1998 Indianapolis 500

82nd running of the Indianapolis 500

The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the third Indianapolis 500 run as part of the Indy Racing League, but the first fully sanctioned by the IRL after they relied on USAC to sanction the 1996–1997 races. The race was part of the 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season. Eddie Cheever, a former Formula One driver that had competed in Indy car racing since 1990, highlighted his racing career with this lone Indianapolis win. Cheever finished three seconds ahead of second place Buddy Lazier, the 1996 winner. Cheever became the first owner/driver to win the "500" since A. J. Foyt in 1977. The 1998 race ushered in a compacted, two week schedule for the Indy 500, omitting an entire week of practice, and trimming qualifying from four days down to two. During time trials, Billy Boat secured the first pole position at Indy for the Foyt team since 1975. This was the first Indianapolis victory for the Dallara chassis. In the second year utilizing the 4.0 L, normally aspirated, 32 valve production based engines (Aurora L47 and Infiniti VH), qualifying speeds climbed, topping out nearly six miles per hour faster than 1997.

The ongoing IRL/CART split continued into its third year. The two series began moving further apart, and for the second time, no major teams from the CART ranks entered at Indianapolis. CART teams raced on Saturday at the Motorola 300.

After controversy in 1997, the "25/8 Rule", which locked in entries to the starting field based on championship points standings, was scrapped for 1998. The 33 car field would revert to the traditional 33 fastest qualifiers. For 1998, the schedule for the month of May was trimmed down, in an effort to reduce costs. An experimental "two week" schedule was proposed, consisting of one full week of practice, and two days of time trials. An open test was scheduled in April which also included rookie orientation. During qualifying, once the field is filled to 33, cars that subsequently bump their way into the field on the second day of time trials (Bump Day) will at that moment be (tentatively) slotted in the 33rd starting position, regardless of their overall speed rank on the second day. Previously cars that bumped their way into the field lined up based on speed rank of the day they qualified. The change was made to encourage more cars qualifying on pole day. As a result, the field was lined up the order of: first day (pole day) qualifiers, followed by second day qualifiers (those that qualified before the field was filled to 33), followed by cars that bumped their way into the field on the second day. A new rule change for 1998 allowed cars to return to the garage area to make repairs and subsequently re enter the race. Previously, all repairs (whether major or minor) had to be done in the pit area only. Prior to 1998, any car that crossed the entrance to Gasoline Alley was ruled out of the race, regardless of its condition. Likewise, any stalled car towed back to the garage area through escape roads in the infield (instead of around the circuit itself) was ruled out of the race, even if the issue was something as harmless as running out of fuel (that aspect of the rule was the source of controversy in the 1972 race with Jim Hurtubise). The repair rule change was made at the request of teams, which considered it a safety measure, as well as a fair way to allow more cars to finish the race. Pit crew members working for extended periods of time on the actual pit lane felt exposed to injuries/accidents from other cars entering and exiting the pits literally inches away. It also allowed them access to necessary tools and allowed them to make major repairs. This new rule was similar in practice to the policy that NASCAR had, where cars were allowed to "go behind the wall" to make repairs and re enter the competition. A limit was enforced, however, such that no car could make repairs and re enter the race after the leaders completed 190 laps.

Opening day saw Mike Groff take the honor of "first car on the track." Crashes during the day were suffered by Jack Hewitt and Jimmy Kite, neither were serious. Robbie Buhl was the fastest car of the day, at 219.325 mph.

Tony Stewart led the speed chart, with a lap of 223.703 mph. It was the fastest lap since the normally aspirated engine formula was adopted in 1997. Eight drivers in total broke the 200 mph barrier. Danny Ongais suffered the most serious crash thus far for the month, and was sidelined with a concussion. Arie Luyendyk, Mike Groff, Raul Boesel and Tony Stewart all suffered mechanical problems, and required tows back to the garage area. Off the track, Eddie Cheever announced a sponsorship deal with Rachel's Gourmet Potato Chips.

Tony Stewart nearly matched his speed from a day before, with a fast lap of 223.691 mph. Second best Kenny Bräck was a full 2 mph slower at 221.593 mph. Sunny skies, with temperatures in the 70s greeted the Speedway for the third day in a row.

