Bräck reclaimed the lead for the lap-163 restart, but lost it six laps later when a crew member dropped a wheel nut, which cost him time.

Franchitti took the lead and held it for the remainder of the event to achieve his third victory of the season, his first on an oval track, and the tenth of his CART career.

Toyota extended their advantage over Honda in the Manufacturers' Championship while Ford Cosworth remained in third, with four races left in the season.

It was the final United Kingdom CART race to be held at Rockingham Motor Speedway as it moved to Brands Hatch, Kent in 2003.

[1] It was the 15th of 19 scheduled races by CART, and was held on 14 September at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, Northamptonshire, England.

[6] Following the cancellation of the German 500 at EuroSpeedway Lausitz due to financial difficulties, it was announced that the race at Rockingham was going ahead as scheduled.

David Grace, the track's chief executive, invited German CART fans to attend the Rockingham 500.

[7] Franchitti, considered by the media to be the pre-race favourite, said a victory at Rockingham would be the highlight of his season and that he wanted to entertain the spectators.

Da Matta said his team had made a large number of adjustments to his car's setup on ovals and hoped his vehicle would be better than it was in Motegi.

Rockingham Motor Speedway's facilities underwent improvements which included the addition of access roads and signage for visiting spectators.

The fifth caution was for Shinji Nakano who stopped at the bottom of turns three and four with smoke bellowing from his engine and dropped oil on the track that was cleaned.

[11] Friday afternoon's 90-minute qualifying session permitted one car on the track in reverse order of the fastest combined practice laps.

[17] Adrián Fernández was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten; his best lap time was more than two-tenths of a second slower than Bräck.

[22] His engine's telemetry stopped working indicating a crank sensor failure, possibly caused by his gearbox problem.

[22] Fittipaldi's car problem re-emerged on the 44th lap despite having his vehicle's coils and springs changed; he drove to the pit lane to retire because his team's mechanics could not rectify the issue.

[22][29] It was part of Franchitti's strategy, devised by his team manager Kyle Moyer, to drive in clean air.

He served two stop-and-go penalties because he was twice observed exceeding the pit lane speed limit, while Domínguez was similarly penalised.

[31] The fourth caution was necessitated on the 155th lap when Manning's right-hand rear wing endplate detached and landed on the track between the first and second turns.

The left side of Kanaan's car collided heavily with the wall on the backstraight six laps later, triggering the fifth (and final) caution.

[29] Da Matta's team were slow to fit his right-rear tyre preventing him from taking the first position and he emerged in second.

[22] Carpentier attempted to pressure da Matta towards the end but found it difficult to overtake and he did not want to be aggressive by going off the racing line.

[33] Franchitti maintained the lead for the remainder of the race and crossed the start-finish line after 211 laps to take his third victory of the season, his first win on an oval track in CART, and the tenth of his career.

[31] Da Matta stated that he was worried about his advantage in the points standings and felt he had the car to win the event.

[35] Franchitti's race engineer Allen McDonald praised his driver, saying his first victory on an oval track was one that he would remember and that it was an "unbelievable day".

[31] Bräck stated that he lost the chance of victory when a crew member dropped a wheel nut on his final pit stop, saying: "There is something hanging over us.

[32] John Lopes, the CART Vice President of Racing Operations, later stated that the series would investigate the rules regarding pit lane speeding penalties but affirmed that no action could be taken until after the season's end.

[36] Rick Broadbent, writing in The Times, said that due to his victory, Franchitti should have become "a household name" and felt that his future career prospects would be unhindered.

"[37] The Stamford Mercury & Citizen said the sound of the cars at the circuit was "one of those sporting moments which stand up the hairs on the back of your head.

[40] Highlights of the event were shown the day after in the United Kingdom on the BBC Two sports programme Sunday Grandstand with commentary provided by former racing drivers Johnny Herbert and Charlie Cox.

[38] The event was the last to be held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway as it was announced in December 2002 that the United Kingdom race would be moved to Brands Hatch, Kent.