The 2002 EA Sports 500 was a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) event held at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6, 2002. Dale Earnhardt, Jr won his third straight Talladega race, leading the most laps and holding off Tony Stewart. A bizarre incident eliminated the top two in points Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson on the PRE-RACE laps, and now Stewart held the points lead for the first time all season. Stewart would never relinquish it. Stats