Moisture from an overnight shower delayed the start of practice for about a half hour. Billy Boat took the honors for fastest of the day at 221.691 mph, while Tony Stewart sat out the day. Temperatures topped out at 80 degrees late in the day.

Jimmy Kite suffered his second wall contact of the week, backing the car into the wall in turn 4. Another warm, 83 degree afternoon saw Tony Stewart once again on top of the speed chart (223.430 mph).

The final day of practice before pole day was warm, with a high of 81 degrees. Tony Stewart topped the speed chart with the fastest lap of the month (223.797 mph). Kenny Bräck and Billy Boat were also over 221 mph. Boat, however, wrecked his primary car in turn 3 shortly after the 11 a. m. start. Also spinning in a separate incident (but not making contact) was Jack Hewitt. At the close of practice, Tony Stewart entered time trials as the favorite for the pole position. Stewart led the speed chart on four of the six days of practice (sitting out one day). Foyt drivers Kenny Bräck and Billy Boat were also front row favorites, however, Boat's crash on Friday seemed to dim his chances.

Pole day dawned sunny and clear, with temperatures in the high 70s. Qualifying started on time promptly at 11 a. m., but saw two early wave offs. The first two notable runs were put in by Robbie Buhl (220.236 mph) and Tony Stewart (220.386 mph), but the speeds were down from their expectations. At noon, Kenny Bräck took over the provisional pole with a run of 220.982 mph. Minutes later, Jimmy Kite crashed for the third time of the week. At 12:45 p. m., Billy Boat took to the track for his run. His first lap was a remarkable 224.573 mph, the fastest lap of the month. The three other laps dropped off, but his four lap average of 223.503 mph was fast enough to secure the pole position. Sixteen cars completed runs before the mid afternoon down time. Around 4:15 p. m., qualifying resumed, with drivers Scott Sharp and Eddie Cheever among those making the field. At 5:15 p. m., Greg Ray squeezed onto the front row, as the second fastest qualifier (221.125 mph). At the end of the day, the field was filled to 26 cars, after a record 42 qualifying attempts. Among the notables not yet in the field were Arie Luyendyk, Lyn St. James, and Jeff Ward. Luyendyk suffered through engine trouble most of the day. Billy Boat's unexpected speed in qualifying drew the attention of competitors, given that it occurred in the heat of the day, and it was 2 1/2 miles per hour faster than he had run all week. Team Menard threatened to protest, and accused Foyt Racing of cheating by illegally using nitrous. The Indy Racing League took no action, and Boat was not penalized.

With seven positions remaining in the field, the second and final day of time trials saw heavy activity. In the first hour, veterans Raul Boesel, Arie Luyendyk and Jeff Ward were among the early qualifiers. Scott Harrington, however, blew an engine and wrecked on his second lap, which put a halt to qualifying for nearly 45 minutes. In the heat of the day (1:52 p. m.), Eliseo Salazar completed a run at 216.259 mph, the second slowest in the field. His run was followed by a long down time, as teams waited for optimum conditions. At 4:30 p. m., qualifying resumed, and several cars took to the track. During the next hour, 13 attempts were made, but only 5 were run to completion. After three wrecks for the week, Jimmy Kite found the needed speed, and managed to fill the field to 33 cars at 4:55 p. m. With Billy Roe (215.781 mph) the first driver on the bubble, Mike Groff bumped him out at 5:23 p. m. That put Eliseo Salazar (216.259 mph) on the bubble. Minutes later, Roe went back out and bumped his way back into the field. The move placed Johnny Unser (216.316 mph) now on the bubble. Claude Bourbonnais, Dan Drinan, and Lyn St. James all fell short of Johnny Unser's speed, and failed to bump him out. With four minutes remaining, Eliseo Salazar scrambled into Stan Wattles' back up car, but managed only 211 mph on the first two laps. The car began smoking, and he was waved off. The 6 o'clock gun fired with Hideshi Matsuda waiting in line. With Lyn St. James having failed to qualify, the 500 had an all male field for the first time since 1991.

