The 2002 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

[4] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Dodge was leading with 36 points, five ahead of their rivals Ford in second position.

Rain continued on the second day, which forced most teams to leave without completing any testing, but drivers such as Mike Skinner were able to get limited running in their cars.

[7] Drivers who violated this rule could have potentially received a stop-and-go penalty or rejoin at the rear of the nearest longest line.

[1] In the first practice session, Jeff Gordon was fastest, placing ahead of Jerry Nadeau in second and Skinner in third.

Marlin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Green, Bobby Hamilton, and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session.

Kenseth, Nadeau, Newman, Waltrip, and Sadler completed the top ten starting positions.

[11] During qualifying, Joe Nemechek spun during his attempt, though he managed to continue, and Jeff Burton's lap was delayed because of problems with his car's suspension.

Country music singer and Epic Records artist Tammy Cochran performed the national anthem, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Food City Steven C. Smith gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

Park made contact with the rear of Jones on lap four, causing him to hit the wall at turn one and the first caution of the race was given.

Stewart bumped Waltrip who went into the backstretch wall during lap eleven, causing the latter to drop to 30th position.

[8] By the 26th lap, Jeff Gordon had caught traffic which allowed Spencer to close the gap, and attempted to pass him at turn two but was unable to complete it due to the presence of Brett Bodine.

Andretti subsequently made contact with the wall, and sustained damage to the front of his car but was able to continue.