Race details | |
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Race 2 of 19 in the 1998 CART season | |
![]() Layout of the track | |
Date | March 28, 1998 |
Official name | Budweiser 500k |
Location | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan |
Course | Permanent racing facility 1.520 mi / 2.493 km |
Distance | 201 laps 311.3 mi / 500.988 km |
Pole position | |
Driver | Jimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
Time | No time trials |
Podium | |
First | Adrián Fernández (Patrick Racing) |
Second | Al Unser Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) |
Third | Gil de Ferran (Walker Racing) |
The 1998 Budweiser 500K was a CART race that took place at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan on March 28, 1998. It was the 2nd round of the 1998 CART season.
Budweiser is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filtered beer, available on draft and in bottles and cans, made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt.
Motegi is a town located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 August 2020, the town had an estimated population of 11,777 in 4503 households, and a population density of 68 persons per km2. The total area of the town is 172.69 square kilometres (66.68 sq mi).
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race tracks: a 2.493 km (1.549 mi) oval track and a 4.801 km (2.983 mi) road course. It was built in 1997 by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., as part of the company's effort to bring the Championship Auto Racing Teams series to Japan, helping to increase their knowledge of American open-wheel racing. The oval was last raced on in 2010 by the Indycar Series. On 1 March 2022, the name of the track was changed to Mobility Resort Motegi, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the facility. The road course's most notable event is the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix which is currently held every year. The track also currently hosts rounds in the domestic Super Formula Championship and Super GT series each year.
Budweiser 500 may refer to:
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The Coca-Cola 500 was a non-championship exhibition NASCAR stock car race held on November 22, 1998, during the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. The race took place on the Twin Ring Motegi oval course in the town of Motegi on the main Japanese island of Honshu. It was the third straight year that NASCAR held an exhibition race in Japan, previously hosting races on the Suzuka Circuit in 1996 and 1997. Teams from the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series and Winston West Series made the trip to Japan to compete in the race. Four Japanese drivers entered the event, as well. The race was also the first in which Dale Earnhardt and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed against one another in a NASCAR race, driving Nos. 3 and 1 Chevrolets, respectively. The pole position was won by Jeremy Mayfield of Penske Racing South, while Mike Skinner of Richard Childress Racing won the race. Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon finished second, while Mayfield finished third.
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IndyCar, LLC, is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece, and the developmental series Indy NXT. IndyCar is recognized as a member organization of the FIA through the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States.
The 1999 Firestone Firehawk 500K was the second round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on April 9, 1999, on the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan.
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