The final practice session saw the Foyt entries of Kenny Bräck and Billy Boat top the speed chart. Bräck (220.994 mph) was the only driver over 220 mph. No incidents were reported, but Stan Wattles twice stalled on the track with mechanical problems. Panther Racing with driver Scott Goodyear won the Coors Indy Pit Stop Challenge.

RowInsideMiddleOutside1 11 Billy Boat 97 Greg Ray 14 Kenny Bräck2 1 Tony Stewart 3 Robbie Buhl 99 Sam Schmidt3 8 Scott Sharp 6 Davey Hamilton 21 Roberto Guerrero4 4 Scott Goodyear 91 Buddy Lazier 28 Mark Dismore5 44 J. J. Yeley 16 Marco Greco 40 Jack Miller6 81 John Paul Jr. 51 Eddie Cheever 12 Buzz Calkins7 17 Andy Michner 53 Jim Guthrie 52 Robby Unser 8 18 Jack Hewitt 55 Steve Knapp 98 Donnie Beechler 9 9 Johnny Unser 7 Jimmy Kite 35 Jeff Ward10 5 Arie Luyendyk 19 Stan Wattles 30 Raul Boesel11 77 Stéphan Grégoire 10 Mike Groff 33 Billy Roe

Rain fell race morning, and delayed the start of the race by about 35 minutes. While track drying efforts were on going, a dog sneaked out onto the track in turn four, and began running down the pit lane. It eluded officials, and ran all the way to turn two before being caught. Mari Hulman George gave the command to start engines at 11:32 a. m. EST, and the field pulled away for the parade laps. Before the final pace lap, Raul Boesel entered the pits with a fuel pump problem and missed the start of the race. His car would only complete three racing laps before being towed to the garage on Lap 8, going on to lose 35 laps until he was back on track.

At the start, Eddie Cheever got loose in turn one, and pinched J. J. Yeley down to the inside, which resulted in a half spin for both of them, and an early caution for three laps. Despite a slight contact, Cheever continued unharmed. Yeley managed to stop the car without hitting the wall, but his engine stalled, and lost a lap awaiting to be restarted by safety crews. At the front of the pack, Billy Boat led the first dozen laps, while Kenny Bräck dropped from third to tenth on the restart due to a missed gear. On lap 13, Greg Ray took over the lead, with Tony Stewart charging in third after exchanging passes with teammate Robbie Buhl. On Lap 16, Buddy Lazier pitted out of sequence from tenth place, looking for an alternative strategy. By Lap 19, Bräck had climbed back to third place, passing Buhl and Boat in the same lap. On Lap 21, Ray became hung up in traffic, and Stewart dove into the lead down the main stretch. One lap later, however, Stewart's engine blew and the car coasted to a stop in turn one. A dejected Stewart threw his steering wheel and gloves into his empty cockpit, as misfortune struck him again for the third straight "500".

