2002 Aaron's 499

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.
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)
Average speed	159.022 miles per hour (255.921 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	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

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.

Entry list

#	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

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

Pos.	#	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

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.

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. 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.

Ryan Newman's last-place finish was the only DNF due to a problem other than crash damage. 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). 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

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

• 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