1998 Las Vegas 400

1998 Las Vegas 400
Race details
Race 3 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Layout of Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Date March 1, 1998 (1998-03-01)
Location Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.41 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.54 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Average speed 146.554 miles per hour (235.856 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Robert Yates Racing
Time 168.224 miles per hour (270.730 km/h)
Most laps led
Driver Mark Martin Roush Racing
Laps 82
Winner
No. 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall[2]

The 1998 Las Vegas 400 was the inaugural running of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mark Martin, driver of the Valvoline Ford, won the race, and also led the most laps with 82. Dale Jarrett of the Quality Care Service/Ford Credit Ford won the pole position, but finished 40th due to an engine problem.[3] A total of 120,000 people attended the race, with the profits from all three NASCAR races totaling $40 million for the local economy.[4]

Race

The command to start the engines was given by boxing announcer Michael Buffer. As of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, none of the top 16 finishers are currently racing full-time; Jeff Gordon, the lone current full-time driver, finished 17th.[5]

This race has been self-acclaimed by Mark Martin as being his "biggest victory in the Winston Cup Series." Martin's diminutive stature made him shorter than the Vegas showgirls that posed with him after the race. He would collect six more career wins after this race; making him a strong contender for the championship with an all-new NASCAR team.[6] The Ford Taurus would win more than 100 races after this event before it was retired and replaced with a new Ford model, the Fusion.

Jeff Burton had to fight back from a pit road penalty in order to finish the race with a decent position.[3]

Race results

Source:[3]

Results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Led Status
1 7 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 267 82 Running
2 15 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 267 37 Running
3 10 2 Rusty Wallace Penske-Kranefuss Racing Ford 267 40 Running
4 16 26 Johnny Benson, Jr. Roush Racing Ford 267 9 Running
5 32 12 Jeremy Mayfield Penske-Kranefuss Racing Ford 267 0 Running
6 23 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 267 0 Running
7 29 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 267 28 Running
8 26 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 1 Running
9 4 94 Bill Elliott Elliott-Marino Racing Ford 267 0 Running
10 17 97 Chad Little Roush Racing Ford 267 0 Running
11 6 75 Rick Mast Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 266 0 Flagged
12 19 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 266 0 Flagged
13 2 7 Geoff Bodine Bodine-Mattei Motorsports Ford 266 14 Flagged
14 36 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 266 0 Flagged
15 28 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 2 Flagged
16 12 90 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 266 0 Flagged
17 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 0 Flagged
18 3 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 266 5 Flagged
19 11 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 266 0 Flagged
20 41 4 Bobby Hamilton Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 265 0 Flagged
21 37 33 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 265 0 Flagged
22 14 44 Kyle Petty PE2 Motorsports Pontiac 265 0 Flagged
23 20 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 265 0 Flagged
24 21 40 Sterling Marlin SABCO Racing Chevrolet 265 0 Flagged
25 22 98 Greg Sacks Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 265 0 Flagged
26 24 11 Brett Bodine Scandia Bodine Motorsports Ford 265 0 Flagged
27 39 50 Ricky Craven Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 265 0 Flagged
28 35 91 Kevin Lepage (R) LJ Racing Chevrolet 264 0 Flagged
29 34 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 264 0 Flagged
30 18 36 Ernie Irvan MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 264 0 Flagged
31 9 30 Derrike Cope Bahari Racing Pontiac 264 0 Flagged
32 43 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 264 0 Flagged
33 31 29 Jeff Green Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 264 0 Flagged
34 33 96 David Green American Equipment Racing Chevrolet 264 0 Flagged
35 27 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 264 0 Flagged
36 38 28 Kenny Irwin, Jr. (R) Robert Yates Racing Ford 263 0 Flagged
37 8 42 Joe Nemechek SABCO Racing Chevrolet 263 0 Flagged
38 25 46 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. SABCO Racing Chevrolet 262 0 Flagged
39 40 41 Steve Grissom Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 258 0 Flagged
40 1 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 219 40 Engine
41 30 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Pontiac 196 0 Piston
42 13 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 179 0 Engine
43 42 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Chevrolet 150 0 Electrical
Failed to Qualify
19 Tony Raines Roehig Motorsports Ford
78 Gary Bradberry TRIAD Motorsports Ford
13 Jerry Nadeau (R) Elliott-Marino Racing Ford
35 Todd Bodine ISM Racing Pontiac
1 Steve Park (R) Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet
37 Larry Gunselman Gunselman Motorsports Ford
38 Butch Gilliland Hilton Racing Ford

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[3]
1 Rusty Wallace 505
2 Dale Earnhardt 449
3 Jeremy Mayfield 446
4 Jimmy Spencer 429
5 Bill Elliott 427
6 Jeff Gordon 412
7 Mark Martin 409
8 Terry Labonte 394
9 Chad Little 380
10 Bobby Hamilton 373

References

  1. ↑ "1998 Las Vegas weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
  2. ↑ "1998 Las Vegas". Motor Racing Network. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "1998 Las Vegas 400". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  4. ↑ Butterworth, Scott (1998-03-03). "NASCAR expected to return". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  5. ↑ Jensen, Tom (2015-03-05). "A NASCAR Throwback Thursday stat that will blow your mind". Foxsports.com. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  6. ↑ "Mark Martin 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
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