1998 New England 200

United States   1998 New Hampshire
Race details
5th Round of the 1998 Indy Racing League.
Date June 28, 1998
Official name New England 200
Location New Hampshire International Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.058 / 1.703 km
Distance 200 laps, 211.600 mi / 340.600 km
Pole
Driver United States Billy Boat United States A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Time 23.490
Fastest Lap
Driver United States Davey Hamilton United States Nienhouse Motorsports
Time 24.068
Podium
First United States Tony Stewart United States Team Menard
Second Canada Scott Goodyear United States Panther Racing
Third United States Scott Sharp United States Kelley Racing

The 1998 New England 200 was the fifth round of the 1998 Indy Racing League. The race was held on June 28, 1998 at the 1.058 mi (1.703 km) New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. It would be the last Indy car race held at this track until the 2011 MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225.

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Two laps qualifying. The worst lap from any of the drivers were not published, and therefore are unknown.

Pos No. Name Lap Best (in mph)
1 11 United States Billy Boat 23.490 162.146
2 35 United States Jeff Ward 23.644 161.089
3 91 United States Buddy Lazier 23.874 159.538
4 8 United States Scott Sharp W 23.926 159.191
5 4 Canada Scott Goodyear 23.953 159.011
6 1 United States Tony Stewart 23.970 158.899
7 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk 23.997 158.720
8 14 Sweden Kenny Bräck 24.116 157.937
9 30 Brazil Raul Boesel 24.140 157.780
10 10 United States John Paul, Jr. 24.165 157.616
11 51 United States Eddie Cheever 24.185 157.486
12 3 United States Robbie Buhl W 24.255 157.032
13 28 United States Mark Dismore 24.332 156.535
14 16 Brazil Marco Greco 24.429 155.913
15 98 United States Donnie Beechler R 24.715 154.109
16 77 France Stéphan Grégoire 24.862 153.198
17 15 Chile Eliseo Salazar 24.968 152.547
18 52 United States Robby Unser R 25.343 150.290
19 40 United States Jack Miller 25.528 149.201
20 18 United States Jack Hewitt R 25.605 148.752
21 44 United States J. J. Yeley R 25.666 148.399
22 6 United States Davey Hamilton 25.722 148.076
23 12 United States Buzz Calkins 25.860 147.285
24 99 United States Sam Schmidt 26.410 144.218
25 81 United States Brian Tyler R 26.711 142.593
26 19 United States Stan Wattles Didn't qualify No speed

Race

A NASCAR Modified race preceding the IRL race left a very slippery type of marbles in the surface. After Jeff Ward had jumped polesitter Billy Boat on the start, Kenny Bräck spun in turn 3 on the first lap and collected John Paul, Jr. Bräck was able to continue after repairs, but Paul was out. Immediately after that incident, Jack Hewitt lost the back end exiting turn 4 and backed into the front stretch wall. Scott Sharp jumped Ward on the restart until he chose to pit under caution (caused by J. J. Yeley's crash) on lap 27, handing the lead back to Ward.

This series of closely spaced yellows continued when Boat, who had been falling back, spun into the infield in turn 2. After the green on lap 32, Ward continued to lead until he was black flagged with fire coming out from under the car on lap 55. Scott Goodyear inherited the lead and looked very strong, pursued by Buddy Lazier and Davey Hamilton, who had set the fast lap of the race, but his chances were hurt when he was penalised for speeding in the pits during a caution on lap 77. Pit stops jumbled the running order and left Tony Stewart, Sharp, Arie Luyendyk and Eliseo Salazar pursuing Goodyear.

On lap 92, Stewart caught and passed Goodyear, just before a big crash in turn 2 on lap 95. Yeley, just returned to the track after extensive repairs, spun and contacted Donnie Beechler, who had been moving up through the field. Boat spun to avoid the wreck, but his car spun unexpectedly towards the inside, and he was hit by Raul Boesel. All four were out and Boat suffered a broken thigh, an injury that would force him to miss some races and end his championship hopes.

There were no further cautions in the second half of the race, which was dominated by Stewart. His biggest threats suffered misfortune: Sharp's engine stalled durin a pit stop on lap 147, while Goodyear suffered a gearbox failure and was forced to run in fourth gear. Despite concern about the engine blowing (it could be heard hitting the rev limiter quite notably on the onboards), it held through the end of the race, and even the Canadian was able to reel in Stewart in traffic, but could not follow him in clear runs. Stewart led the final 36 laps to win over Goodyear, Sharp, Hamilton, and Luyendyk. Salazar's sixth-place finish was the best to date for the Riley & Scott chassis. Poor attendance at the event for the fifth year in a row led to the contract not being renewed for 1999.

Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points
1 1 United States Tony Stewart Team Menard 200 1:51:30.262 6 93 52
2 4 Canada Scott Goodyear Panther Racing 200 + 1.788 sec 5 44 40
3 8 United States Scott Sharp W Kelley Racing 200 Running 4 9 35
4 6 United States Davey Hamilton Nienhouse Motorsports 200 Running 22 3 32
5 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing 199 + 1 lap 7 0 30
6 15 Chile Eliseo Salazar Riley & Scott Cars 199 + 1 lap 17 0 28
7 91 United States Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 199 + 1 lap 3 0 27
8 28 United States Mark Dismore Kelley Racing 199 + 1 lap 13 0 24
9 51 United States Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 198 + 2 laps 11 0 22
10 3 United States Robbie Buhl W Team Menard 198 + 2 laps 12 5 20
11 52 United States Robby Unser R Team Cheever 198 + 2 laps 18 0 19
12 99 United States Sam Schmidt LP Racing 196 + 4 laps 24 0 18
13 16 Brazil Marco Greco Phoenix Racing 191 + 9 laps 14 0 17
14 81 United States Brian Tyler R Team Pelfrey 190 + 10 laps 25 0 16
15 12 United States Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports 183 + 17 laps 23 0 15
16 40 United States Jack Miller Sinden Racing 168 + 32 laps 19 0 14
17 19 United States Stan Wattles Metro Racing Systems 127 Handling 26 0 13
18 14 Sweden Kenny Bräck A. J. Foyt Enterprises 98 Handling 8 0 12
19 30 Brazil Raul Boesel McCormack Motorsports 94 Accident 9 0 11
20 98 United States Donnie Beechler R Cahill Auto Racing 93 Accident 15 0 10
21 11 United States Billy Boat A. J. Foyt Enterprises 91 Accident 1 0 12
22 35 United States Jeff Ward ISM Racing 56 Engine 2 46 10
23 44 United States J. J. Yeley R Sinden Racing 38 Accident 21 0 7
24 77 France Stéphan Grégoire Chastain Motorsports 22 Engine 16 0 6
25 18 United States Jack Hewitt R PDM Racing 11 Accident 20 0 5
26 10 United States John Paul, Jr. Byrd-Cunningham Racing 2 Accident 10 0 4

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United States Tony Stewart 167
2 United States Scott Sharp 150
3 United States Davey Hamilton 129
4 United States Billy Boat 122
5 Canada Scott Goodyear 119
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

External links

Previous race:
1998 True Value 500
IndyCar Series
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Pep Boys 400K
Previous race:
1997 Pennzoil 200
New England 200 Next race:
2011 MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225
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