The 2002 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-fourth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 10 and concluding in Mexico City on November 17. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Cristiano da Matta. Rookie of the Year was Mario Domínguez.

Sports television channel ESPN dropped CART coverage for the 2002 season. CBS and Speed Channel took its place for two seasons. This reflected a continued decline for the series in a year saw which saw the German 500 cancelled due to the planned host venue for that round, Eurospeedway Lausitz suffering from financial problems, as well as a controversial round at Surfers Paradise where two drivers (Adrián Fernández and Toranosuke Takagi) were injured in a start crash and as well as there being some contentious decisions from race officials in relation to the running of that race particularly regarding its' conclusion. In addition Chip Ganassi Racing would withdraw from the CART series at the end of the season just as Team Penske had done at the end of the season prior, with the Ganassi operation choosing to completely defect to the IRL from 2003 onwards having run entries in concurrently in CART and the IRL during 2002. Michael Andretti would also complete a buyout of Team Green with that team also defecting to the rival IRL series for 2003. In a further financial blow to the series, freight company FedEx which had been title sponsor of the CART series since the 1998 season ended their title sponsorship deal with CART at the end of the year. Engine manufacturers Honda and Toyota would also pull out of CART and move across to the IRL at the end of the season leaving Ford-Cosworth as the sole engine supplier for 2003 . Cosworth would remain the sole supplier for the series ( which be formally rebranded as the Champ Car World Series from 2004 to 2007) until the series ended following the reunification of American-open wheel racing in 2008.

Bridgestone became the exclusive tire supplier for CART, replacing Firestone, an association that would continue until the final Champ Car season in 2007. The 2002 season was the last to feature multiple engine manufacturers.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2002 CART Championship Series season.

The biggest change to the team lineup in the 2002 CART season was the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League. The departure of Team Penske, a CART stalwart from its earliest days, was an early sign of a major shift in the CART-IRL rivalry. Several other major CART powers would follow Penske to the IRL for the 2003 season. Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Mo Nunn Racing both set up separate IRL teams in 2002, but continued to compete in CART for the time being, though Mo Nunn downsized his team to a single car. They would be among the teams to leave CART for the IRL in 2003. Blair Racing also left CART for IRL. Patrick Racing downsized their effort to a single car, while Forsythe Racing shut down their third car driven by Bryan Herta in 2001 for lack of sponsorship.

1996 series champion Jimmy Vasser, one of two former champions in the 2002 field (the other being Michael Andretti), left Patrick Racing for Team Rahal. Joining him at Rahal was Michel Jourdain Jr. who left Herdez Competition. Rahal's 2001 drivers, Kenny Bräck and Max Papis moved to Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Sigma Autosport. Papis took the seat previously occupied by Oriol Servià, who replaced the retiring Maurício Gugelmin at PWR Championship Racing. The 2002 season started with two rookies. 2001 Dayton Indy Lights champion Townsend Bell led a one car effort at Patrick Racing. Mario Domínguez signed on for another single car effort with Herdez Competition.