1998 Dura Lube 200

United States   1998 Phoenix
Race details
2nd Round of the 1998 Indy Racing League.
Date March 22, 1998
Official name Dura Lube 200
Location Phoenix International Raceway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 / 1.609 km
Distance 200 laps, 200.000 mi / 321.869 km
Pole
Driver United States Jeff Ward United States ISM Racing
Time 20.839
Fastest Lap
Driver United States Tony Stewart United States Team Menard
Time 21.996
Podium
First United States Scott Sharp United States Kelley Racing
Second United States Tony Stewart United States Team Menard
Third United States Billy Boat United States A. J. Foyt Enterprises

The 1998 Dura Lube 200 was the second round of the 1998 Indy Racing League. The race was held on March 22, 1998 at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Grid limited to 28 cars. Positions 1-26 determined by qualifying speed. Positions 27-28 reserved for provisionals (based on entrant points).

Pos No. Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Best (in mph)
1 35 United States Jeff Ward 20.839 21.242 172.753
2 11 United States Billy Boat 21.053 20.867 172.521
3 1 United States Tony Stewart 21.058 20.869 172.505
4 7 United States Jimmy Kite 20.872 20.896 172.480
5 14 Sweden Kenny Bräck 21.404 21.003 171.404
6 15 Chile Eliseo Salazar 21.116 21.023 171.241
7 6 United States Davey Hamilton 21.198 21.083 170.754
8 8 United States Scott Sharp 21.112 21.110 170.535
9 91 United States Buddy Lazier 21.161 21.476 170.124
10 44 United States J. J. Yeley R 21.258 21.163 170.108
11 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero W 21.225 21.176 170.004
12 3 United States Robbie Buhl 21.257 21.185 169.932
13 30 Brazil Raul Boesel 21.249 21.235 169.531
14 4 Canada Scott Goodyear 21.267 21.340 169.276
15 28 United States Mark Dismore 21.530 21.274 169.221
16 16 Brazil Marco Greco 21.565 21.312 168.919
17 12 United States Buzz Calkins 21.423 21.320 168.856
18 97 United States Greg Ray 22.003 21.441 167.903
19 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk W 21.656 21.520 167.286
20 51 United States Eddie Cheever 21.550 21.560 167.053
21 18 United States John Paul, Jr. 21.626 21.624 166.482
22 77 France Stephan Gregoire 21.779 21.676 166.082
23 22 United States Dave Steele R 22.190 21.809 165.069
24 10 United States Mike Groff 22.185 21.838 164.850
25 99 United States Sam Schmidt 22.220 21.861 164.677
26 23 United States Paul Durant 21.974 21.865 164.647
Provisionals
27 20 United States Tyce Carlson 23.244 23.660 154.879
28 17 United States Brian Tyler R 23.129 23.158 155.649
Didn't qualify
29 40 United States Jack Miller 22.398 21.880 164.534
30 53 United States Jim Guthrie W 22.418 21.898 164.399
31 27 United States Robbie Groff 21.957 22.062 163.957
32 19 United States Stan Wattles 22.364 21.997 163.659

Race

Scott Sharp got his second IRL victory; his first in the new cars. The difference between the fastest and slowest qualifier was the 2nd closest in Indycar history at Phoenix, which, combined with traction problems in turn 2 caused by a dip in the pavement, made for a rough race. Shockingly, neither the defending race champion, Jim Guthrie, nor his previous team Blueprint Racing (with Robbie Groff) qualified. Speeds were up from the previous year, and six cars broke the new-car track record led by surprise pole winner Jeff Ward, who jumped out to the early lead and held it until he encountered gearbox problems. He eventually lost fifth gear and was handicapped on restarts, although once up to speed he was still one of the fastest cars on the track. Eddie Cheever, from 20th starting position, moved into the top 10 by lap 11. Buddy Lazier dropped out early when he lost an engine and crashed in turn 3. On lap 19, John Paul, Jr. started a long sequence of incidents in turn 2 when he spun there.

After Ward's transmission malfunctioned, Tony Stewart took over the lead for almost 100 more laps. In between, Kenny Bräck, Billy Boat and Ward battled for position while Sharp moved up through the field. On lap 32, Sharp's teammate Mark Dismore wrecked in turn 2, and lost some laps before returning to the race, something that would be significant for the outcome of the race. Rookie J. J. Yeley surprised qualifying 10th in his first IRL start, but he spun in turn 2 on lap 46. Davey Hamilton tried to squeeze by on the outside but slid into the wall and then into Yeley. Another first-timer, Dave Steele, was involved in a frightening accident at the same spot on lap 59. Eliseo Salazar spun and collected Steele and Robbie Buhl. Trying to avoid him, Arie Luyendyk touched wheels with Salazar. Luyendyk's car went up and over, and slid through turn 2 upside down. The Dutch had significant damage to his helmet from the pavement but only had a hand burn caused by scraping the asphalt during the spin.

