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1998 Indy Racing League season
1998 Indy Racing League season
Pep Boys Indy Racing League
	1998 Indy Racing League
Season
Races	11
Start date	January 24
End date	October 11
Awards
Drivers' champion	Kenny Bräck
Manufacturers' Cup	Oldsmobile
Rookie of the Year	Robby Unser
Indianapolis 500 winner	Eddie Cheever
	← 1996–97 1999 →

Kenny Bräck (left) won his first and only Drivers' Championship while Davey Hamilton (right) finished second in the championship again.

The 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was one of relative stability compared to the previous two seasons. For the first time the season consisted of a single and complete spring, summer, and fall like all other motorsports. 15 drivers completed the entire 11 race schedule, twice as many as the previous season. It was also the first complete season for the new Riley & Scott chassis, though it proved unpopular due to its late introduction. A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers captured 4 wins, the Indy 500 pole, and the championship, arguably the most successful year in the team's history.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No.	Driver(s)	Round(s)
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	11	Billy Boat^{[N 1]}	1–5, 8–11
				11	Greg Ray	6–7
				14	Kenny Bräck	All
Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Infiniti	F	54	Hideshi Matsuda	3
Blueprint Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	27	Robbie Groff	1–2
					Claude Bourbonnais	3
					Billy Roe	4
Bradley Motorsports	G-Force Dallara^{[N 2]}	Oldsmobile	G	12	Buzz Calkins	1–6, 8–11
Byrd-Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	10	Mike Groff^{[N 3]}^{[N 4]}	1–3
Byrd-Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	10	John Paul Jr.	4–11
Cahill Auto Racing	G-Force Dallara^{[N 5]}	Oldsmobile	F	98	Donnie Beechler R	3–5, 7–11
CBR Cobb Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	^{[N 6]}'G'F	23	Paul Durant	2–4
		Oldsmobile			Jim Guthrie^{[N 7]}	6–7
		Infiniti			Roberto Guerrero	8–11
Chastain Motorsports	G-Force Dallara^{[N 8]}	Oldsmobile	G	77	Stéphan Grégoire	All
Chitwood Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	17	Brian Tyler R	1–2
Chitwood Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	17	Andy Michner R	3
D. B. Mann Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	24	Billy Roe	1
D. B. Mann Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	24	Dan Drinan R	3
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	9	Johnny Unser	3
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	91	Buddy Lazier	All
Immke Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	20	Tyce Carlson	1–3
ISM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	35	Jeff Ward	All
				53	Jim Guthrie	1–3
				55	Steve Knapp R	3
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	8	Scott Sharp	All
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	28	Mark Dismore	All
Knapp Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	97	Greg Ray	1–4, 9–11
Liberty Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	29	Joe Gosek R ^{[N 9]}	3–4
LP Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	66	Scott Harrington R ^{[N 9]}	3
LP Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	99	Sam Schmidt	All
Lyn St. James Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	G	90	Lyn St. James	3
McCormack Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	30	Raul Boesel	All
Metro Racing Systems	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	G	19	Stan Wattles^{[N 10]}	1–5, 7–11
Nienhouse Motorsports	G-Force Dallara^{[N 11]}	Oldsmobile	G	6	Davey Hamilton	All
Pagan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	21	Roberto Guerrero	1–4
Pagan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	21	Stevie Reeves R	7
Panther Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	4	Scott Goodyear	All
Panther Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	43	Dave Steele R	10–11
PDM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	18	John Paul Jr.	1–2
					Jack Hewitt R	3–5
					Steve Knapp R ^{[N 12]}	6, 8–11
					Tyce Carlson	7
Phoenix Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	16	Marco Greco	All
Riley & Scott Cars	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	G	15	Eliseo Salazar^{[N 13]}	1–5
					Scott Harrington R	6
					Andy Michner R ^{[N 14]}	7–10
					Jim Guthrie	11
RSM Marko	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	22	Dave Steele R	2
Sinden Racing Services	Dallara	Infiniti Oldsmobile^{[N 15]}	F	40	Dr. Jack Miller	All
				44	J. J. Yeley R	2–5, 9
				44	Jimmy Kite	7
Team Cheever	Dallara^{[N 16]} G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	51	Eddie Cheever	All
Team Cheever	Dallara^{[N 16]} G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	52	Robby Unser R ^{[N 12]}	3–6, 8–11
Team Coulson Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	41	Affonso Giaffone	1
Team Menard	Dallara G-Force^{[N 17]}	Oldsmobile	F	1	Tony Stewart	All
Team Menard	Dallara G-Force^{[N 17]}	Oldsmobile	F	3	Robbie Buhl	1–5, 8–11
Team Pelfrey	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	81	John Paul Jr.^{[N 18]}	3
					Tyce Carlson	4
					Brian Tyler R	5–11
Team Scandia	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	7	Jimmy Kite^{[N 10]}	1–4
Team Scandia	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	33	Billy Roe	3
Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F ^{[N 19]}G	5	Arie Luyendyk	All

