The 1998 Michigan 500 was the twelfth round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 26, 1998, at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in Championship Car racing, the race was branded as the 1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota. The race saw a record 63 lead changes due to the draft of the new Hanford Device, and was won by Greg Moore after a thrilling battle in the last five laps with Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Scott Pruett.

United States 1998 Michigan 500
Race details
Race 12 of 19 in the 1998 CART season
Michigan International Speedway
DateJuly 26, 1998
Official name1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota
LocationMichigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.000 mi / 3.219 km
Distance250 laps
500.000 mi / 804.672 km
WeatherDry
Pole position
DriverAdrián Fernández (Patrick Racing)
Time31.370
Fastest lap
DriverPatrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing)
Time31.508 (on lap 131 of 250)
Podium
FirstGreg Moore (Forsythe Racing)
SecondJimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing)
ThirdAlex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The race was marred by a crash on lap 175. Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others.[1] A subsequent incident in the IndyCar Series' VisionAire 500K the following year resulted in both open-wheel sanctioning bodies (and NASCAR, initially for its Modified Tour series)[2] requiring tethers be installed in wheel hubs, as well as changes to catch fencing on oval tracks, to prevent such re-occurrence.

Classification

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Race

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Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 99   Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 250 3:00:48.785 14 20
2 12   Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 250 +0.259 2 16
3 1   Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 250 +0.267 7 14+1
4 20   Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 250 +0.518 6 12
5 10   Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 250 +1.356 3 10
6 6   Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 250 +1.567 8 8
7 7   Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 250 +2.649 12 6
8 33   Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 250 +3.428 21 5
9 26   Paul Tracy Team Green 250 +4.318 15 4
10 8   Bryan Herta Team Rahal 250 +26.270 5 3
11 21   Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Group 249 +1 Lap 20 2
12 16   Hélio Castro-Neves Bettenhausen Racing 248 +2 Laps 24 1
13 17   Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Group 248 +2 Laps 17
14 77   Arnd Meier Davis Racing 247 +3 Laps 18
15 36   Alex Barron All American Racing 242 +8 Laps 28
16 5   Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 240 Engine 10
17 18   Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Group 240 +10 laps 19
18 19   Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 238 +12 Laps 26
19 25   Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 237 Electrical 22
20 9   JJ Lehto Hogan Racing 223 Contact 13
21 27   Dario Franchitti Team Green 213 Engine 16
22 2   Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 194 Oil leak 4
23 40   Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 174 Contact 1 1
24 98   P. J. Jones All American Racing 111 Engine 27
25 11   Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 87 Overheating 9
26 34   Dennis Vitolo Payton/Coyne Racing 85 Contact 25
27 24   Robby Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing 76 Contact 23
28 3   André Ribeiro Team Penske 75 Oil leak 11

Caution flags

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Laps Cause
81-87 Gordon (24) contact
92-100 Vitolo (34) contact
117-123 Jones (98) engine blow-up [ja]
176-184 Fernández (40) contact
185-188 Franchitti (27) spin
216-222 Franchitti (27) engine blow-up
227-234 Lehto (9) contact
242-245 de Ferran (5) engine blow-up

Lap Leaders

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Laps Leader
1-2 Al Unser Jr.
3-5 Jimmy Vasser
6-11 Michael Andretti
12-13 Jimmy Vasser
14 Michael Andretti
15-17 Jimmy Vasser
18-30 Michael Andretti
31-34 Gil de Ferran
35-37 Richie Hearn
38-65 Michael Andretti
66-68 Gil de Ferran
69 Adrián Fernández
70 Gil de Ferran
71 Greg Moore
72-75 Richie Hearn
76-83 Michael Andretti
84-89 Greg Moore
90-91 Richie Hearn
92-101 Greg Moore
102 Richie Hearn
103 Greg Moore
104 Richie Hearn
105-118 Greg Moore
119-125 Paul Tracy
126-128 Gil de Ferran
129 Paul Tracy
130-132 Gil de Ferran
133 Paul Tracy
134 Michael Andretti
135-136 Paul Tracy
137-138 Michael Andretti
139-140 Gil de Ferran
141 Michael Andretti
142-145 Gil de Ferran
146 Adrián Fernández
147-150 Gil de Ferran
151-157 Adrián Fernández
158-159 Greg Moore
160-165 Paul Tracy
166-168 Alex Zanardi
169-170 Paul Tracy
171-176 Alex Zanardi
177-178 Michael Andretti
179-190 Alex Zanardi
191 Paul Tracy
192-193 Alex Zanardi
194 Al Unser Jr.
195-196 Alex Zanardi
197 Paul Tracy
198-199 Alex Zanardi
200 Paul Tracy
201-202 Gil de Ferran
203-224 Alex Zanardi
225 Jimmy Vasser
226-237 Alex Zanardi
238 Jimmy Vasser
239 Alex Zanardi
240-245 Jimmy Vasser
246 Alex Zanardi
247 Jimmy Vasser
248 Greg Moore
249 Jimmy Vasser
250 Greg Moore
 
Driver Laps led
Alex Zanardi 63
Michael Andretti 62
Greg Moore 36
Gil de Ferran 26
Paul Tracy 22
Jimmy Vasser 18
Richie Hearn 11
Adrián Fernández 9
Al Unser Jr. 3

Point standings after race

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Pos Driver Points
1   Alex Zanardi 190
2   Jimmy Vasser 122
3   Greg Moore 119
4   Michael Andretti 92
5   Adrián Fernández 90

References

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  1. ^ Glick, Shav (July 27, 1998). "Three spectators die at U.S. 500". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012.
  2. ^ Jewett, Larry: "Innovations in Safety", Stock Car Racing (ISSN 0734-7340), Vol. 35, No. 5 (May 2000), pp. 62–63.