| Location | Lowe's Motor Speedway,Concord, North Carolina |
| Date | May 18, 2002 |
| Laps | 90 (segment #1: 40 laps, segment #2: 30 laps, segment #3: 20 laps) |
| Distance | |
| Winner | Ryan Newman |
| Segment #1 winner | Jimmie Johnson |
| Segment #2 winner | Jimmie Johnson |
| The Winston Open winner | Jeremy Mayfield |
| No Bull Sprint winner | Ryan Newman |
| Average speed | 110.005 MPH |
| Most laps led | Jimmie Johnson |
| Television | |
| Network | FX |
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds |
The 2002 edition of theNASCAR All-Star Race (known asThe Winston for sponsorship purposes) was held on May 18, 2002 atLowe's Motor Speedway inConcord, North Carolina. It featured the last multiple-segment Open where only segment winners advanced until 2015, and had a 27-car field, the largest in All-Star race history.Ryan Newman won the race and became the second driver sinceMichael Waltrip to win the event after coming out from the Open. Newman (Segment 2) andJeremy Mayfield (Segment 1) advance to The Winston after winning the two segments of the Open races.
It was the first of two editions of the all-star event to feature eliminations. Temperatures hovered around the 66.5 °F (19.2 °C) mark throughout the event while winds were gusting in at up to 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h).[1]
Jeremy Mayfield won the pole for the event and won the race, thus advancing to The Winston.Ken Schrader started the race on the pole but finished in 3rd.Ryan Newman who almost made the race in2001 until losing an engine with just two laps to go during the Open advanced with the win. This was the last Open with multiple segments where only the winners of each segment advanced until the2015 edition.
During the first segment of the race they ran the first 40 laps. On the 14th lap,Sterling Marlin,Dale Jarrett,Rusty Wallace andBobby Hamilton were all caught up in a four car crash as the wreck happened in turn two.Jeff Burton had to make a mandatory pit stop and with the strategy of crew chiefFrank Stoddard, he made the pit stop on the last lap and their stall was just near the start/finish line and finished 2nd.Jimmie Johnson won the first segment, while the 27-car field would be cut to 20 cars under the first of two eliminations in this format. In addition to the four eliminated in the Lap 14 crash,Mike Wallace,Steve Park andWard Burton were eliminated on track.
Ryan Newman was the last driver to transfer in segment two, but during that segment, he spun outElliott Sadler and sent him towards the wall. After the accident, Sadler throw his helmet towards Newman's car, then later apologized to hissponsor about his behavior during an interview withDick Berggren. Later, Jeff Burton also was withdrawn with a clutch problem in this segment.
Johnson would win the second segment. The format called for elimination of ten cars at the end of this segment, leavingJeremy Mayfield,Bobby,Terry Labonte,Mark Martin,Ricky Rudd,Jeff Gordon andMichael Waltrip eliminated in segment two on the track.
In the last segment, only ten cars were left and late in the segment,Kurt Busch spun outRobby Gordon, driving for RCR's #31 chevy. Robby Gordon would finish in 7th place, but was visibly furious with Kurt who later admitted that he intentionally spun Gordon to make the race "more competitive." Busch was later fined $25,000 for his actions.
The caution led to a final 5 lap shootout, andRyan Newman held off a hard foughtDale Earnhardt Jr. and wins the Winston of 2002 and wins a total of $750,000 and the second driver (Michael Waltrip in 1996) to win The Winston after coming from the Opener and the only driver from the No Bull 5 Sprint.