Tony Stewart, representing the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, captured his second career IROC victory in the traditional opener at Daytona International Speedway in February. Stewart's margin of victory over reigning IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. was a mere .111 seconds. Finishing third was IRL driver Scott Sharp, fourth was NASCAR truck champion Jack Sprague and rounding out the top five was Al Unser Jr. of the IRL, giving the IRL three of the top five positions. After a four-year absence the series returned to California Speedway in Fontana where Kevin Harvick turned out a dominant performance leading 46 of the 50-lap event to claim the victory in only his second IROC race. Race three brought the series to its first appearance at Chicagoland Speedway. Buddy Lazier led a 1-2-3 sweep for the IRL with drivers Unser and Helio Castroneves finishing second and third respectively. It was Lazier's first victory in the series and the first time a driver led every lap of a IROC race since Mark Martin accomplished the feat at Charlotte in 1996. When the series left Chicago, Harvick had the points lead, but 10 of the 12 drivers were still in contention for the championship when the series arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the final event of the season. NASCAR Winston Cup driver, Ken Schrader, substituting for the injured Danny Lasoski, started on the pole. Dale Jarrett, starting second, jumped into the lead on the first lap and never looked back, wining his second career IROC race. Castroneves finished second, followed by Schrader, Lazier, and Harvick. Harvick's fifth place finish awarded him the 2002 IROC championship. He became the sixth rookie driver to win the championship and the first to claim the title representing the Busch Series. The other rookie champions were: Mark Donohue (1974), Harry Gant (1985), Al Unser Jr. (1986), Geoff Bodine (1987) and Ricky Rudd (1992). (from IROC Website)

Final Points
IROC 26 Champion Kevin Harvick
Position	Driver/Residence/Sanction	Points	Money Earned
1	Kevin Harvick - NASCAR Busch Series	54	$250,000
2	Buddy Lazier - IRL	49	$125,000
3	Dale Jarrett - NASCAR Winston Cup	49	$  95,000
4	Helio Castroneves - Indy Racing League	43	$ 90,000
5	Bobby Labonte - NASCAR Winston Cup	43	$  85,000
6	Tony Stewart - NASCAR Winston Cup	42	$  80,000
7	Al Unser Jr. - IRL	39	$  80,000
8	Jack Sprague - NASCAR Truck Series	36	$  80,000
9	Scott Sharp - IRL	36	$  80,000
10	Sterling Marlin - NASCAR Winston Cup	35	$  80,000
11	Sam Hornish Jr. - IRL	35	$  80,000
12	Danny Lasoski - World of Outlaws	30	$ 80,000