IROC XXVI

Kevin Harvick (seen in 2007), the IROC XXVI champion

IROC XXVI was the 26th season of the True Value International Race of Champions, which began on Friday, February 15, 2002 at Daytona International Speedway. The roster included 12 drivers from five separate racing leagues. The first race saw Tony Stewart earn his second IROC win. Rookie Kevin Harvick won in only his second start in race 2 at California. In the first ever IROC race at Chicagoland, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser Jr., and Hélio Castroneves gave the IRL a sweep of the top three positions in the race. In race 4 at Indianapolis, Dale Jarrett took the lead in turn one of the first lap and led the entire race for his second career IROC victory. Kevin Harvick became just the sixth driver to win the IROC title in his first season of competition, and also became the first driver to win the title while representing the NASCAR Busch Series.

The roster of drivers and final points standings were as follows: [1][2]

Position Driver Points Series
1 United States Kevin Harvick 54 NASCAR Winston Cup
2 United States Buddy Lazier 49 Indy Racing League
3 United States Dale Jarrett 49 NASCAR Winston Cup
4 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 43 Indy Racing League
5 United States Bobby Labonte 43 NASCAR Winston Cup
6 United States Tony Stewart 42 NASCAR Winston Cup
7 United States Al Unser Jr. 39 Indy Racing League
8 United States Jack Sprague 36 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
9 United States Scott Sharp 36 Indy Racing League
10 United States Sterling Marlin 35 NASCAR Winston Cup
11 United States Sam Hornish Jr. 35 Indy Racing League
12 United States Danny Lasoski 30 World of Outlaws
  1. ^ IROC season statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved March 9, 2007
  2. ^ "IROC - History: 2002". Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2007-12-22.