1998 Michigan 500

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

Race
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 99 Canada Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 250 3:00:48.785 14 20
2 12 United States Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 250 +0.259 2 16
3 1 Italy Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 250 +0.267 7 14+1
4 20 United States Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 250 +0.518 6 12
5 10 United States Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 250 +1.356 3 10
6 6 United States Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 250 +1.567 8 8
7 7 United States Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 250 +2.649 12 6
8 33 Canada Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 250 +3.428 21 5
9 26 Canada Paul Tracy Team Green 250 +4.318 15 4
10 8 United States Bryan Herta Team Rahal 250 +26.270 5 3
11 21 Brazil Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Group 249 +1 Lap 20 2
12 16 Brazil Hélio Castro-Neves Bettenhausen Racing 248 +2 Laps 24 1
13 17 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Group 248 +2 Laps 17
14 77 West Germany Arnd Meier Davis Racing 247 +3 Laps 18
15 36 United States Alex Barron All American Racing 242 +8 Laps 28
16 5 Brazil Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 240 Engine 10
17 18 United Kingdom Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Group 240 +10 laps 19
18 19 Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 238 +12 Laps 26
19 25 Italy Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 237 Electrical 22
20 9 Finland JJ Lehto Hogan Racing 223 Contact 13
21 27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Team Green 213 Engine 16
22 2 United States Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 194 Oil leak 4
23 40 Mexico Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 174 Contact 1 1
24 98 United States P. J. Jones All American Racing 111 Engine 27
25 11 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 87 Overheating 9
26 34 United States Dennis Vitolo Payton/Coyne Racing 85 Contact 25
27 24 United States Robby Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing 76 Contact 23
28 3 Brazil André Ribeiro Team Penske 75 Oil leak 11

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

Lap Leaders
LapsLeader
1-2Al Unser Jr.
3-5Jimmy Vasser
6-11Michael Andretti
12-13Jimmy Vasser
14Michael Andretti
15-17Jimmy Vasser
18-30Michael Andretti
31-34Gil de Ferran
35-37Richie Hearn
38-65Michael Andretti
66-68Gil de Ferran
69Adrián Fernández
70Gil de Ferran
71Greg Moore
72-75Richie Hearn
76-83Michael Andretti
84-89Greg Moore
90-91Richie Hearn
92-101Greg Moore
102Richie Hearn
103Greg Moore
104Richie Hearn
105-118Greg Moore
119-125Paul Tracy
126-128Gil de Ferran
129Paul Tracy
130-132Gil de Ferran
133Paul Tracy
134Michael Andretti
135-136Paul Tracy
137-138Michael Andretti
139-140Gil de Ferran
141Michael Andretti
142-145Gil de Ferran
146Adrián Fernández
147-150Gil de Ferran
151-157Adrián Fernández
158-159Greg Moore
160-165Paul Tracy
166-168Alex Zanardi
169-170Paul Tracy
171-176Alex Zanardi
177-178Michael Andretti
179-190Alex Zanardi
191Paul Tracy
192-193Alex Zanardi
194Al Unser Jr.
195-196Alex Zanardi
197Paul Tracy
198-199Alex Zanardi
200Paul Tracy
201-202Gil de Ferran
203-224Alex Zanardi
225Jimmy Vasser
226-237Alex Zanardi
238Jimmy Vasser
239Alex Zanardi
240-245Jimmy Vasser
246Alex Zanardi
247Jimmy Vasser
248Greg Moore
249Jimmy Vasser
250Greg Moore
  
DriverLaps led
Alex Zanardi63
Michael Andretti62
Greg Moore36
Gil de Ferran26
Paul Tracy22
Jimmy Vasser18
Richie Hearn11
Adrián Fernández9
Al Unser Jr.3

Point standings after race
Pos Driver Points
1 Italy Alex Zanardi 190
2 United States Jimmy Vasser 122
3 Canada Greg Moore 119
4 United States Michael Andretti 92
5 Mexico Adrián Fernández 90

References
  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.
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