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The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 Indy Racing League season. Rookie Tomas Scheckter led 85 laps, and appeared on his way to a possible victory, which would have marked the third consecutive Indy win for a first-year driver. However, Scheckter crashed while leading with only 27 laps to go. Hélio Castroneves, who also won the 2001 running became the fifth driver in Indy 500 history to win back-to-back races. It is largely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history. On the 199th lap, second place Paul Tracy attempted to pass Hélio Castroneves for the lead in the third turn. At the same time, a crash occurred on another part of the track, bringing out the caution flag. Indy Racing League officials ruled that the yellow came out before Tracy completed the pass, and Castroneves was declared the victor. After an official protest was filed, and after an appeals hearing,〔 Castroneves' victory was upheld on July 2, 2002. About 7.46 inches of rain fell during the month of May, considerably interrupting the on-track activities. The second day of time trials was completely washed out, while Bump Day was cut short due to rain. Likewise, six of the ten practice days were either delayed by moisture or halted due to rain showers. Uncomfortably cold temperatures also were observed during most of the month. Private testing and rookie orientation in April was also hampered several times due to rain and cold temperatures. Race day, however, was sunny, warm, and clear. ==Background== During the off-season, several CART teams again committed to entries in the IRL-sanctioned Indy 500 for 2002. Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Team Green all announced they would return from 2001. Rahal Letterman Racing also announced they would join the CART teams and cross party lines to race at Indy. Due to the MSA, Team Green announced that they would not have primary sponsor KOOL, but their cars would carry the colors of associate sponsor 7-Eleven. Robby Gordon announced on March 28 that he would attempt "double duty" for 2002 by racing in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Tony Stewart, who attempted the feat in 1999 and 2001, announced he would not do so for 2002. John Andretti, who did so in 1994, also announced he would not attempt the double. During the spring, the asphalt pavement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway underwent a diamond grinding in an effort to smooth out several bumps. In April, the new SAFER barrier was retrofitted to the retaining walls in the turns at the Speedway. It marked the first installation of the revolutionary-new energy-absorbing technology at an American superspeedway.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2002 Indianapolis 500」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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