| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 30 of 36 in the2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 Layout of Talladega Superspeedway | |||
| Date | October 6, 2002 (2002-10-06) | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway,Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.2829 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.83 km) | ||
| Weather | Hot with temperatures approaching 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 183.665 miles per hour (295.580 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | No time trials | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Laps | 56 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick,Benny Parsons,Wally Dallenbach Jr. | ||
The2002 EA Sports 500 was aNASCARWinston Cup Series stock car race held on October 6, 2002, at theTalladega Superspeedway inTalladega, Alabama.
The race was the 30th in the2002 Winston Cup season, and was broadcast byNBC.Jimmie Johnson ofHendrick Motorsports was awarded thepole position after qualifying was canceled,[3] whileDale Earnhardt Jr. ofDale Earnhardt, Inc., who won theprevious race, led the most laps and won his second consecutive EA Sports 500. The race was also the first Winston Cup race at Talladega after the track had installedSAFER barriers. Vocal groupLittle Big Town performed the national anthem, while formerNational Football League quarterbackKen Stabler was the grand marshal.[3]
To spread out the tightly groupedpacks, NASCAR officials reduced the size of the fuel cells from 22 US gallons (83 L) to 13 US gallons (49 L).[3] The race also featured a record $250,000 leader bonus if the winner of the race becomes the Cup points leader, with Johnson,Mark Martin,Tony Stewart,Jeff Gordon andRusty Wallace being the eligible drivers.[4]
On the warm-up lap,Mark Martin's steering box locked, causing him to crash into pole-sitterJimmie Johnson.[5] As a result of the incident, Martin was black-flagged, while Johnson's crew chiefChad Knaus requested NASCAR to inspect the car and repair the damaged right front fender. Johnson made a pit stop on lap one.[3]Jeff Gordon led the first three laps, but on lap 125, he was forced to move the car to the garage after his crew found smoke under the hood, ending his race. Gordon was not the onlyHendrick Motorsports to fail to finish; the other Hendrick drivers, Johnson,Terry Labonte andJoe Nemechek, also failed to finish due to engine problems. As a matter of fact, theMB2 Motorsports cars inJohnny Benson Jr. andKen Schrader, who were also using Hendrick powered engines, also had their engines fail during the race.
In the end,Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his third consecutive Talladega race after leading the last 39 laps,[2] making him the first driver to win both Talladega races (EA Sports 500 and theAaron's 499) sincehis father accomplished the feat in 1999.[3] Though Talladega has been known for featuring crashes known as"The Big One",[6] no cautions occurred during the race. It would be the last incident-free race in NASCAR's premiership until the2012 Auto Club 400, which raced 125 laps of 200 before the caution took place for rain that ended the race on Lap 129, and the2019 Pennzoil 400, which only was stopped twice for end-of-segment breaks.[3]
Source:[2]
* Driver failed to finish race
| Pos | Driver | Points[2] | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Stewart | 3958 | 0 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | 3901 | -72 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 3886 | -82 |
| 4 | Ryan Newman | 3821 | -137 |
| 5 | Rusty Wallace | 3811 | -172 |
| 6 | Matt Kenseth | 3757 | -201 |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon | 3757 | -201 |
| 8 | Bill Elliott | 3729 | -229 |
| 9 | Ricky Rudd | 3712 | -246 |
| 10 | Sterling Marlin | 3703 | -255 |
| Previous race: 2002 Protection One 400 | Winston Cup Series 2002 season | Next race: 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 |