2002 Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen
The 2002 Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen was the 22nd stock car race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 11, 2002, at the shortened layout of Watkins Glen International, a 2.454 miles (3.949 km) permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 90 laps to complete. At race's end, Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would hold off the field on a restart with one to go to win his 15th career NASCAR Winston  Cup Series win and his second and final win of the season. To fill out the podium, Ryan Newman of Penske Racing and Robby Gordon of Richard Childress Racing would finish second and third, respectively. Background. Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980), but the site has been home to road racing of nearly every class, including  the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the IndyCar Series. Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973  United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event. The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation. Practice. First practice. The first practice session was held on Friday, August 9, at 11:20 AM EST, and would last for 2 hours. Scott Pruett of Chip Ganassi Racing would set the fastest  time in the session, with a lap of 1:11.661 and an average speed of . Second practice. The second practice session was held on Saturday, August 10, at 9:30 AM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:12.600 and an average speed of . Third and final practice. The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, August 10, at 11:15 AM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing would set the  fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:12.753 and an average speed of . Qualifying. Qualifying was held on Friday, August 9, at 3:05 PM EST. Drivers would each have one lap to set a lap time. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will  be awarded a provisional. Ricky Rudd of Robert Yates Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 1:11.885 and an average speed of . Four drivers would fail to qualify: Austin Cameron, Shane Lewis, Justin Bell, and Jimmy Spencer.