The 2002 Sharpie 500 was the 24th stock car race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event.

At race's end, Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would complete a bump-and-run with less than three to go on eventual second-place finisher, Penske Racing driver Rusty Wallace, to win his 59th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his first of the season.

Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

[3] Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.420 and an average speed of 124.436 miles per hour (200.260 km/h).

[4] The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, August 23, at 6:15 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes.

[3] Ryan Newman of Penske Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.790 and an average speed of 121.520 miles per hour (195.567 km/h).

[6] Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would win the pole, setting a time of 15.470 and an average speed of 124.034 miles per hour (199.613 km/h).

[7] Four drivers would fail to qualify: Hermie Sadler, Carl Long, Morgan Shepherd, and Tim Sauter.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the first lap of the race from pole sitter Jeff Gordon.

The first caution flew on lap 5 when Todd Bodine, Steve Park, and Lance Hooper crashed on the backstretch.

On lap 68, the 5th caution flew when Elliott Sadler crashed on the backstretch after contact with Joe Nemechek.

The 7th caution flew on lap 168 when multiple cars like Scott Wimmer, Terry Labonte, and Derrike Cope cut tires after running over debris.

The wreck also collected Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Jerry Nadeau, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, and Kurt Busch.

On lap 347, the 12th caution flew when Hut Stricklin crashed in turn 3 after contact by Jeremy Mayfield.

On lap 370, the 13th caution flew when Casey Atwood and Dave Blaney crashed in turn 2.

As soon as they took the green flag, Gordon continued to run all over the bumper of Johnson and ended up turning him around collecting Mark Martin as well as John Andretti who spun late bringing out the 14th caution of the race.

About 3 laps after the wreck, Johnson went to Gordon's car, gave him the finger, and walked to the ambulance.

Eventually, NASCAR said that Gordon must come down pit road and serve a 2 lap penalty.

They put up a temper statline on TV that said "Mouthing Off – 2, Finger Pointing – 3, Car Bumping – 5, Heel Pads Thrown – 2, Ambulance Abuse – 1.

With 22 laps to go, Rusty Wallace passed Matt Kenseth for second and began to close in on Kevin Harvick.