The 1998 NAPA 500 was the 33rd and final championship event of the 1998 season of the NASCARWinston Cup Series, held on November 8, 1998, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Won by series champion Jeff Gordon, the race was delayed both before its start and twice during the race due to rain showers, causing it to be shortened to 221 laps from its scheduled distance of 325 laps.
Going into the race, Jeff Gordon had clinched the 1998 Winston Cup Series championship the previous weekend at North Carolina Motor Speedway, winning the AC Delco 400 for his 12th win of the season.[5] Rookie driver Harris DeVane, a regular on the ARCA Racing Series, attempted to make his Winston Cup Series debut at the event.[6]
Series rookie Kenny Irwin Jr., driving the No. 28 Ford Taurus for Robert Yates Racing, led 48 drivers in qualifying on Friday, November 6, winning his first pole position in the Winston Cup Series. Irwin's qualifying time was 193.461 miles per hour (311.345 km/h). Ward Burton qualified second in the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Pontiac; Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, and Mike Skinner filled out the remainder of the top five positions in qualifying; the top 25 drivers in the session were locked into the field,[5] with Ted Musgrave as the 25th and final driver guaranteed a starting spot at the end of the first day of time trials.[8]
Second round qualifying, to set starting positions 26th through 36th on the grid, was held on Saturday, November 7. Gary Bradberry set the fastest time in the session at a speed of 189.922 miles per hour (305.650 km/h); he had crashed in the first round of qualifying, and was forced to use a backup car for the rest of the race weekend.[9] The only other driver to make an attempt in second round qualifying and move into the top 36 positions, qualifying for the race, was Kevin Lepage, whose time placed him 31st overall.[9]
The start of the race, scheduled for 12:40PM, was delayed 49 minutes due to rain.[10] During the race two additional red flags for rain caused delays of 6 hours and 39 minutes.[10] The delays resulted in the race being the first night race held at the speedway.[10] Due to the delays, during a yellow flag thrown on lap 190 to allow teams to pit under caution on the still-damp pit road, NASCAR announced that once the race resumed, there would be only 25 laps remaining from that point,[10] citing a desire for fans to be able to return home at a safe hour; the race concluded at 11:07pm, a crowd of 50,000 having remained to watch the race to its conclusion.[11]
From a starting position of 21st, Gordon led 113 of the race's 221 laps;[10] he beat Dale Jarrett for the race win by 0.739 second.[1] His victory, the 13th on the season, tied Richard Petty for the most wins by a driver in a single season.[12] Including the rain delays, there were a total of five caution periods during the race, with 68 laps being run under the yellow flag. Gordon's average speed was 114.915 miles per hour (184.938 km/h), and he received $164,450 for the victory.[13]
Gordon's career victory total stood at 42 after the race; at the time, he was the youngest driver to pass 40 career wins, and the youngest to win a third series title.[14] Gordon topped Mark Martin for the series title by 364 points; Irwin was named the series' Rookie of the Year immediately following the race, beating Kevin Lepage by 14 rookie points.[7]
While the race was the final points event of the season for the Winston Cup Series, an exhibition race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan was held two weeks later,[15] won by Mike Skinner over Gordon.[16]
^"Atlanta Post Race Notes". Motorsport.com. November 8, 1998. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
^"Gordon falls to Skinner". The Augusta Chronicle. Augusta, GA. November 23, 1998. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
^"Atlanta Starting Grid". Motorsport.com. November 7, 1998. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
January 06, 2023
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The 1998 NAPA 500 was the 33rd and final championship event of the 1998 season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series held on November 8 1998 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton Georgia Won by series champion Jeff Gordon the race was delayed both before its start and twice during the race due to rain showers causing it to be shortened to 221 laps from its scheduled distance of 325 laps 1998 NAPA 500Race details 1 Race 33 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series seasonAtlanta Motor Speedway 1997 present configuration DateNovember 8 1998 1998 November 08 Official nameNAPA 500LocationAtlanta Motor Speedway Hampton GeorgiaCoursePermanent racing facility1 54 mi 2 502 km Distance221 laps 340 34 mi 547 72 km Average speed114 915 miles per hour 184 938 km h Pole positionDriverKenny Irwin Jr Robert Yates RacingTime28 657 secondsMost laps ledDriverJeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsLaps113WinnerNo 24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsTelevision in the United StatesNetworkESPNAnnouncersBob Jenkins Benny Parsons Ned Jarrett This was the last race without Tony Stewart on the grid until the 2013 Cheez It 355 at The Glen Contents 1 Background 2 Qualifying 3 Race 4 Results 4 1 Qualifying 4 2 Race results 5 ReferencesBackground EditAtlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway Chicagoland Speedway Darlington Raceway Homestead Miami Speedway Kansas Speedway Kentucky Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway 2 The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four turn quad oval track that is 1 54 miles 2 48 km long 3 The track s turns are banked at twenty four degrees while the front stretch the location of the finish line and the back stretch are banked at five 3 The scheduled race distance was 325 laps totalling 500 5 miles 805 5 km 4 Going into the race Jeff Gordon had clinched the 1998 Winston Cup Series championship the previous weekend at North