Schedule

Rnd	Race Name	Track	Location	Date
1	Indy 200 at Walt Disney World	Walt Disney World Speedway	Bay Lake, Florida	January 24
2	Dura Lube 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	March 22
3	82nd Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	May 24
4	True Value 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	June 6
5	New England 200	New Hampshire International Speedway	Loudon, New Hampshire	June 28
6	Pep Boys 400K	Dover International Speedway	Dover, Delaware	July 19
7	VisionAire 500K	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Concord, North Carolina	July 25
8	Radisson 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado	August 16
9	Atlanta 500 Classic	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	August 29
10	Lone Star 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	September 20
11	Las Vegas 500K	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Las Vegas, Nevada	October 11
Source:^[1]

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

The eight races that were held in calendar year 1997 returned in 1998, with the addition of three new races. As part of their effort to venture in traditional stock-car markets, the IRL held the second Indy-car race ever, the first since 1969, at Dover International Speedway, and also competed at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, which had been raced eight times by Indy-cars in its former shape between 1965 and 1983. A second race at Texas Motor Speedway in the fall completed the calendar.

Results

Rd.	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most laps led	Race Winner				Report
Rd.	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most laps led	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Report
1	Walt Disney World	Tony Stewart	Kenny Bräck	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	G-Force	Oldsmobile	Report
2	Phoenix	Jeff Ward	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
3	Indianapolis	Billy Boat	Tony Stewart	Eddie Cheever	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
4	Texas 1	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Billy Boat	Billy Boat	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
5	New Hampshire	Billy Boat	Davey Hamilton	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
6	Dover	Tony Stewart	Greg Ray	Scott Sharp	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
7	Charlotte	Tony Stewart	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
8	Pikes Peak	Billy Boat	Jeff Ward	Jeff Ward	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
9	Atlanta	Billy Boat	Billy Boat	Scott Goodyear	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	Report
10	Texas 2	Billy Boat	Jeff Ward	Tony Stewart	John Paul Jr.	Byrd-Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	Report
11	Las Vegas	Billy Boat	Arie Luyendyk	Arie Luyendyk	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	Report

Race summaries

Indy 200

The Indy 200 was held on January 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Qualifying was rained out, so Tony Stewart won the pole position due to the race being lined up by 1996–97 entrant standings for the first 20 positions and the remaining eight came from the best practice speeds of the remaining cars.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 24-Billy Roe, 27-John Hollansworth Jr., 41-Affonso Giaffone and 53-Jim Guthrie

Dura-Lube 200

The Dura-Lube 200 was held on March 22 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jeff Ward qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 19-Stan Wattles, 27-Robbie Groff, 40-Jack Miller and 53-Jim Guthrie

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 was held on May 24 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: 10-Brian Tyler, 10, 20, 29-Joe Gosek, 15, 19-Eliseo Salazar, 20-Tyce Carlson, 23-Paul Durant, 24-Dan Drinan, 27-Claude Bourbonnais, 54-Hideshi Matsuda, 66-Scott Harrington, 68-Jaques Lazier, 81-Danny Ongais and 90-Lyn St. James
Cheever became the first owner/driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since A. J. Foyt in 1977.
Cheever, whose team was unsponsored prior to this race, planned to shut down his team after the race. However, he and teammate Robby Unser received sponsorship from Rachel's Gourmet Potato Chips. This, combined with Cheever's victory, kept the team open the rest of the season.
Because St. James failed to qualify, the starting lineup consisted of only men for the first time since 1991.
On the first lap, Yeley spun out and collected Cheever. Both recovered to finish in the top 10.
Bräck ran out of fuel while leading. As a result, owner Foyt threw the laptop computer that said that Bräck had enough fuel in anger.

