The 1998 Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss was the 21st stock car race of the

1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 50th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 27th modern-era cup series. The season included 33 races and three exhibition races, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Dayto ...

season and the 29th iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

. The race was held on Sunday, August 16, 1998, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Within the closing laps of the race,

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

driver

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

was able to take the lead with ten to go to take his 37th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his eighth of the season, and his fourth consecutive victory up to that point. To fill out the podium, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte and Robert Yates Racing driver

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Michigan_International_Speedway_track_map

The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped

located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of

Auto Club Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previ ...

. The track is owned by

International Speedway Corporation International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International ...

. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver. *Driver changed to

Frank Kimmel Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA champions ...

after suffering a concussion at the

1998 Brickyard 400 The 1998 Brickyard 400, the 5th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 1, 1998 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Contested at 160 laps on the 2.5 mile (4.023 km) speedway, it was the 19th race ...

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, August 14.

Ernie Irvan Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...

, driving for MB2 Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 39.132 and an average speed of .

Final practice

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, August 15. Mark Martin, driving for

Roush Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana * J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a re ...

, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 40.159 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 14, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, August 15, at 10:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. On January 24, 1998,

would announce that the amount of provisionals given would be increased from last season. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

, driving for MB2 Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 39.255 and an average speed of . Four drivers would fail to qualify:

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

, Kenny Wallace, Gary Bradberry, and Hut Stricklin.

Full qualifying results

Race results

References

{{1998 Winston Cup 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series NASCAR races at Michigan International Speedway August 1998 sports events in the United States 1998 in sports in Michigan