Cheever had moved into the lead prior to this yellow, but lost a lap when his crew got the left and right rear tires reversed on a pit stop, and he never managed to make up the lap. Then, Stephan Gregoire moved into second place behind Stewart. Buzz Calkins was picking up his lap times, and after a caution for Paul Durant's blown engine on lap 106, he made up a lap and joined the lead pack, but he got hit by debris when Paul, Jr. wrecked on lap 133 and had to put for a new nose, losing again a lap. At this point, Stewart still led, with Bräck pursuing him but being unable to catch the leader. Pit strategy came into play on lap 169 when Sam Schmidt spun in turn 2. All cars on the lead lap cars pitted with the exception of Sharp, who decided to gamble on fuel.

After the green flag on lap 174, Sharp quickly opened up a 3-second lead in traffic but then had to slow to conserve fuel. On lap 186, Bräck got caught in a four wide pass in the back stretch dogleg and he touched wheels with Mike Groff. Both crashed hard and Groff had to be cut out of his car. Groff was taken to the hospital, examined, and released. The resulting long caution allowed Sharp to conserve fuel. The green waved with 2 laps to go. Between the leaders was Dismore, many laps down but running fast. Dismore bogged down at the start and held up Stewart and Boat. The race would end in thar order: despite the controversy that erupted following the race, Dismore claimed to not have received any "team orders", but he was fined $5,000 for "unsportsmanlike conduct". Sharp was also fined $15,000 and docked 7 points for "failing to meet the fuel tank capacity requirement", as his car held more fuel than allowed.[1] Gregoire's unsponsored car logged its second consecutive fourth-place finish, whil Ward finished fifth. Schmidt, with an underfunded team, managed his best finish ever in the IRL with a 7th place despite two spins.

Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points
1 8 United States Scott Sharp Kelley Racing 200 2:02:18.735 8 30 43
2 1 United States Tony Stewart Team Menard 200 + 2.366 sec 3 127 43
3 11 United States Billy Boat A. J. Foyt Enterprises 200 + 3.280 sec 2 12 37
4 77 France Stephan Gregoire Chastain Motorsports 199 + 1 lap 22 0 32
5 35 United States Jeff Ward ISM Racing 199 + 1 lap 1 25 33
6 4 Canada Scott Goodyear Panther Racing 199 + 1 lap 14 0 28
7 99 United States Sam Schmidt LP Racing 198 + 2 laps 25 0 26
8 30 Brazil Raul Boesel McCormack Motorsports 197 + 3 laps 13 0 24
9 12 United States Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports 197 + 3 laps 17 0 22
10 51 United States Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 196 + 4 laps 20 6 20
11 97 United States Greg Ray Knapp Motorsports 192 + 8 laps 18 0 19
12 3 United States Robbie Buhl Team Menard 187 + 13 laps 12 0 18
13 20 United States Tyce Carlson Immke Racing 186 + 14 laps 27 0 17
14 14 Sweden Kenny Bräck A. J. Foyt Enterprises 185 Accident 5 0 16
15 10 United States Mike Groff Byrd-Cunningham Racing 177 Accident 24 0 15
16 28 United States Mark Dismore Kelley Racing 175 + 25 laps 15 0 14
17 17 United States Brian Tyler R Treadway Racing 168 + 32 laps 28 0 13
18 7 United States Jimmy Kite Team Scandia 129 + 71 laps 4 0 12
19 18 United States John Paul, Jr. PDM Racing 126 Accident 21 0 11
20 16 Brazil Marco Greco Phoenix Racing 122 + 78 laps 16 0 10
21 23 United States Paul Durant CBR Cobb Racing 99 Engine 26 0 9
22 22 United States Dave Steele R RSM Marko 59 Engine 23 0 8
23 15 Chile Eliseo Salazar Riley & Scott Cars 58 Accident 6 0 7
24 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk W Treadway Racing 58 Accident 19 0 6
25 44 United States J. J. Yeley R Sinden Racing Services 45 Accident 10 0 5
26 6 United States Davey Hamilton Nienhouse Motorsports 45 Accident 7 0 4
27 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero W Pagan Racing 44 Transmission 11 0 3
28 91 United States Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 9 Accident 9 0 2

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United States Tony Stewart 95
2 United States Jeff Ward 73
3 United States Scott Sharp 71
4 France Stephan Gregoire 64
5 United States Sam Schmidt 48
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

References

  1. "Sharp/Dismore Fined for Phoenix Infractions". The Auto Channel. Retrieved 2015-07-29.

External links

Previous race:
1998 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World
IndyCar Series
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Indianapolis 500
Previous race:
1997 Phoenix 200
Dura Lube 200 Next race:
1999 MCI WorldCom 200
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