The first round of pit stops under caution saw an incident between Jeff Ward and Stéphan Grégoire. After his stop, Ward collided with the left rear tyre of Grégoire as he was entering his pit box, damaging his own front wing. Billy Boat fell to the bottom of the top 10 after stalling his car, and Arie Luyendyk developed a clutch issue that prevented him from downshifting into first or second gear, which made him stall three times before finally getting onto the track. Just before the restart, Scott Goodyear relinquished his fourth place and entered the pits again, losing 35 laps with clutch issues. Greg Ray led the restart on Lap 27 ahead of Kenny Bräck and Davey Hamilton, while running behind the cars of Luyendyk and Lazier, which were still on the lead lap. By that point, Eddie Cheever was already up to 10th place, having passed several cars and taking advantage from not stopping during the previous caution. On Lap 32, race leader Ray slowed suddenly on the backstraight with a broken transmission. He made it to the pits and would later rejoin the race, 18 laps down. Two laps later, Donnie Beechler broke an engine, bringing out the third caution of the race, on which Lazier made his second pit stop and Boat made additional stops to correct handling issues. Robbie Buhl had overtaken Hamilton during a brief slowdown caused by Ray's issues, and was second behind Kenny Bräck, but he encountered water temperature problems in his engine. After the restart on Lap 39, Buhl lost places to Hamilton and Scott Sharp, and was already down in seventh place when he suffered yet another engine failure, ending Team Menard's race on Lap 45. Before that yellow, Cheever continued his charge towards the front; having passed Roberto Guerrero and rookie Steve Knapp earlier, he also got past Sam Schmidt, Buhl and Sharp to claim third place, just missing on a pass for second over Hamilton while the caution came out. Buzz Calkins and Buddy Lazier, both out of sequence, led the restart as the green came out on Lap 49, while Billy Boat's gearbox finally seized as it got stuck in second gear. During the restart lap, a major crash occurred in turn 3 when several cars were running two wide at the front of the field. Sam Schmidt, running inside of Davey Hamilton for second place, got into the grass, lost control, and spun backwards into the turn three wall. Eddie Cheever, who was immediately behind after getting passed by Schmidt, slipped underneath, and escaped the incident. Stan Wattles ran into the back of Mark Dismore, and they collected Roberto Guerrero. Jim Guthrie then approached the scene and tried to avoid the crash by running on the grass, but he collected an errant wing from Schmidt's car that fell in front of him just as he rejoined the racetrack, and the car shot head on into the outside wall. Guthrie was extracted by the medical team and transported to Methodist Hospital with a broken elbow, broken leg, and cracked ribs. Billy Roe avoided the incident at first, but spun the car on the deceleration lane between turns 3 and 4, and crashed. After a long yellow flag, and a series of pit stops, Kenny Bräck and Eddie Cheever were leading the race over Scott Sharp. Arie Luyendyk had taken advantage of the high attrition and good restarts to place himself in fourth place over an advancing John Paul Jr. and Davey Hamilton, who had repaired minor damages during his pit stop. Buddy Lazier, on the other hand, had stayed out in the lead until Lap 61 and was placed in tenth at the time among the 13 cars on the lead lap. The race got back underway on Lap 64, with Cheever taking the lead for the first time on Lap 68 and Paul Jr. climbing up to second by Lap 73, while Sharp lost places steadily. Green flag pit stops occurred from Lap 83, with Buddy Lazier pitting ten laps later. Arie Luyendyk had to be pushed out due to his clutch issues, and a miscalculation by Foyt's crew caused Kenny Bräck to run out of fuel, costing him two laps. The mistake angered A. J. Foyt, who scolded his engineers before smashing the team's computer. Eddie Cheever lost some time during his stop as he exited his pit box before his crew removed the fuel nozzle, but he managed to retain the lead by 1.5 seconds over John Paul Jr., with Davey Hamilton a further five seconds behind and Robby Unser holding Luyendyk for fourth. As Cheever had lapped several cars, Steve Knapp and Lazier were the last cars on the lead lap, half a minute behind. Just after the pit stops were completed, the caution came out on Lap 96, as Jimmy Kite stopped along the track.

With just seven cars on the lead lap, Eddie Cheever and Steve Knapp took advantage of the yellow to top off on fuel, handing the lead to John Paul Jr. as the green came out at the halfway point, when Johnny Unser retired with a blown engine. Paul pulled a five second lead over Davey Hamilton before he pitted on Lap 113, with Robby Unser, Hamilton and Arie Luyendyk following suit. After completing a pit stop, Jack Miller stopped on Turn 2 with a battery issue, handing Cheever, Buddy Lazier and Knapp the opportunity to pit again. After the Lap 128 restart, Luyendyk passed Hamilton for second, and Cheever followed suit climbing up to third. After his earlier gearbox troubles, Billy Boat finally dropped out for good on Lap 132. In the subsequent caution, Jeff Ward lost a rear wheel that had been poorly fixed in a previous green flag stop. The race restarted on Lap 136, with Paul Jr., Luyendyk and Cheever running closely together. Paul Jr. picked up a big piece of plastic in his radiators and had a slow pit stop on Lap 147, and Robby Unser overshoot his pit stall. Luyendyk's clutch problems finally took their toll on Lap 150 as he left the pits very slowly. The caution came out three laps later, as Luyendyk pulled off between turns 3 and 4, causing Robby Unser to fall off the lead lap. Paul Jr. and Hamilton had managed to not lose a lap with Cheever and led the restart order on Lap 157. Hamilton was quickly dealt with, but Paul Jr. offered more resistance until Lap 163, when a malfunction in the yellow flag indicator of his steering wheel made him lift off just enough to lose his lap. This left Buddy Lazier and Steve Knapp as the only other drivers on the lead lap, four and seven seconds back respectively. A new caution period on Lap 176 set the stage for the end of the race, when Stéphan Grégoire brushed the wall heavily in Turn 4. John Paul Jr.'s slim chances for a win died when he stalled four times trying to exit the pits on lap 177. He lost three laps, and was in the pits for almost four minutes. All three drivers in the lead lap were now in the same strategy, with Cheever and Lazier separated by the lapped cars of Robby Unser and Jeff Ward, and Steve Knapp a further four lapped cars behind Lazier. The restart on Lap 180 was short lived, as Jack Hewitt spun the car on the outside of Turn 1. The veteran rookie used his dirt track skills to keep the car off the wall. In the following restart, Scott Sharp lost second gear and had to retire from fifth place.

