2002 Winchester 400
Encyclopedia
Winchester 400
The Winchester 400 is a 400-lap short-track stock car race held each fall at the Winchester Speedway, approximately east of Indianapolis, Indiana. Held annually since 1970, the race has served as a launching point for the careers of several young drivers including former winners Rusty Wallace and...
motor race (run yearly since 1970) was held under American Speed Association
American Speed Association
The American Speed Association is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana and currently is headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. ASA was most famous for a national touring series which began in 1973 but was...
sanction on October 6, 2002, at the Winchester Speedway
Winchester Speedway
Winchester Speedway is a half-mile paved oval motor racetrack in White River Township, Randolph County, just outside Winchester, Indiana, approximately northeast of Indianapolis. It seats 4000 spectators. It is also known as the "World's Fastest 1/2 mile"....
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
(USA).
In one of the more remarkable point's finishes in stock car racing history, Joey Clanton
Joey Clanton
Joseph Clanton is an American race car driver and businessman. He was the 2002 champion in the now-defunct American Speed Association stock car series. He is also the owner of two Zaxby's franchises.-Busch Series:...
of Stockbridge, GA, won the 2002 ASA National Champion by a single point over Gary St. Amant of Columbus, OH, despite St. Amant's victory in the 33rd Annual Winchester 400 at Winchester Speedway. Clanton entered the event requiring a finish of at least two positions within St. Amant to secure the title as he held an 11-point advantage to start the race. Ironically, the two drivers had won the two most recent Winchester 400 events, Clanton last year and St. Amant in 2000.
Pole-sitter David Stremme
David Stremme
David Andrew Stremme is an American stock car driver. He is most notable as the 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, winning the award while running a part time for several different teams. He currently drives the #30 Chevrolet Impala for Inception Motorsports.-Early life:Stremme was...
, the Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie of the Year, led at the start for 52 laps and later for a 91 lap stretch until mechanical problems slowed him to an eventual ninth place result. Front row starter Mike Garvey
Mike Garvey
Mike Garvey is a NASCAR Nextel Cup driver. He formerly drove the #51 Marthon Oil Chevy for Competitive Edge Motorsports in the Nextel Cup Series. He was a long-time competitor in the American Speed Association....
also held the point for two lengthy stretches totaling 134 laps until a long pit road stop cost him the lead and took him out of contention on lap 319.
Clanton led twice for only 18 laps but more importantly persevered through an apparent title killing accident. A collision with Garvey and Todd Kluever
Todd Kluever
Todd Alan Kluever is a NASCAR driver. He currently is a free agent.-Early career:Kluever began his career by racing motorcycles for over nine years before he moved into full-bodied stock cars at a local track. He raced stock cars in the summer and snowmobiles during the Wisconsin winters...
on lap 318 damaged Clanton's Campfire USA car as he suffered a broken quarter panel and a cut tire. A series of pit stops, including one for speeding on pit road dropped him from second position behind St. Amant to three laps down from the lead lap.
Clanton frantically drove through the field in an attempt to get to at least the third position by the race finish. With seven laps remaining he was running fourth in the field behind St. Amant, Rick Beebe and Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch, is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the No. 18 Z-Line Designs/NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs in the Nationwide Series, and the No...
. "Our team had an attitude of not giving up and with what happened today you can't say enough about them," said Clanton. "We knew where we had to be all day and mostly we were just riding."
Third-place runner rookie Kyle Busch lost control of his number 07 RoushRacing.com car after suffering a broken wheel on lap 393. It allowed Clanton to move into third place despite being four laps behind St. Amant. The race ended that way with Clanton maintaining a single point margin in the final championship standings and securing his first ASA National Championship. Veteran Rick Beebe finished runner-up, his best result of the 2002 season and was the only car besides St. Amant on the lead lap at the end. It was St. Amant's fourth win of 2002.
"I knew with about 20 (laps) to go that Joey was fourth and that was what it was going to take for us to win the championship," said St. Amant. "I had all the cars I needed right in front of me as the last 25 were pretty easy. When I came off turns 3 and 4 and I saw Kyle sitting there, I knew our title hopes were pretty dim. All I could do was win the race and ultimately that's why we were here. I can't imagine a more bittersweet day."