Carolina Motor Speedway winning the AC Delco 400 for his 12th win of the season 5 Rookie driver Harris DeVane a regular on the ARCA Racing Series attempted to make his Winston Cup Series debut at the event 6 The support race for the event run on Saturday afternoon was a 102 lap event sanctioned by the ARCA Bondo Mar Hyde Series Mike Swaim Jr was the winner of the race 7 Qualifying Edit Race polesitter Kenny Irwin Jr Series rookie Kenny Irwin Jr driving the No 28 Ford Taurus for Robert Yates Racing led 48 drivers in qualifying on Friday November 6 winning his first pole position in the Winston Cup Series Irwin s qualifying time was 193 461 miles per hour 311 345 km h Ward Burton qualified second in the No 22 Bill Davis Racing Pontiac Dale Jarrett Mark Martin and Mike Skinner filled out the remainder of the top five positions in qualifying the top 25 drivers in the session were locked into the field 5 with Ted Musgrave as the 25th and final driver guaranteed a starting spot at the end of the first day of time trials 8 Second round qualifying to set starting positions 26th through 36th on the grid was held on Saturday November 7 Gary Bradberry set the fastest time in the session at a speed of 189 922 miles per hour 305 650 km h he had crashed in the first round of qualifying and was forced to use a backup car for the rest of the race weekend 9 The only other driver to make an attempt in second round qualifying and move into the top 36 positions qualifying for the race was Kevin Lepage whose time placed him 31st overall 9 Dale Earnhardt Terry Labonte Ricky Craven Johnny Benson Jr Kyle Petty and Rusty Wallace were forced to take provisional starting positions to start the race 5 Darrell Waltrip received a provisional as a past series champion and started 43rd it was the 20th provisional he had used over the course of the season resulting in a change to eligibility rules for the 1999 series season 7 Failing to qualify for the race were Rick Mast Rich Bickle Steve Grissom Andy Hillenburg and Harris DeVane DeVane was injured in a crash on his qualifying lap and had to be cut from his car being taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure 9 Race EditThe start of the race scheduled for 12 40PM was delayed 49 minutes due to rain 10 During the race two additional red flags for rain caused delays of 6 hours and 39 minutes 10 The delays resulted in the race being the first night race held at the speedway 10 Due to the delays during a yellow flag thrown on lap 190 to allow teams to pit under caution on the still damp pit road NASCAR announced that once the race resumed there would be only 25 laps remaining from that point 10 citing a desire for fans to be able to return home at a safe hour the race concluded at 11 07pm a crowd of 50 000 having remained to watch the race to its conclusion 11 From a starting position of 21st Gordon led 113 of the race s 221 laps 10 he beat Dale Jarrett for the race win by 0 739 second 1 His victory the 13th on the season tied Richard Petty for the most wins by a driver in a single season 12 Including the rain delays there were a total of five caution periods during the race with 68 laps being run under the yellow flag Gordon s average speed was 114 915 miles per hour 184 938 km h and he received 164 450 for the victory 13 Gordon s career victory total stood at 42 after the race at the time he was the youngest driver to pass 40 career wins and the youngest to win a third series title 14 Gordon topped Mark Martin for the series title by 364 points Irwin was named the series Rookie of the Year immediately following the race beating Kevin Lepage by 14 rookie points 7 While the race was the final points event of the season for the Winston Cup Series an exhibition race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan was held two weeks later 15 won by Mike Skinner over Gordon 16 Results EditQualifying Edit No Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed Grid28 Kenny Irwin Jr Robert Yates Racing Ford 28 657 193 461 122 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 28 666 193 400 288 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 28 713 193 083 36 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 28 858 192 113 431 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28 859 192 106 530 Derrike Cope Bahari Racing Pontiac 28 886 191 927 618 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 28 936 191 595 790 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 28 940 191 569 812 Jeremy Mayfield Penske Kranefuss Racing Ford 28 950 191 503 1042 Joe Nemechek Team Sabco Chevrolet 28 999 191 179 1146 Jeff Green Team Sabco Chevrolet 29 028 190 988 1233 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 29 041 190 903 134 Bobby Hamilton Morgan McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 29 101 190 509 1411 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 29 112 190 437 1541 David Green Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29 114 190 424 161 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt Inc Chevrolet 29 158 190 136 172 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 29 177 190 013 189 Jerry Nadeau Melling Racing Ford 29 180 189 993 1991 Todd Bodine LJ Racing Chevrolet 29 180 189 993 2024 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29 182 189 980 2197 Chad Little Roush Racing Ford 29 220 189 733 2223 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 29 230 189 668 2340 Sterling Marlin Team Sabco Chevrolet 29 233 189 649 2413 Ted Musgrave Elliott Marino Racing Ford 29 250 189 538 2578 Gary Bradberry Triad Motorsports Ford 29 191 189 922 26 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 29 257 189 493 2721 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29 261 189 467 2850 Wally Dallenbach Jr Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29 265 189 441 2971 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 29 273 189 390 3016 Kevin Lepage Roush Racing Ford 29 284 189 318 318 Morgan Shepherd Stavola Brothers Racing Chevrolet 29 302 189 202 3277 