The 2002 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held April 21, 2002, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. won the race, his first of the season and the second of his four straight wins at Talladega. His teammate Michael Waltrip finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.

2002 Aaron's 499
Race details
Race 9 of 36 in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
2002 Aaron's 499 program cover, featuring Bobby Hamilton and a tribute to Davey Allison.
2002 Aaron's 499 program cover, featuring Bobby Hamilton and a tribute to Davey Allison.
Date April 21, 2002 (2002-04-21)
Location Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course Permanent racing facility
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Weather Temperatures of 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)[1]
Average speed 159.022 miles per hour (255.921 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 51.337
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Laps 133
Winner
No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

Entry list

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#[2] Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet Pennzoil
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford Miller Lite
4 Mike Skinner Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac Kodak
5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Pfizer, Viagra
7 Casey Atwood Ultra-Evernham Motorsports Dodge Sirius Satellite Radio
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet Budweiser
9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers, UAW
09 Geoff Bodine Phoenix Racing Ford Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts
10 Johnny Benson Jr. MB2 Motorsports Pontiac Valvoline
11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford Hooters, Wells Fargo
12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Ford Alltel
14 Stacy Compton A.J. Foyt Racing Pontiac Conseco
15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford DeWalt
18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac Interstate Batteries
19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers, UAW
20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota The Home Depot
21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford Motorcraft
22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac Caterpillar
23 Hut Stricklin Bill Davis Racing Dodge Hills Brothers Coffee
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont, Pepsi
25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet UAW-Delphi
26 Frank Kimmel Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford Advance Auto Parts
28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford Havoline
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service
30 Jeff Green Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet America Online
31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Cingular Wireless
32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Chevrolet Tide
33 Mike Wallace Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet Preen
36 Ken Schrader MB2 Motorsports Pontiac M&M's Global Color Vote
40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Coors Light
41 Jimmy Spencer Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Target
43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge Cheerios
44 Steve Grissom Petty Enterprises Dodge Georgia-Pacific
45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Ford Sprint
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's
49 Shawna Robinson BAM Racing Dodge BAM Racing
55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet Schneider Electric, Square D
59 Bobby Gerhart Gerhart Racing Pontiac JamesAuto.com
77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions
88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford UPS
90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford Duke's Mayonnaise, Sauer's
91 Dick Trickle Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers
97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford Rubbermaid
98 Kenny Wallace Michael Waltrip Racing Chevrolet Aaron's
99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford Citgo Supergard

Qualifying

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The drivers who failed to qualify were Rick Mast, Shawna Robinson, Bobby Gerhart, and Dick Trickle. Jimmie Johnson won the pole.

Pos.[3][4] # Driver Make Team Time Avg. Speed
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 51.337 186.532
2 31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 51.370 186.409
3 15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 51.373 186.401
4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 51.507 185.913
5 22 Ward Burton Dodge Bill Davis Racing 51.631 185.470
6 14 Stacy Compton Pontiac A.J. Foyt Racing 51.641 185.430
7 10 Johnny Benson Jr. Pontiac MB2 Motorsports 51.673 185.316
8 12 Ryan Newman Ford Penske Racing 51.679 185.298
9 1 Steve Park Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 51.723 185.140
10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 51.724 185.133
11 5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 51.764 184.993
12 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises 51.787 184.911
13 2 Rusty Wallace Ford Penske Racing 51.821 184.786
14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 51.845 184.704
15 25 Jerry Nadeau Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 51.845 184.704
16 7 Casey Atwood Dodge Ultra-Evernham Motorsports 51.860 184.651
17 18 Bobby Labonte Pontiac Joe Gibbs Racing 51.865 184.633
18 33 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Andy Petree Racing 51.887 184.555
19 6 Mark Martin Ford Roush Racing 51.894 184.530
20 97 Kurt Busch Ford Roush Racing 51.894 184.530
21 77 Dave Blaney Ford Jasper Motorsports 51.894 184.530
22 23 Hut Stricklin Dodge Bill Davis Racing 51.896 184.523
23 09 Geoffrey Bodine Ford Phoenix Racing 51.902 184.502
24 11 Brett Bodine Ford Brett Bodine Racing 51.905 184.491
25 99 Jeff Burton Ford Roush Racing 51.970 184.260
26 20 Tony Stewart Pontiac Joe Gibbs Racing 51.981 184.221
27 98 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Michael Waltrip Racing 52.006 184.133
28 43 John Andretti Dodge Petty Enterprises 52.013 184.108
29 26 Frank Kimmel Ford Haas-Carter Motorsports 52.056 183.956
30 30 Jeff Green Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 52.074 183.892
31 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Evernham Motorsports 52.095 183.818
32 41 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 52.108 183.772
33 40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 52.113 183.751
34 44 Steve Grissom Dodge Petty Enterprises 52.118 183.737
35 32 Ricky Craven Ford PPI Motorsports 52.139 183.663
36 36 Ken Schrader Pontiac MB2 Motorsports 52.165 183.571
Provisionals
37 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Racing 52.339 182.961
38 28 Ricky Rudd Ford Robert Yates Racing 52.240 183.308
39 9 Bill Elliott Dodge Evernham Motorsports 52.215 183.396
40 21 Elliott Sadler Ford Wood Brothers Racing 52.530 182.296
41 88 Dale Jarrett Ford Robert Yates Racing 52.209 183.417
42 4 Mike Skinner Chevrolet Morgan–McClure Motorsports 0.000 0.000
43 55 Bobby Hamilton Chevrolet Andy Petree Racing 52.266 183.217
Failed to qualify
44 90 Rick Mast Ford Donlavey Racing 52.513 182.355
45 49 Shawna Robinson Dodge BAM Racing 52.469 182.508
46 59 Bobby Gerhart Pontiac Gerhart Racing 52.979 180.751
47 91 Dick Trickle Dodge Evernham Motorsports 52.706 181.687

