The 2002 Daytona 500 was a Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup) event held at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2002. It was the season opener. Leader Jeff Gordon ducked low with a few laps to go to block Sterling Marlin. Marlin's car hit Gordon's, sending Gordon spinning out of contention. Marlin, then on the red flag for the incident, got out of his car to examine the damage on his fender. Marlin proceeded to pull the fender out, which NASCAR ruled violated the rules of the red flag. Marlin went to the back on the final restart, giving Ward Burton the improbable victory. Stats