1998 Brickyard 400

1998 Brickyard 400

Race details
Race 19 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1998 Brickyard 400 program cover
Date	August 1, 1998 (1998-08-01)
Official name	Brickyard 400
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.5 miles (4.023 km)
Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km)
Average speed	126.772 miles per hour (204.020 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports
Time	50.169
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	97
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons
Nielsen ratings	4.1/14

The 1998 Brickyard 400, the 5th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 1, 1998, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0-kilometre) speedway, it was the 19th race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race. ^[1]

Background

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) west of Downtown Indianapolis. It is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 kilometres) long. The track's turns are banked at 9 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a zero degree banking. The racetrack has seats for more than 250,000 spectators.

Summary

Jeff Gordon became the first repeat winner, holding off Mark Martin for the win. ^[2] Dale Jarrett dominated the second 100 miles (160 kilometres) of the race but lost his chance near the halfway point when he ran out of fuel, and coasted back to the pits; he lost four laps but made them up due to numerous cautions. Gordon's victory was the first in the Winston No Bull 5 program.

Results

Pos	SP	No.	Driver	Car make	Entrant	Laps	Status
1	3	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	160	Running
2	7	6	Mark Martin	Ford	Roush Racing	160	Running
3	10	18	Bobby Labonte	Pontiac	Joe Gibbs Racing	160	Running
4	16	31	Mike Skinner	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	160	Running
5	28	3	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	160	Running
6	1	36	Ernie Irvan	Pontiac	MB2 Motorsports	160	Running
7	9	43	John Andretti	Pontiac	Petty Enterprises	160	Running
8	14	2	Rusty Wallace	Ford	Penske Racing	160	Running
9	8	5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	160	Running
10	19	33	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	Andy Petree Racing	160	Running
11	11	40	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	160	Running
12	37	94	Bill Elliott	Ford	Bill Elliott Racing	160	Running
13	43	35	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	Tyler Jet Motorsports	160	Running
14	33	44	Kyle Petty	Pontiac	PE2 Motorsports	160	Running
15	36	91	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	LJ Racing	160	Running
16	2	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	Robert Yates Racing	160	Running
17	6	50	Ricky Craven	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	160	Running
18	18	90	Dick Trickle	Ford	Donlavey Racing	160	Running
19	38	16	Ted Musgrave	Ford	Roush Racing	160	Running
20	24	4	Bobby Hamilton	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	160	Running
21	29	21	Michael Waltrip	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	160	Running
22	42	75	Rick Mast	Ford	Butch Mock Motorsports	160	Running
23	26	41	Steve Grissom	Chevrolet	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	160	Running
24	17	42	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	160	Running
25	39	26	Johnny Benson Jr.	Ford	Roush Racing	159	Running
26	41	9	Jerry Nadeau	Ford	Melling Racing	159	Running
27	15	00	Buckshot Jones	Chevrolet	Stavola Brothers Racing	158	Running
28	35	97	Chad Little	Ford	Roush Racing	157	Crash
29	20	77	Robert Pressley	Ford	Jasper Motorsports	157	Crash
30	5	46	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	157	Crash
31	27	10	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Rudd Performance Motorsports	155	Crash
32	21	23	Jimmy Spencer	Ford	Travis Carter Enterprises	154	Crash
33	40	11	Brett Bodine	Ford	Brett Bodine Racing	152	Running
34	30	22	Ward Burton	Pontiac	Bill Davis Racing	151	Running
35	25	1	Steve Park	Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	148	Crash
36	34	99	Jeff Burton	Ford	Roush Racing	145	Running
37	13	7	Geoff Bodine	Ford	Mattei Motorsports	124	Handling
38	4	28	Kenny Irwin Jr.	Ford	Robert Yates Racing	116	Crash
39	31	98	Rich Bickle	Ford	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	112	Running
40	22	13	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Ford	Elliott-Marino Racing	102	Engine
41	32	71	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet	Marcis Auto Racing	102	Engine
42	12	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Ford	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	67	Handling
43	23	81	Kenny Wallace	Ford	FILMAR Racing	65	Engine
Source [3]

Failed to qualify

• Derrike Cope (#30)
• Hut Stricklin (#96)
• Robby Gordon (#19)
• Randy MacDonald (#95)
• Loy Allen Jr. (#15)
• Gary Bradberry (#78)
• Dan Pardus (#07)
• Lance Hooper (#14)
• Bob Schacht (#95)

Race statistics

• Time of race: 3:09:19
• Average speed: 126.772 miles per hour (204.020 km/h)
• Pole speed: 179.394 miles per hour (288.707 km/h)
• Cautions: 9 for 34 laps
• Margin of victory: under caution
• Lead changes: 10
• Percent of race run under caution: 21.2%
• Average green flag run: 14 laps

Lap leaders Laps Leader 1–18 Ernie Irvan 19–38 Jeff Gordon 39–45 Ernie Irvan 46–53 Jeff Gordon 54–80 Dale Jarrett 81 Mark Martin 82–83 Terry Labonte 84–118 Jeff Gordon 119–120 Robert Pressley 121–126 Dale Earnhardt 127–160 Jeff Gordon

Total laps led Laps Leader 97 Jeff Gordon 27 Dale Jarrett 25 Ernie Irvan 6 Dale Earnhardt 2 Terry Labonte 2 Robert Pressley 1 Mark Martin

Cautions: 9 for 34 laps Laps Reason 18–22 #7 (Geoff Bodine) crash turn 1 36–40 #12 (Jeremy Mayfield) crash turn 2 87–90 #22 (Ward Burton) stalled turn 3 95–98 #00 (Buckshot Jones) and #11 (Brett Bodine) crash turn 4 104–107 Oil on track 118–122 #28 (Kenny Irwin Jr.) spin turn 2 151–153 #1 (Steve Park) crash turn 3 156–157 #23 (Jimmy Spencer) crash turn 2 159–160 #10 (Ricky Rudd), #42 (Joe Nemechek), #46 (Jeff Green), #77 (Robert Pressley), and #97 (Chad Little) crash frontstraight

Media

Television

The race was aired live on ABC in the United States. Bob Jenkins and 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Benny Parsons called the race from the broadcast booth. Jerry Punch, Bill Weber and Jack Arute handled pit road for the television side.

ABC
Booth announcers		Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap	Color commentator
Bob Jenkins	Benny Parsons	Jerry Punch Bill Weber Jack Arute

References

1. "Looking back at Jeff Gordon's 1998 Brickyard 400 win", Hendrick Motorsports, July 22, 2013. Accessed February 3, 2024.
2. Kelly, Paul. "YEar-By-Year Brickyard 400 Race Recaps: 1990s", Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 6, 2020. Accessed February 3, 2024. "1998... Gordon became the first driver to win this race twice, again in the familiar rainbow-colored No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet owned by Hendrick Motorsports with crew chief Ray Evernham calling the shots."
3. 1998 Brickyard 400