2002 Mountain Dew Southern 500

The 2002 Mountain Dew Southern 500, the 53rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 1, 2002 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested at 367 laps on the 1.366 mile (2.198 km) speedway, it was the twenty-fifth race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.

2002 Mountain Dew Southern 500
Race details
Race 25 of 36 in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date September 1, 2002 (2002-September-01)
Official name Mountain Dew Southern 500
Location Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.800 km)
Weather Temperatures hovering around 80.6 °F (27.0 °C); wind speeds gusting up to 11.3 miles per hour (18.2 km/h)[1]
Average speed 118.617 miles per hour (190.896 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Chip Ganassi Racing
Time no time trials
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 125
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Turner Network Television
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.

Background

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track, Darlington Raceway, is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval. The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.

Top 10 results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
2 12Ryan NewmanPenske RacingFord
3 9Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge
4 40Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi RacingDodge
5 88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord
6 22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge
7 97Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord
8 20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac
9 48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
10 99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord

Race statistics

  • Time of race: 4:13:35
  • Average Speed: 118.617 miles per hour (190.896 km/h)
  • Pole Speed: no time trials
  • Cautions: 9 for 63 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 1.734 sec
  • Lead changes: 14
  • Percent of race run under caution: 17.2%
  • Average green flag run: 33.8 laps

References

  1. Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
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