The 1998 Lone Star 500 was the tenth round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season. The race was held on September 20, 1998 at the 1.50 mi (2.41 km) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Open-wheel veteran John Paul Jr. earned his first win since the 1983 Michigan 500 in a race determined by attrition and fuel strategy. It would be Paul's only win in his IRL career and the only win for Byrd-Cunningham Racing in the series. Rookie Robby Unser scored his first and only podium as well as led the only laps in his career.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 10th round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season | |
 | |
| Date | September 20, 1998 |
| Official name | Lone Star 500 |
| Location | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km |
| Distance | 208 laps 312.000 mi / 502.115 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Billy Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
| Time | 23.896 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Jeff Ward (ISM Racing) |
| Time | 24.081 (on lap unknown of 208) |
| Podium | |
| First | John Paul Jr. (Byrd-Cunningham Racing) |
| Second | Robby Unser (Team Cheever) |
| Third | Jeff Ward (ISM Racing) |
The race saw many crashes and problems plague the usual frontrunners, including Arie Luyendyk (fuel pump), Eddie Cheever (engine malfunction), Scott Sharp (crash), Greg Ray (engine malfunction), and Tony Stewart (led 51 laps before an engine problem ended his race). By finishing 5th, points leader Kenny Bräck maintained his comfortable lead in the points standings, all but ensuring he would be the next IRL champion in the next race.
Report
edit| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
Qualifying
editTwo laps qualifying. The worst lap from any of the drivers are unknown.
| Pos | No. | Name | Lap | Best (in mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |  Billy Boat W
|
23.896 | 225.979 |
| 2 | 1 | Tony Stewart
|
24.014 | 224.869 |
| 3 | 8 | Scott Sharp
|
24.048 | 224.551 |
| 4 | 28 | Mark Dismore
|
24.075 | 224.299 |
| 5 | 35 | Jeff Ward
|
24.099 | 224.076 |
| 6 | 6 | Davey Hamilton
|
24.142 | 223.677 |
| 7 | 4 |  Scott Goodyear
|
24.240 | 222.770 |
| 8 | 77 |  Stéphan Grégoire
|
24.288 | 222.332 |
| 9 | 51 | Eddie Cheever
|
24.295 | 222.268 |
| 10 | 14 |  Kenny Bräck
|
24.304 | 222.186 |
| 11 | 43 | Dave Steele R
|
24.319 | 222.049 |
| 12 | 97 | Greg Ray
|
24.333 | 221.921 |
| 13 | 30 |  Raul Boesel
|
24.387 | 221.429 |
| 14 | 10 | John Paul Jr.
|
24.394 | 221.366 |
| 15 | 16 | Marco Greco
|
24.398 | 221.330 |
| 16 | 3 | Robbie Buhl
|
24.451 | 220.850 |
| 17 | 52 | Robby Unser R
|
24.454 | 220.823 |
| 18 | 23 |  Roberto Guerrero
|
24.491 | 220.489 |
| 19 | 91 | Buddy Lazier
|
24.499 | 220.417 |
| 20 | 18 | Steve Knapp R
|
24.669 | 218.898 |
| 21 | 12 | Buzz Calkins
|
24.723 | 218.420 |
| 22 | 40 | Jack Miller
|
24.821 | 217.558 |
| 23 | 99 | Sam Schmidt
|
24.857 | 217.243 |
| 24 | 81 | Brian Tyler R
|
24.900 | 216.867 |
| 25 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R
|
25.040 | 215.655 |
| 26 | 19 | Stan Wattles
|
25.387 | 212.707 |
| 27 | 15 | Andy Michner R
|
26.119 | 206.746 |
| 28 | 5 |  Arie Luyendyk1 W
|
24.585 | 219.646 |
| Source[1][2] | ||||
- ^ Changed to a backup car for the race, after repeatedly changing engines during the weekend before loaning one from Panther Racing.