Race recap

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From the green flag, Jimmie Johnson got off to a good start, leading the first eight laps. On lap 8, Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed Johnson and assumed the lead for all but two of the next 42 laps; Jeremy Mayfield led lap 33, and Michael Waltrip led lap 40. On lap 50, Sterling Marlin claimed the lead, and led two laps before Matt Kenseth passed him for the lead. Kenseth led until lap 56, when Earnhardt Jr. regained the lead. Earnhardt Jr. led until lap 65, when Mayfield assumed the lead, again for only a lap before losing the lead to Earnhardt. He continued to lead until lap 82 when Waltrip claimed it again. Waltrip led until lap 95, when Ryan Newman passed him and led lap 96. Earnhardt Jr. claimed the lead on the next lap and led until lap 105, for a cycle of green flag pit stops. During these pit stops, the lead cycled through Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Kenseth before returning to Earnhardt Jr. on lap 114. On lap 116, the first caution came out for debris. Kenseth assumed the lead under caution, but Earnhardt Jr. got the lead back at the restart on lap 120. Over the next few laps, the lead would change between Martin, Kenseth, and Newman, before Earnhardt Jr. got a big lead on lap 131. He would lead the next 31 laps.

On lap 141, Newman got out of the race when his car had an engine failure, and was credited with a last place finish.

On lap 163, Dale Jarrett managed to take the lead away from Earnhardt Jr. For the next two laps, Earnhardt Jr. and Jarrett were racing almost side-by-side. A lap later, a very large crash on the back straightaway brought out the second caution. It started when Jimmie Johnson shuffled Kyle Petty out of line in turn 1. Coming on to the backstretch, Petty found a spot in line, but the whole field bunched up behind him, causing Mike Wallace to force Tony Stewart against the outside wall. A 24-car crash unfolded, one day after the largest recorded crash in NASCAR history (30 cars) occurred in exactly the same location in the Busch race. Collected alongside Wallace and Stewart were Steve Park, Rusty Wallace, Mike Skinner, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Casey Atwood, Bill Elliott, Johnny Benson, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Ricky Craven, Jimmy Spencer, John Andretti, Steve Grissom, Bobby Hamilton, Geoff Bodine, and Ricky Rudd. Sadler took the biggest hit in the wreck by slamming the corner of the inside wall on the right side, while Benson had to be pulled out of his car after it caught fire on pit road. However, all of the drivers involved escaped injury. It was the largest recorded Big One in Cup history until the following year's spring Talladega race. [5]

Earnhardt Jr. assumed the lead from Jarrett after pit stops under caution and led the last 23 laps to win. With ten laps to go, oil leaked from Stewart's car and Martin's wounded car stalled. The race was temporarily red-flagged to clean the track. With four laps left, the green flag waved. Earnhardt Jr. led the four lap shootout, managing to hold off Waltrip and beat his teammate to the line by 0.100 seconds.[6] Attendance figures were never recorded for this event. All of the drivers were born in the United States of America. This would primarily become the status quo of the Sprint Cup Series until the introduction of Juan Pablo Montoya at the 2006 Ford 400.[5]

Ryan Newman's last-place finish was the only DNF due to a problem other than crash damage.[5] Winnings for this race ranged from the winner's purse of $184,830 ($313,099.63 when adjusted for inflation) to the humble last-place winnings of $58,022 ($98,288.52 when adjusted for inflation).[7] Compared to the previous day's Busch race crash, in which only three cars had finished on the lead lap, 21 cars finished on the lead lap in the Cup race.