True Value 500

The True Value 500 was held June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. Tony Stewart qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 7-Jimmy Kite, 10-Mike Groff, 18-Jack Hewitt, 20-Tyce Carlson, 23-Paul Durant and 29-Joe Gosek
Boat's only IndyCar win. He had been declared the winner at Texas the previous year, but a scoring error was discovered that resulted in Arie Luyendyk getting the win.
John Paul Jr. replaced Groff at Byrd-Cunningham Racing for the remainder of the season.

New England 200

The New England 200 was held on June 28 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top ten results

Stewart's final IndyCar win.
Boat was involved in a large crash lap 95 and missed the next two races.
Team owner John Menard Jr. believed that A. J. Foyt Enterprises was cheating and withdrew his car driven by Robbie Buhl from the next two races. His other car, driven by Stewart, was not withdrawn as it was leading the point standings.

Pep Boys 400K

The Pep Boys 400K was held on July 19 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Tony Stewart qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 15-Eliseo Salazar
Greg Ray replaced the injured Billy Boat. He started 7th, but crashed with Eddie Cheever on lap 104 and finished 15th.
Only 10 of the 22 starters were running at the finish.

VisionAire 500K

The VisionAire 500K was held on July 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Tony Stewart qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Bräck's first IndyCar win.

Radisson 200

The Radisson 200 was held August 16 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Boat returned in this race. He qualified on the pole position and finished 9th, one lap down.
Buhl also returned in this race, finishing 2nd after starting 6th.

Atlanta 500 Classic

The Atlanta 500 Classic was held on August 29 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Lone Star 500

The Lone Star 500 was held on September 20 at Texas Motor Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Paul's second and final IndyCar win. 16 years earlier, he won the 1983 Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway.
Entering the season finale, Bräck led Hamilton by 31 points and Tony Stewart by 41 points.

Las Vegas 500K

The Las Vegas 500K was held on October 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Luyendyk's final IndyCar win. It would also be his final season as a full-time driver, as he would choose to go into semi-retirement in 1999.
Of the championship contenders, Tony Stewart started 2nd, but spun on lap seven and finished 14th (30 laps down), Davey Hamilton was involved in a crash with Roberto Guerrero on lap 130, finishing 19th. Bräck cruised the rest of the way to finish 10th, six laps down, enough to win the championship.

