Then it became a different discussion.”Īfter Castroneves qualified a disappointing 13 th, the 2002 Indy 500 seemed to be falling into place for teammate Gil de Ferran, who led 13 laps but suffered a loose wheel on his last pit stop and fell to the rear because of a hole in the underwing. It should have been left at that, but instead it kind of left the door open. He had fuel on his mind, so as soon as heard or saw yellow, he lifted. If he had it to do over again - these days he hears caution and doesn’t see anything, he’s not letting anybody by him after all that. I don’t have any question in my mind, even if the caution doesn’t come out. “I still feel the right guy won the race. Unless Helio has some indication of a caution, and he lifts. There’s no way Paul Tracy was going to pass Helio on the outside in Turn 3. “I guess I didn’t see it as a CART-IRL thing as much as what it was,” Cindric said. With 20 years of hindsight, Cindric said he views the finish outside the political prism. ![]() I think this just shows how deep the gap is between IRL and CART.” ![]() It’s sad for the sport and it’s sad for open-wheel racing. That’s frustrating for Barry, and I think it’s frustrating for a lot of the fans that it has come down to politics. Tracy was quoted in the 2021 book “Indy Split” as having said, “I feel that I won the race, but we weren’t able to win the political side of it. That ruling was protested and then appealed by Barry Green, Tracy’s team owner, who presented exhaustive statistical and video evidence to make his case. IRL officials led by Barnhart ruled that Castroneves was ahead when the yellow flew. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet had slowed as soon as the caution lights were illuminated, allowing Tracy to take the lead. Tracy passed Castroneves for the lead in Turn 3, but the caution also flew at virtually the same time for a crash between Buddy Lazier and Laurent Redon in Turn 2.Ĭastroneves and Team Penske claimed the driver of the No. Team Penske president Tim Cindric recently told that “absolutely, you could see the tide had shifted for sure,” which made it very awkward when the yellow flag flew on Lap 199 of 200 of the 86 th Indy 500.Ĭastroneves was in the lead but nursing his fuel tank to the finish and under serious threat from the CART-affiliated Team Green car of Paul Tracy. HELIO’S INDY 500 WINS, PART I: ‘I’ve never seen Roger so nervous’ He’s laid the groundwork and foundation for that.”ġ06th INDY 500: Start times, schedules, TV, stats, historical details about the race It’s kicked down a lot of doors and has teams saying, ‘If Roger Penske and Marlboro are buying into the IRL, it’s the right way to go.’ I think we’ll see a lot of other big teams coming to the IRL because of Roger in 2003. ![]() IRL vice president of operations Brian Barnhart said in 2002 that Penske’s move “legitimizes everything Tony George started with the IRL. By 2003, the dominoes quickly had fallen as Andretti Green Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Rahal followed suit. single-seater racing asunder.īut it also is possible to remember the race as affirming the oncoming exodus that effectively ended the open-wheel civil war.Ĭastroneves’ second Indy 500 victory came in the first season that team owner Roger Penske (and longtime sponsor Marlboro) became the first big name from Championship Auto Racing Teams to move full time into the Indy Racing League. INDIANAPOLIS – The 2002 Indy 500 forever will be associated with one of the biggest controversies in the CART-IRL Split that tore the major leagues of U.S. Part 2 is the controversial finish of the race, whose outcome fully was resolved five weeks after the checkered flag.) The series began with Roger Penske’s triumphant return to IMS and Castroneves bursting into the national consciousness for the first time on May 27, 2001. (Editor’s note: As Helio Castroneves attempts to make history May 29 as the first five-time Indy 500 winner, NBC Sports will review his four previous victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and examine how each race was a significant and unique milestone for both the driver, series or track - and sometimes for all three.
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