"I acknowledged there was a crash behind us but we're coming to the finish of this thing. "I finally got the run I needed and I made the pass around the outside," Tracy said. Both were charging for the lead when a crash occurred in Turn 2 between rookie Laurent Redon and Buddy Lazier. In Turn 3 on the 199th lap of the race, Tracy was in second place, alongside leader Castroneves. "The only reason he passed me was because the yellow came out and I lifted off (the accelerator)." "I don't understand why they're saying (Tracy) passed me," Castroneves said. IndyStar reached out to Castroneves and his then-team owner Roger Penske for comment, but did not receive a response.īeyond saying he didn't feel sorry for Tracy in 2002, Castroneves said there was no question he had won the race. "At that point in our careers together we had had a couple of run-ins with each other in 20," Tracy said. Tracy and Castroneves had bad blood between them in 2002, Tracy said. "I cannot feel sorry for Paul Tracy," Castroneves said that night, smiling.īut Barnhart's decision wouldn't be the end to one of the most controversial finishes in the history of the Indy 500.
"We got robbed," a livid Tracy told reporters. And, Barnhart said, that was Castroneves. The driver in the lead when the yellow flag came out was the winner of the race. The caution had been issued before Tracy passed Castroneves, he said. It was nearly 8 p.m. when Barnhart appeared before media to issue his ruling. He had found no evidence to overturn his original decision: Castroneves was the 2002 Indy 500 winner, the first back-to-back winner in 31 years. He won the 2002 Indianapolis 500 and he will never diverge from that.Įven if the trophy from that race sits inside Castroneves' home. Twenty years later, Tracy said he doesn't care what the history books say. Six hours would pass after the race before an official winner of the 2002 Indy 500 would be revealed. Tapes needed to be reviewed, rulebooks pored over.
He would soon find out that, in a split-second decision by Indy Racing League officials after the race, Castroneves had been declared the victor.īut it wasn't official. Castroneves is climbing up the fence" to victory. "Where do I go to the winners' circle?" Tracy radioed in as he drove to victory (he thought) in 2002. Confusion about whether Tracy passed Castroneves before the caution light came on after a crash in Turn 2. "And then all of a sudden, there is this confusion."Ĭonfusion about a yellow flag thrown on Lap 199 of the race. I'm screaming in joy," Tracy said this month. He hasn't forgotten what it felt like to win the 2002 Indianapolis 500, crossing the finish line first. The pass Tracy made to take the lead over Helio Castroneves on the 199th lap. INDIANAPOLIS - Paul Tracy can replay every tiny detail, minute by minute, second by second, of the finish to that race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. View Gallery: Indy 500: Top photos from the Indianapolis 500 through the years
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