Points standings

Pos	Driver	WDW	PHX	INDY	TXS	NHS	DOV	CLT	PPIR	ATL	TXS	LSV	Pts
1	Kenny Bräck	13	14	6	3	18	10	1*	1	1	5	10	332
2	Davey Hamilton	3	26	4	7	4	4	7	5	2	9	19	292
3	Tony Stewart	1*	2*	33	14	1*	8	21	3	5	20*	14	289
4	Scott Sharp	6	1	16	5	3	1*	18	11	18	23	12	272
5	Buddy Lazier	15	28	2	11	7	2	13	7	17	6	3	262
6	Jeff Ward	2	5	13	17	22	19	2	20*	6	3	21	252
7	Scott Goodyear	17	6	24	4	2	6	3	18	4*	22	22	244
8	Arie Luyendyk	8	24	20	13	5	9	4	22	8	28	1*	227
9	Eddie Cheever	24	10	1*	26	9	16	20	8	3	25	5	222
10	Marco Greco	27	20	14	8	13	3	5	6	13	16	8	219
11	John Paul Jr.	10	19	7	16	26	21	6	15	23	1	4	216
12	Stéphan Grégoire	4	4	17	25	24	5	8	4	20	26	17	201
13	Billy Boat	21	3	23	1*	21			9	12	14	26	194
14	Sam Schmidt	9	7	26	18	12	17	14	13	15	27	2	186
15	Mark Dismore	5	16	27	21	8	18	15	19	7	10	15	180
16	Robby Unser RY			5	9	11	11		12	16	2	16	176
17	Robbie Buhl	20	12	31	6	10			2	11	7	7	174
18	Brian Tyler R	19	17	DNQ		14	12	16	16	21	13	6	140
19	Buzz Calkins	14	9	10	15	15	Wth		24	28	11	11	134
20	Raul Boesel	18	8	19	28	19	14	24	25	10	17	18	132
21	Greg Ray	25	11	18	2		15	17		24	21	25	128
22	Steve Knapp R			3			13		14	14	18	9	118
23	Dr. Jack Miller	23	DNQ	21	22	16	20	9	23	27	12	28	100
24	Andy Michner R			8				12	17	9	15		92
25	Stan Wattles	22	DNQ	28	10	17			Wth	26	8	13	88
26	Roberto Guerrero	26	27	22	24				21	19	4	20	83
27	Tyce Carlson	11	13	DNQ	12			11					73
28	Donnie Beechler R			32	27	20		19	10	22	19	23	71
29	Eliseo Salazar	12	23	DNQ	23	6	Wth						60
30	Mike Groff	7	15	15									56
31	Jimmy Kite	16	18	11				23					52
32	J. J. Yeley R		25	9	19	23				25			50
33	Jim Guthrie	DNQ	DNQ	29			7	22				24	41
34	Jack Hewitt R			12		25							23
35	Stevie Reeves R							10					20
36	Dave Steele R		22								24	27	17
37	Billy Roe	DNQ		30	20								11
38	Paul Durant		21	DNQ									9
39	Scott Harrington R			DNQ			22						8
40	Johnny Unser			25									5
41	Robbie Groff	28	DNQ										2
–	Affonso Giaffone	DNQ											0
–	Claude Bourbonnais			DNQ									0
–	Dan Drinan R			DNQ									0
–	Joe Gosek R			DNQ									0
–	Hideshi Matsuda			DNQ									0
–	Lyn St. James			DNQ									0
–	Danny Ongais			Wth									0
Pos	Driver	WDW	PHX	INDY	TXS	NHS	DOV	CLT	PPIR	ATL	TXS	LSV	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th–10th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position (2 points)
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps (1 point)
DNS	Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (3 points), the second best qualifier (2 points), the third best qualifier (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (2 point).

Notes:
Orlando: No additional points for the qualifying were awarded due to rain; starting grid were determined by 1996–97 entrant points for the first 20 positions and the remaining eight went to top practice times from Thursday.
Phoenix: Scott Sharp had 7 points deduction, because his car failed the post-race fuel capacity inspection.
Pikes Peak: Tony Stewart and Robbie Buhl had 15 points deduction each, because the rear wings of both Team Menard cars were found to be in violation of technical specifications.

Footnotes

^ Injured at New Hampshire.
^ Used from Atlanta onwards.
^ Initially replaced by Brian Tyler on Bump Day for the Indy 500, before Tyler relinquished the seat after practising.
^ Joe Gosek passed his Indianapolis rookie test in the car.
^ Used from Charlotte onwards.
^ Used at Phoenix, Indianapolis and Pikes Peak.
^ Signed after being injured at the Indy 500 while driving for ISM Racing.
^ Used at New Hampshire, Charlotte, Atlanta and Texas 2.
^ ^a ^b Not considered rookie for the Indy 500.
^ ^a ^b Considered rookie only for the Indy 500.
^ Used at Charlotte, and from Atlanta onwards.
^ ^a ^b Injured at Dover.
^ Injured in a practice crash at Dover.
^ Injured in a NASCAR Busch Series test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
^ Used by J. J. Yeley at Phoenix and Indianapolis.
^ Used by Eddie Cheever. Robby Unser used it at Indianapolis and New Hampshire.
^ Used at Walt Disney World. Tony Stewart used it at Phoenix and Dover.
^ He replaced Danny Ongais, who got injured in a practice crash.
^ Used at Las Vegas.