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The Barber Dodge Pro Series, in its seventeenth season, is the entry-level pro racing series for the CART FedEx Championship.
The series includes an impressive list of alumni such as Kenny Brack, Juan Montoya, Bryan Herta and the most recent
addition to the CART championship, Townsend Bell.
All drivers compete in a Reynard 98E. The Reynard chassis is a carbon fiber/ aluminum honeycomb monocoque that exceeds FIA driver protection standards. The car uses a pushrod suspension with coil-over shock absorbers and has a cockpit adjustable front and rear sway-bars. The cockpit also has an adjustable brake bias for the Alcon four-piston calipers and vented steel rotors. The Reynard uses a Dodge aluminum SOHC 3.5-liter V6 engine, producing 265-horsepower at 6300-rpm. The power is transferred to a six-speed sequential Hewland transmission. The entire package weighs 1400-pounds. There were ten rounds during the 2002 season, with each race being forty minutes in length.
Round one of the 2002 Barber Dodge Pro Series was held at Sebring International Raceway during the 12-Hours of Sebring race weekend. Drivers would compete in a forty-minute contest around the seventeen-turn 3.74-mile road course.
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Twenty-three starters take the green flag for round one of the 2002 Barber Dodge Pro Series at Sebring International Raceway. On the pole in the No. 29 Karen’s Kid Reynard 98E of A.J. Allmendinger. On the outside of Allmendinger is the third-place qualifier, Davy Jones, driving the No. 16 MLP Productions sponsored Reynard 98E. Immediately behind the leaders are Nilton Rossoni and Memo Rojas. |
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The fastest qualifier was A.J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger was the runner-up to Julio Campos in last season’s Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship. Last December, he competed for Team USA in the New Zealand Formula Ford series. At the start of the contest, Allmendinger battled with Davy Cook and didn’t get the ‘upper hand’ until lap-9 of 19. After the final pass, he claimed the win. |
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Finishing 2.984-seconds behind A.J. Allmendinger in round one of the series was Davy Cook. Cook was a close second to Rafael Sperafico in last year’s Barber-CART Rookie of the Year championship. This season, he is driving the No. 16 HMS Motorsports Reynard 98E. Cook started in the third position but led laps one and four to eight. However, he could not maintain the pace of the winner, Allmendinger. |
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Last year’s Skip Barber Formula Dodge National champion was Julio Campos. 2001 was his first year driving a race car. This season, Campos piloted the No. 21 Reynard 98E with support from Michelin Tires. After two rounds of qualifying, he was fifth fastest. However, Campos made a terrific start and moved into third place on the opening lap. On the tenth circuit, he spun but charged back to a third-place finish. |
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Nilton Rossoni drove the No. 36 Reynard 98E. Rossoni won the championship in 2000 but returned to the series after competing in just one Firestone / Dayton Indy Lights last year. He had an impressive record in the Barber Dodge Pro Series and with two victories in 2002, Rossoni would become the all-time wins leader. As Sebring, he started the forty-minute contest on the outside of the front row and finished fourth. |
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Christian Szymczak returned for his second year of the Barber Dodge Pro Series, campaigning the No. 34 White Eagle Racing Reynard 98E. Szymczak had karting and Skip Barber Race Series experience. In 2001, he finished fifth in the rookie standings and eleventh in the championship. His best result was a runner-up finish at Chicago. Szymczak opened the season a Sebring International Raceway by qualifying ninth and finishing fifth. |
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| FINISH | START | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A.J. Allmendinger | Karen's Kid / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 2 | 3 | Davy Cook | MRW/Pits 39/MLP Productions / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 3 | 5 | Julio Campos | 01 FD National Champion / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 4 | 2 | Nilton Rossoni | Foster / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 5 | 9 | Christian Szymczak | White Eagle Racing / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 6 | 7 | Leonardo Maia | Quaker State / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 7 | 13 | Josh Beaulieu | Maraska / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 8 | 11 | Hannu Wiinikainen | Visit Finland / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 9 | 4 | Marc Breuers | Sunoco / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 10 | 15 | Tom Fogarty | HMS Motorsports / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 11 | 16 | Chris Baker | RAB Racing / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 12 | 14 | Javier Gonzalez | JB Racing / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 13 | 19 | Aurelio Lopez, Jr. | Telmex / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 14 | 6 | Memo Rojas | Telmex / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 15 | 17 | Piero Rodarte | Telmex / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 16 | 20 | John Hall | World Gym / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 17 | 8 | Dan Di Leo | Select Auto / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 18 | 23 | Mike Richardson | Prestige Inn Resorts / Reynard 98E | 19 | |
| 19 | 21 | Roland Isra | Carriage Hill Health Care / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 20 | 18 | German Quiroga | Offic / Reynard 98E | 18 | - |
| 21 | 22 | Charlie Pareja | Ericsson / Reynard 98E | 17 | - |
| 22 | 12 | Rafael Sperafico | 01 Rookie of the Year / Reynard 98E | 15 | - |
| 23 | 10 | Carlos Lievano | Caracol TV / Reynard 98E | 9 | Off Course |
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