Race
edit| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | John Paul Jr.
|
Byrd-Cunningham Racing | 208 | 2:21:53.557 | 14 | 31 | 50 |
| 2 | 52 | Robby Unser R
|
Team Cheever | 208 | +1.577 sec | 17 | 22 | 40 |
| 3 | 35 | Jeff Ward
|
ISM Racing | 208 | Running | 5 | 16 | 35 |
| 4 | 23 | Roberto Guerrero
|
Cobb Racing | 208 | Running | 18 | 22 | 32 |
| 5 | 5 | Kenny Bräck
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 207 | +1 Lap | 10 | 30 | |
| 6 | 91 | Buddy Lazier
|
Hemelgarn Racing | 206 | +2 Laps | 19 | 14 | 28 |
| 7 | 3 | Robbie Buhl
|
Team Menard | 205 | +3 Laps | 16 | 26 | |
| 8 | 19 | Stan Wattles
|
Metro Racing Systems | 205 | +3 Laps | 26 | 24 | |
| 9 | 6 | Davey Hamilton
|
Nienhouse Motorsports | 202 | +6 Laps | 6 | 22 | |
| 10 | 28 | Mark Dismore
|
Kelley Racing | 202 | +6 Laps | 4 | 14 | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Buzz Calkins
|
Bradley Motorsports | 201 | +7 Laps | 21 | 19 | |
| 12 | 40 | Jack Miller
|
Sinden Racing Services | 201 | +7 Laps | 22 | 18 | |
| 13 | 81 | Brian Tyler R
|
Team Pelfrey | 174 | Engine | 24 | 17 | |
| 14 | 11 | Billy Boat W
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 162 | +46 Laps | 1 | 19 | |
| 15 | 15 | Andy Michner R
|
Riley & Scott | 158 | Engine | 27 | 7 | 15 |
| 16 | 16 | Marco Greco
|
Phoenix Racing | 133 | Contact | 15 | 14 | |
| 17 | 30 | Raul Boesel
|
McCormack Motorsports | 133 | Contact | 13 | 30 | 13 |
| 18 | 18 | Steve Knapp R
|
PDM Racing | 131 | Contact | 20 | 12 | |
| 19 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R
|
Cahill Racing | 122 | Contact | 25 | 11 | |
| 20 | 1 | Tony Stewart
|
Team Menard | 80 | Engine | 2 | 51 | 14 |
| 21 | 97 | Greg Ray
|
Knapp Motorsports | 75 | Engine | 12 | 9 | |
| 22 | 4 | Scott Goodyear
|
Panther Racing | 71 | Clutch | 7 | 8 | |
| 23 | 8 | Scott Sharp
|
Kelley Racing | 67 | Contact | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 24 | 43 | Dave Steele R
|
Panther Racing | 39 | Contact | 11 | 6 | |
| 25 | 51 | Eddie Cheever
|
Team Cheever | 30 | Engine | 9 | 5 | |
| 26 | 77 | Stéphan Grégoire
|
Chastain Motorsports | 18 | Contact | 8 | 4 | |
| 27 | 99 | Sam Schmidt
|
LP Racing | 5 | Engine | 23 | 3 | |
| 28 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk W
|
Treadway Racing | 5 | Fuel Pump | 28 | 2 | |
| Source[1] | ||||||||
Race Statistics
edit- Lead changes: 17 among 10 drivers
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings after the race
edit- Drivers' Championship standings
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.
References
edit- ^ a b "1998 Lone Star 500". racing-reference.info. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- ^ "Starting Grid, Texas (1998-09-20)". indyracingleague.com. Archived from the original on 2000-05-09. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
| Previous race: 1998 Atlanta 500 Classic |
Indy Racing League 1998 season |
Next race: 1998 Las Vegas 500K |
|
| ||
| Previous race: 1998 True Value 500 |
Lone Star 500 | Next race: 1999 Longhorn 500 |