On the next-to-last lap of the 2002 Indianapolis 500, Paul Tracy attempted to pass Helio Castroneves for the lead in the third turn. At the same time, a crash behind them brought out the caution, freezing the field. The race’s chief steward, Brian Barnhart, denied the pass, leaving Castroneves as a winner of his second consecutive 500.

Tracy’s team, owned by Barry Green, protested Barnhart’s decision and, after an appeals hearing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway headquarters, Castroneves’ victory was upheld July 2.

Seven years have passed, but the scars remain. Tracy is participating in the 500 for the first time since — a “victory tour,” as some are calling it — but Castroneves is steadfast in his belief that he won the race. Tracy still believes he won.

The drivers reflect on the moment that will forever link them:

As told to Curt Cavin

When they told me to go full rich with the fuel, (Felipe) Giaffone was in front of me and everything was kind of spread out, with Helio in front by about a half a straightaway.

If you go back and listen to the broadcast, with five to go Barry (Green) radioed me and said (to go) full rich. I said, “I don’t have anything. I couldn’t get any closer.” Everything was strung out and, until things got back together with Dario (Franchitti) coming out of the pits and slowing Helio up almost as a pick, that’s when it became an accordion.

Giaffone understeered in turn three and made a slight bobble, and then he went to the inside and I went around him on the outside. At that point, Dario came down the front straightaway and peeled off. That’s what set up the last three laps of the race. Right then, I knew I had a shot at him. The whole complexion changed in a lap.

I had a whole lap chasing him down. (On the 199th lap) I was on him in turn one, backed up as much as possible to get a run off of turn two. If you look at the tape, I sucked up on him in (turns) one and two. He saw me coming and started looking in his mirrors and blocking. He ultimately decided to protect the inside, and that’s when I went to the outside. He likes to block.

When I went into turn four, I saw the yellow light; that’s when my dash light came on. I was just entering turn four.

I could only give my account of what happened. The postrace appeal was handled by Barry and a team of lawyers that compiled the video evidence and track data from the league. They were very forthcoming and gave it to us, and they weren’t trying to hide anything. They gave us the timing line information. We had a video expert that handled sifting through all the cameras. That was Terry Lingner, who’s now doing the Versus telecast. You can ask him who won the 500. He’s the one who’s seen all the camera angles.

We compiled all that information, presented videos, presented graphs, presented timelines, presented testimony to a wide-eyed, three-man arbitration panel. They took in that information, and Team Penske really didn’t say too much. Helio didn’t say too much.

Penske’s presentation didn’t have anything about why Helio was ahead of me. There was nothing about the yellow light being on. They were standing on the fact it was a judgment call by the chief steward. They had no evidence to show they were ahead. They didn’t have anything like that. No video evidence, no pictures, no timelines.

The panel left for a month and came back with a decision that our appeal wasn’t appeal-able. They stuck with the decision that Brian (Barnhart) made — a gut decision made in the heat of battle, like an umpire calls a strike or not, and once that decision is made, you can’t go back on it. And that was the end of it.

They could have told us five hours after the race that we couldn’t appeal instead of letting us go through all of that.

There’s a thing in Racer magazine this month where Barry (Green) says the only regret after getting out of racing was that he didn’t take it all the way to federal court. There was just no doubt about it; I won the race.

As told to Curt Cavin

It was very exciting in the beginning of the race because we were having a lot of issues. The engine was stalling coming to the pits, the car was handling very bad. I was about to go a lap down. But the good point was, my team never let it go, never stopped believing. We knew we were going to get a break.

Finally, with 30 laps to go, or something like that, we got our chance not to pit, stay out. I remember (the crew) asked me what I wanted to do. I said, “If there is a place to take a chance, this is the place,” and surely we did.

We took the lead, started saving fuel. I used Kenny Brack and Dario (Franchitti) to save fuel, just staying behind them. Dario noticed that and didn’t know what to do, so I had to pass him.

I heard (then-crew chief Tim) Cindric say, “(Paul) Tracy’s in third and just passed for second.” I was saving a lot of fuel. I was going half-throttle. About four laps to go he said, “You gotta go, you gotta go.” I went to (more) fuel and Tracy started coming, and we were flat out all the way around.

Three laps to go I was flat out, so I knew what the car could do. Remember, getting the draft wasn’t as good as it is now, so it wasn’t like he was going to suck up and pass. It took a little time.

(On the 199th lap) I was managing the whole situation and as we were approaching turn three I could see that he was approaching alongside, but I was in full control of the situation.

They screamed, “Yellow,” and then the yellow came on, and I backed off. He kept going, and I started yelling, “He passed me under yellow.” They said, “OK, bring it to the finish line and we’ll take care of that.” I barely touched the throttle because I didn’t want to run out of fuel. Felipe (Giaffone) passed me, Sam (Hornish Jr.) passed me. But then I saw my (number) on top of the pylon and from that time I knew I was in the lead and everything was OK.

I finished the race and couldn’t believe I won for the second time. I was really ecstatic, really emotional. Then I went to the press conference and that’s where I started getting questions about the controversy. I’m like, “Wait a minute,” because to (that) time nobody had told me anything. The more questions I got, the more it touched a little too close, but (team owner) Roger (Penske) didn’t want me to talk.

Look, when I heard caution, I was on the inside and he was just pulling up alongside me. The way it works here, you go up (into the corner) and then down, so even if we’re side by side, which we weren’t, it’s still not a pass. I could still see him in my mirror, and that’s when they called yellow, and I know the light came on because I thought I was out of fuel.

I told (Tracy) later that no question, I would have done exactly the same thing as him. But he has to face it: With two laps to go in the Indianapolis 500, he’s not going to pass me on the outside in turn three.

I said to him, “I know you’re a great driver, but it’s unlikely you’re going to pass me there. You probably could have passed me on the next straightaway, but in that particular time there would have been no way.”

He did not win that race. I know he wanted (the trophy), but it didn’t happen.