Official name MBNA Platinum 400 | ||
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Date June 2, 2002 (2002-June-02) Location Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 mi (1.609 km) Distance 400 laps, 400.0 mi (804.6 km) Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 19 miles per hour (31 km/h) | ||
The 2002 MBNA Platinum 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on June 2, 2002, at Dover International Speedway in the American community of Dover, Delaware.
Contents
Tony Raines would start his NASCAR Cup Series career during this event while Dick Trickle and Chad Little would end theirs after this race.
Summary
There were 43 drivers on the starting grid; all of them were born in the United States of America. Derrike Cope, Hermie Sadler, and Randy Renfrow failed to qualify for this race. Joe Nemechek was credited as the last-place finisher due to a crash on lap 42. This racing event lasted for 400 laps and Jimmie Johnson defeated Bill Elliott by almost half a second. Matt Kenseth would clinch his first ever pole position start by driving up to 154.939 miles per hour (249.350 km/h) during his solo qualifying run.
The race itself would last approximately three hours and twenty-four minutes; the green flag was officially waved at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Saving Time while the checkered flag came at approximately 4:24 PM EDT. Jimmie Johnson's average speed during his winning run was 117.551 miles per hour (189.180 km/h). Any yellow flags in this race were caused by accidents, debris, and an oil spill on lap 373. About 40 laps of this race were done under caution with each green flag session lasting an average of 45 laps. Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, John Andretti, and Mark Martin would jointly lead the first 100 laps while the last 100 laps saw the first-place position of the race split between Ricky Rudd and eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson. Sterling Marlin kept his championship lead after this racing event.
Winnings for this racing event varied from $56,712 ($75,514.57 when adjusted for inflation) to $152,400 ($202,927.44 when adjusted for inflation). The overall racing purse for this event added up to $3,450,082 ($4,593,938.97 when adjusted for inflation).