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Make Team Sponsor Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Budweiser 188 133 running 185 $184830
2 3 15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. NAPA Auto Parts 188 14 running 175 $131855
3 20 97 Kurt Busch Ford Roush Racing Rubbermaid 188 0 running 165 $120255
4 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports DuPont, Pepsi 188 0 running 160 $143003
5 33 40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing Coors Light 188 2 running 160 $127182
6 41 88 Dale Jarrett Ford Robert Yates Racing UPS 188 2 running 155 $113530
7 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's 188 8 running 151 $71780
8 13 2 Rusty Wallace Ford Penske Racing Miller Lite 188 0 running 142 $107480
9 25 99 Jeff Burton Ford Roush Racing Citgo Supergard 188 1 running 143 $106647
10 12 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises Sprint 188 0 running 134 $65130
11 22 23 Hut Stricklin Dodge Bill Davis Racing Hills Brothers Coffee 188 0 running 130 $63575
12 23 09 Geoffrey Bodine Ford Phoenix Racing Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 188 0 running 127 $59145
13 24 11 Brett Bodine Ford Brett Bodine Racing Hooters, Wells Fargo 188 0 running 124 $76865
14 38 28 Ricky Rudd Ford Robert Yates Racing Havoline 188 0 running 121 $101402
15 5 22 Ward Burton Dodge Bill Davis Racing Caterpillar 188 0 running 118 $102280
16 30 30 Jeff Green Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing America Online 188 0 running 115 $56115
17 32 41 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing Target 188 0 running 112 $72600
18 35 32 Ricky Craven Ford PPI Motorsports Tide 188 0 running 109 $67160
19 39 9 Bill Elliott Dodge Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dealers, UAW 188 0 running 106 $84826
20 11 5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports Kellogg's 188 0 running 103 $90143
21 27 98 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Michael Waltrip Racing Aaron's 188 0 running 100 $54570
22 43 55 Bobby Hamilton Chevrolet Andy Petree Racing Schneider Electric, Square D 187 0 running 97 $76150
23 42 4 Mike Skinner Chevrolet Morgan–McClure Motorsports Kodak 187 0 running 94 $65729
24 36 36 Ken Schrader Pontiac MB2 Motorsports M&M's Global Color Vote 186 0 running 91 $65010
25 34 44 Steve Grissom Dodge Petty Enterprises Georgia-Pacific 186 0 running 88 $53605
26 16 7 Casey Atwood Dodge Ultra-Evernham Motorsports Sirius Satellite Radio 186 0 running 85 $56525
27 6 14 Stacy Compton Pontiac A.J. Foyt Racing Conseco 184 0 running 82 $56270
28 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing GM Goodwrench Service 181 0 running 79 $98498
29 26 20 Tony Stewart Pontiac Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot 180 0 crash 76 $100138
30 37 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Racing DeWalt 180 18 running 78 $80905
31 21 77 Dave Blaney Ford Jasper Motorsports Jasper Engines & Transmissions 180 0 running 70 $63550
32 15 25 Jerry Nadeau Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports UAW-Delphi 179 0 running 67 $63300
33 2 31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing Cingular Wireless 176 0 running 64 $81631
34 9 1 Steve Park Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Pennzoil 174 0 running 61 $84710
35 29 26 Frank Kimmel Ford Haas-Carter Motorsports Advance Auto Parts 172 0 running 58 $79892
36 31 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dealers, UAW 167 2 crash 60 $62075
37 19 6 Mark Martin Ford Roush Racing Pfizer, Viagra 166 5 crash 57 $85258
38 28 43 John Andretti Dodge Petty Enterprises Cheerios 164 0 crash 49 $78133
39 7 10 Johnny Benson Jr. Pontiac MB2 Motorsports Valvoline 164 0 crash 46 $77615
40 40 21 Elliott Sadler Ford Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft 163 0 crash 43 $58615
41 17 18 Bobby Labonte Pontiac Joe Gibbs Racing Interstate Batteries 163 0 crash 40 $96188
42 18 33 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Andy Petree Racing Preen 162 0 crash 37 $50210
43 8 12 Ryan Newman Ford Penske Racing Alltel 141 3 engine 39 $58022
Failed to qualify
44 90 Rick Mast Ford Donlavey Racing Duke's Mayonnaise, Sauer's
45 49 Shawna Robinson Dodge BAM Racing BAM Racing
46 59 Bobby Gerhart Pontiac Gerhart Racing JamesAuto.com
47 91 Dick Trickle Dodge Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dealers

Race Facts

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  • Race Time: 3:08:41
  • Average Speed: 159.022 mph
  • Margin of Victory: 0.060 sec
  • Cautions: 3 for 19 laps
  • Lead changes: 26
  • Percent of race run under caution: 10.1%
  • Average green flag run: 42.2 laps

References

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  1. ^ Weather information for the 2002 Aaron's 499 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ "2002 Nascar Cup Series Aarons 499 | Motorsport Stats". results.motorsportstats.com. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  3. ^ "Aaron's 499: Qualifying results". Crash. 2002-04-20. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  4. ^ "rpm.espn.com: Johnson wins second career pole". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  5. ^ a b c 2002 Aaron's 499 racing information at Racing Reference
  6. ^ Race facts for the 2002 Aaron's 499 at NASCAR.com
  7. ^ NASCAR race results for the 2002's Aaron's 499 Archived 2013-01-07 at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
Previous race:
2002 Virginia 500
Winston Cup Series
2002 season
Next race:
2002 NAPA Auto Parts 500