After a successful campaign in 1997, in which the Swift 007.i, won the season opener, successor for the car was designed for 1998. The car was designed by David Bruns in cooperation with Haas CNC. Swift Engineering planned to build six chassis each billing around $425,000.[1]
The Swift 009.c made a stunning debut with Michael Andretti winning the season opener and Christian Fittipaldi finishing fourth. All four entered Swift chassis finished the race. The American built chassis proved to be fast when Andretti also noted the fastest time in the Goodyear tire test at Gateway International Raceway.[2] Andretti finished second in the race at the St. Louis circuit. The best result for Fittipaldi were two third places at Road America and Surfers Paradise. The Brazilian had a heavy crash in opening practice at the Milwaukee Mile. Fittipaldi was knocked unconscious but had no serious injuries despite his chassis being split in half. For the race Fittipaldi was replaced by Team Penske test driver Roberto Moreno.
