Contested over 250 laps on the 2-mile (3.23 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the tenth race of the 2002 Winston Cup Series season.

Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his first career Winston Cup Series victory.

The track, California Speedway, was a four-turn superspeedway that was 2 miles (3.2 km) long.

[4] Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a concussion when Kevin Harvick slowed on the track and veered into Earnhardt Jr.'s path, causing Jr. to hit the outside retaining wall parallel on the driver's side (this was before SAFER barriers were installed).

The impact bent the dashboard of Jr.'s car and severely disoriented him; this ultimately forced NASCAR to pass a regulation forcing drivers to take the ambulance ride to the infield care center every time they crashed (he did not admit to have this injury until mid-September, after which NASCAR also passed a new concussion protocol).