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 29 311 189 144 3310 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 29 314 189 125 3499 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 29 322 189 073 3543 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Pontiac 29 340 188 957 363 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Provisional 375 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Provisional 3836 Ricky Craven MB2 Motorsports Pontiac Provisional 3926 Johnny Benson Jr Roush Racing Ford Provisional 4044 Kyle Petty PE2 Pontiac Provisional 4181 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford Provisional 4235 Darrell Waltrip Tyler Jet Motorsports Pontiac Past Champion 43Failed to Qualify75 Rick Mast RahMoc Enterprises Ford 29 356 188 85498 Rich Bickle Cale Yarborough Racing T Bird 29 477 188 07996 Steve Grissom American Equipment Racing Chevrolet 29 935 185 20180 Andy Hillenburg Hover Motorsports Ford 30 298 182 98208 Harris DeVane Highland Timber Racing Chevrolet Crash Rookie of the Year candidate Fastest second round qualifierSource 17 Race results Edit Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 21 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 221 18522 3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 221 17513 4 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 221 1654 35 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 221 1605 20 91 Todd Bodine LJ Racing Chevrolet 221 1556 14 4 Bobby Hamilton Morgan McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 221 1507 13 33 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 221 1468 38 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 221 1429 5 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 221 143110 10 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 221 13411 22 97 Chad Little Roush Racing Ford 221 13012 8 90 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 221 12713 37 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 221 12414 2 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 221 126115 9 12 Jeremy Mayfield Penske Kranefuss Racing Ford 221 11816 1 28 Kenny Irwin Jr Robert Yates Racing Ford 221 120117 17 1 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt Inc Chevrolet 221 11218 31 16 Kevin Lepage Roush Racing Ford 221 10919 25 13 Ted Musgrave Elliott Marino Racing Ford 221 10620 18 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 221 10321 23 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 221 10022 28 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 221 9723 40 26 Johnny Benson Jr Roush Racing Ford 221 9424 34 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 221 9125 39 36 Ricky Craven MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 221 8826 27 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 221 8527 30 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 221 87128 33 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 221 7929 41 44 Kyle Petty PE2 Pontiac 221 7630 6 30 Derrike Cope Bahari Racing Pontiac 221 7331 15 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 221 75132 36 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Pontiac 221 72133 26 78 Gary Bradberry Triad Motorsports Ford 219 6434 42 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 218 6135 29 50 Wally Dallenbach Jr Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 218 5836 12 46 Jeff Green Team Sabco Chevrolet 216 5537 19 9 Jerry Nadeau Melling Racing Ford 217 5238 43 35 Darrell Waltrip Tyler Jet Motorsports Pontiac 213 4939 32 8 Morgan Shepherd Stavola Brothers Racing Chevrolet 197 4640 11 42 Joe Nemechek Team Sabco Chevrolet 179 4341 16 41 David Green Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 155 4042 24 40 Sterling Marlin Team Sabco Chevrolet 139 3743 7 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 134 34 Rookie of the Year candidate Source 1 1 Includes five bonus points for leading a lap2 Includes ten bonus points for leading the most lapsReferences Edit a b c 1998 Official Race Results NAPA 500 NASCAR com Turner Sports Archived from the original on 2004 01 11 Retrieved 2017 12 25 NASCAR Race Tracks NASCAR Archived from the original on June 28 2011 Retrieved September 2 2011 a b NASCAR Tracks The Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Archived from the original on 2011 07 21 Retrieved September 2 2011 Nicholson John November 5 1998 Auto Racing Glance Las Vegas Sun Las Vegas NV Retrieved 2017 12 25 a b c Kenny Irwin on pole at Atlanta UPI November 7 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 Adamczyk Jay October 21 1998 JAYSKI S SILLY SEASON SITE PAST NEWS OCTOBER 19 25 1998 Jayski s Silly Season Site ESPN Archived from the original on January 24 2018 Retrieved 2017 12 25 a b c Pierce Al November 10 1998 Motorsports Notes Irwin Proves Best Of Rookie Crop Daily Press Newport News VA Retrieved 2017 12 25 Atlanta Friday Qualifying Results Motorsport com November 6 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 a b c Bradberry first on second day Grissom fails to make field The Anniston Star Anniston AL November 8 1998 p 27 a b c d e NAPA 500 Gordon Ends Year With 13th Victory The New York Times New York November 9 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 Gordon reigns over Atlanta NASCAR The Index Journal Greenwood SC November 9 1998 p 3B Jeff Gordon s King of The World CBS News CBS Interactive November 10 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 1998 NAPA 500 Racing Reference NASCAR Digital Media Group Retrieved 2017 12 25 Hinton Ed November 16 1998 Inside Motor Sports Sports Illustrated Retrieved 2017 12 25 Atlanta Post Race Notes Motorsport com November 8 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 Gordon falls to Skinner The Augusta Chronicle Augusta GA November 23 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 Atlanta Starting Grid Motorsport com November 7 1998 Retrieved 2017 12 25 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1998 NAPA 500 amp oldid 1102194624, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