Table of results
| Results of the 33rd Annual Winchester 400 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Start | Driver/Hometown | Make | Laps | Status | |||
| 1 | 4 | Gary St. Amant / Columbus, OH | Chevrolet | 400 | running | |||
| 2 | 10 | Rick Beebe / Merriam, KS | Ford | 400 | running | |||
| 3 | 3 | Joey Clanton Joey Clanton Joseph Clanton is an American race car driver and businessman. He was the 2002 champion in the now-defunct American Speed Association stock car series. He is also the owner of two Zaxby's franchises.-Busch Series:... / Stockbridge, GA |
Chevrolet | 396 | running | |||
| 4 | 6 | Kyle Busch Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch, is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the No. 18 Z-Line Designs/NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs in the Nationwide Series, and the No... / Las Vegas, NV |
Ford | 393 | broken wheel | |||
| 5 | 15 | Kevin Cywinski Kevin Cywinski Kevin Cywinski, born March 16, 1965 in Mosinee, Wisconsin, is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in the Craftsman Truck Series full-time in 1998 and 1999, as well as some races in the Busch Series. After leaving NASCAR, he went back down to the short-track ranks. He won the ASA championship series... / Wausau, WI |
Chevrolet | 392 | running | |||
| 6 | 30 | Peter Cozzolino / Avon, IN | Chevrolet | 391 | running | |||
| 7 | 18 | Greg Stewart / Four Oaks, NC | Pontiac | 382 | running | |||
| 8 | 19 | Greg Williams / Haubstadt, IN | Chevrolet | 381 | running | |||
| 9 | 1 | David Stremme David Stremme David Andrew Stremme is an American stock car driver. He is most notable as the 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, winning the award while running a part time for several different teams. He currently drives the #30 Chevrolet Impala for Inception Motorsports.-Early life:Stremme was... / South Bend, IN |
Chevrolet | 378 | running | |||
| 10 | 31 | John Webb / Pauls Valley, OK | Pontiac | 372 | running | |||
| 11 | 23 | John Silverthorne / Dallas, TX | Chevrolet | 372 | running | |||
| 12 | 24 | Ed Brown / Leesburg, FL | Chevrolet | 369 | running | |||
| 13 | 27 | Tracy Gordon / Strong, ME | Pontiac | 365 | running | |||
| 14 | 22 | Chad Wood / Madison, WI | Chevrolet | 364 | running | |||
| 15 | 2 | Mike Garvey Mike Garvey Mike Garvey is a NASCAR Nextel Cup driver. He formerly drove the #51 Marthon Oil Chevy for Competitive Edge Motorsports in the Nextel Cup Series. He was a long-time competitor in the American Speed Association.... / Lakeville, MN |
Chevrolet | 362 | running | |||
| 16 | 17 | Jason Boyd / Orlando, FL | Chevrolet | 358 | running | |||
| 17 | 20 | Pat Kelly | Chevrolet | 336 | running | |||
| 18 | 11 | Butch Miller Butch Miller (racing driver) Butch Miller is a racecar driver. He drives the #07 Toyota Tundra part time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on a limited basis, and is also a crew chief for SS-Green Light Racing. He is a multiple champion in the now-defunct American Speed Association stock car series... / Coopersville, MI |
Chevrolet | 320 | radiator | |||
| 19 | 14 | Todd Kluever Todd Kluever Todd Alan Kluever is a NASCAR driver. He currently is a free agent.-Early career:Kluever began his career by racing motorcycles for over nine years before he moved into full-bodied stock cars at a local track. He raced stock cars in the summer and snowmobiles during the Wisconsin winters... / Sun Prairie, WI |
Chevrolet | 317 | accident | |||
| 20 | 28 | Mark Pluer / West Allis, WI | Chevrolet | 267 | handling | |||
| 21 | 5 | Robbie Pyle / Columbus, OH | Chevrolet | 227 | accident | |||
| 22 | 9 | J.C. Beattie Jr. / Baltimore, MD | Chevrolet | 227 | accident | |||
| 23 | 29 | Charlie Hanna / Goshen, IN | Pontiac | 223 | overheating | |||
| 24 | 16 | Doug Stevens / Lovejoy, GA | Chevrolet | 207 | accident | |||
| 25 | 26 | Tim Taylor / Indianapolis, IN | Chevrolet | 183 | accident | |||
| 26 | 12 | Russ Tuttle / Indianapolis, IN | Chevrolet | 176 | handling | |||
| 27 | 7 | Bryan Reffner Bryan Reffner Bryan Reffner is a veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He was also a champion in the American Speed Association.-Career prior to NASCAR:... / Rudolph, WI |
Chevrolet | 154 | clutch | |||
| 28 | 33 | Mark Cole / Evansville, IN | Pontiac | 98 | suspension | |||
| 29 | 21 | Chris Wimmer Chris Wimmer Chris Wimmer is an American driver. He has raced mostly in short track competition and as high as the NASCAR Busch Series . Wimmer is currently competing in the ASA Midwest Tour where he finished fourth in 2008.-Early career:Wimmer's career began in his youth, when he began working on his uncle,... / Wausaw, WI |
Chevrolet | 83 | clutch | |||
| 30 | 13 | Davin Scites / Wayne, WV | Chevrolet | 31 | accident | |||
| 31 | 32 | Rich Gardner / Marion, KY | Chevrolet | 4 | handling | |||
| 32 | 8 | Joel Kauffman Joel Kauffman Joel Kauffman , is a stock car racer. He was the driver of the #12 Supercuts Dodge Charger for FitzBradshaw Racing in the NASCAR Busch Series he was slated to run a full schedule, but after not performing in any starts for the team, he was released.Kauffman began his racing career at the age of ten... / LaGrange, IN |
Chevrolet | 2 | accident | |||
| 33 | 25 | Dave Sensiba/ Midland, MI | Ford | 2 | accident | |||
Race statistics
- Average Speed: 70.28 mi/h
- Margin of Victory: 4.937 seconds
- Time of Race: Two hours, 50 minutes and 44.715 seconds
- Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers
- Lap Leaders: David Stremme 1-52; Mike Garvey 53-110; Joey Clanton 111-119; Stremme 120-211; Gary St. Amant 212-229; Clanton 230-241; Garvey 242-319; St. Amant 320-400.
- Cautions: 12 for 80 laps
- Entries: N/A Qualifiers: N/A