In the previous years' race, Jr. restarted 6th with 6 laps to go in the race and powered his way up to the lead in 2 laps and won that race. The fans thought it could happen again and wanted NASCAR to red flag the race so they could get back going again. But NASCAR decided to keep the caution flag in the air and the race ended up finishing under caution and Michael Waltrip took home his second win of his Cup Series career. Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer, and Mark Martin rounded out the top 5 while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Todd Bodine, Jimmie Johnson, Ward Burton, and Geoff Bodine rounded out the top 10. Frustrated with NASCAR's decision, fans on the backstretch threw lawn chairs, beer bottles, and a bunch of garbage onto the racetrack after Waltrip took the checkered flag.

Race results

References

{{2002 Winston Cup 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway July 2002 sports events in the United States 2002 in sports in Florida