With 17 laps to go, Buddy Lazier passed the lapped cars on the restart and went after Cheever, being able to keep up for a few laps. Cheever eventually stretched the lead to over 3 seconds, but another yellow on Lap 191 was brought out by the smoking car of Marco Greco. With five laps to go, the green came back out, and Lazier was nose to tail with Cheever, who held off the challenge as he weaved from side to side in the front straight. Cheever set off on a blistering pace and almost brushed the wall a lap later at the exit of Turn 3, but stretched out to a 3.19 second margin to grab the victory. Steve Knapp, the only other driver to finish on the lead lap, was named rookie of the year after finishing third in his first Indy car race, a feat last accomplished by Lyn St. James in 1992. Kenny Bräck salvaged a sixth place finish, and Andy Michner kept his nose clean while battling an electrical problem to finish eighth over J. J. Yeley. Both were scored three laps down, and neither would run at Indy again. Mike Groff suffered from engine misfires during the whole race in route to a 15th place finish, in what would be his final Indy car start. Cheever became the first driver to win the Indy 500 in his own car since A. J. Foyt in 1977, and the first winner since 1989 to have led the most laps. His win from 17th on the grid was the farthest an Indy car race had been won since Al Unser's fourth Indy 500 win from 20th in 1987. For the first time, and last, since 1982, all drivers in the top 5 hailed from the United States, with Bräck as the lone foreign driver within the top 13, and four rookies finished in the top 10 for the first time since 1965. Due to the high attrition among the main favourites, none of the top 3 drivers had started in the first three rows, as it had happened in the highly infamous 1973 and 1992 races.

Lap Leaders Laps Leader1–12 Billy Boat13–20 Greg Ray21 Tony Stewart22–31 Greg Ray32–46 Kenny Bräck47–50 Buzz Calkins51–61 Buddy Lazier62–67 Kenny Bräck68–84 Eddie Cheever85 Arie Luyendyk86–87 Kenny Bräck88–93 Buddy Lazier94–97 Eddie Cheever98–113 John Paul Jr.114–116 Davey Hamilton117–122 Eddie Cheever123 Buddy Lazier124–146 John Paul Jr.147–149 Arie Luyendyk150–153 Eddie Cheever154 Buddy Lazier155–176 Eddie Cheever177 Buddy Lazier178–200 Eddie Cheever

Total laps led Driver Laps Eddie Cheever 76 John Paul Jr. 39 Kenny Bräck 23 Buddy Lazier 20 Greg Ray 18 Billy Boat 12 Buzz Calkins 4 Arie Luyendyk 4 Davey Hamilton 3 Tony Stewart 1

Cautions: 12 for 61 lapsLapsReason1–3 J. J. Yeley spin in turn 122–26 Tony Stewart stalled on track34–38 Donnie Beechler blown engine45–48 Robbie Buhl stalled on track49–63 Roe, Guthrie, Wattles, Dismore, Schmidt crash in turn 396–99 Jimmy Kite stalled on track122–127 Jack Miller stalled on track132–135 Billy Boat stalled on track153–156 Arie Luyendyk stalled on track176–179 Stéphan Grégoire brushed wall in turn 4180–182 Jack Hewitt spun in turn 1191–194 Marco Greco blown engine

Tire participation chartSupplierNo. of startersGoodyear 22*Firestone 11 * Denotes race winner