2002 UAW-GM Quality 500

Last updated

2002 UAW-GM Quality 500
Race details
Race 31 of 36 in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Lowe's Motor Speedway.svg
Layout of Lowe's Motor Speedway
Date October 13, 2002 (2002-10-13)
Location Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.02 km (1.5 miles)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures approaching 69.8 °F (21.0 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) [1]
Average speed 141.481
Attendance 100,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time N/A
Most laps led
Driver Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps 96
Winner
No. 40 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach Jr. [3]

The 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 13. Qualifying was canceled because of rain showers, so points leader Tony Stewart started on the pole position. Jamie McMurray, subbing for an injured Sterling Marlin, won his first race in his second career start, setting a then new modern era NASCAR record for quickest win. The race would also be the final race for Donlavey Racing.

Contents

Rain caused the start of the race to be delayed over 3 hours. After the rain stopped, NASCAR decided to start the race under yellow for the first 5 laps as the track continued to dry. The race began at 3:45 pm Charlotte time (Eastern). Sunset time was 6:51 pm, the race was completed at 7:17, The late finish contributed to a large jump in ratings for the NBC telecast. NASCAR decided to move the fall race at Charlotte from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night for 2003.

McMurray would go on to a modest career in NASCAR's Cup Series, with his 2010 season being the most notable, winning Daytona and Indianapolis.

Background

The race was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Lowe's Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval track that hosted two other NASCAR Winston Cup Series races during the 2002 season, the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 and The Winston. Construction of the speedway began in 1959 and finished in 1960 before the inaugural 600-mile race. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner were the architects of the track, which is now operated by Smith's company, Speedway Motorsports.

Race results

PosGridCarDriverTeamMake
1540 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
21818 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac
3120 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac
4824 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
562 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford
6348 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
71499 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford
8412 Ryan Newman Penske RacingFord
9138 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet
102177 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford
111515 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet
121197 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford
133944 Jerry Nadeau Petty Enterprises Dodge
141288 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford
15341 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet
1626 Mark Martin Roush RacingFord
173714 Mike Wallace A. J. Foyt Racing Pontiac
182610 Johnny Benson MBV Motorsports Pontiac
192821 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford
202245 Kyle Petty Petty EnterprisesDodge
21245 Terry Labonte Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
222029 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress RacingChevrolet
233043 John Andretti Petty EnterprisesDodge
24364 Mike Skinner Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet
253123 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge
264011 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford
272955 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet
282519 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge
291730 Jeff Green Richard Childress RacingChevrolet
30387 Casey Atwood Ultra Motorsports Dodge
313236 Ken Schrader MB2 Motorsports Pontiac
322341 Jimmy Spencer Chip Ganassi RacingPontiac
332722 Ward Burton Bill Davis RacingDodge
34717 Matt Kenseth Roush RacingFord
3599 Bill Elliott Evernham MotorsportsDodge
361632 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford
373326 Todd Bodine Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford
381931 Robby Gordon Richard Childress RacingChevrolet
391028 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates RacingFord
403525 Joe Nemechek Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
414302 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Chevrolet
424249 Stacy Compton BAM Racing Dodge
434190 Jason Hedlesky Donlavey Racing Ford
Source: [4]

Failed to qualify: Carl Long (#59), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Scott Wimmer (#27), Jack Sprague (#60), Kerry Earnhardt (#83), Ron Hornaday Jr. (#54)

References

  1. Weather information for the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 at the Old Farmer's Almanac
  2. "2002 UAW-GM Quality 500". Racing Reference. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  3. "The Race: UAW-GM Quality 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  4. "Official Race Results: UAW-GM Quality 500". NASCAR. Archived from the original on February 15, 2004.
Previous race:
2002 EA Sports 500
Winston Cup Series
2002 season
Next race:
2002 Old Dominion 500
Preceded by
2001
National 500 races
2002
Succeeded by
2003