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1998 Daytona 500
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The 1998 Daytona 500 was run on February 15, 1998. It is memorable in that it marked Dale Earnhardt's first and only Daytona 500 victory after 19 previous attempts and many heartbreaking finishes. Not only was it Earnhardt's 20th 500 start, but also CBS's 20th consecutive live broadcast of the Daytona 500.
The race was remarkably clean for a restrictor plate race. There were only three cautions - all of them for minor incidents, and the race was run under the green flag for the first 125 laps.
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Encyclopedia
The 1998 Daytona 500 was run on February 15, 1998. It is memorable in that it marked Dale Earnhardt's first and only Daytona 500 victory after 19 previous attempts and many heartbreaking finishes. Not only was it Earnhardt's 20th 500 start, but also CBS's 20th consecutive live broadcast of the Daytona 500.
The race was remarkably clean for a restrictor plate race. There were only three cautions - all of them for minor incidents, and the race was run under the green flag for the first 125 laps. This resulted in it being the third-fastest Daytona 500 ever, behind the 1980 Daytona 500 won by Buddy Baker, and the fastest of the restrictor plate era.
Pre-race buildup
The race began with emphasis on NASCAR's 50th Anniversary Celebration. The pre-race show on CBS featured some of the greatest Daytona 500 finishes in recent memory. It also detailed the famous Daytona Beach Road Course and it featured Russ Truelove, Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Red Farmer and Junior Johnson on the Daytona Beach with one of Tim Flock's old "Full Jeweled" #300 Chryslers.
Lap 198
Dale Earnhardt led Bobby Labonte and Jeremy Mayfield heading into turn 2. Lake Speed and John Andretti got together off turn 2 and both cars spun, setting up a scenario where Earnhardt, Labonte, and Mayfield were all in contention for the win. With 1 1/2 laps, the three came up on the lap car of Rick Mast. Earnhardt easily passed Mast on the outside. Labonte lost Earnhardt's draft while Mayfield sped to the inside of Mast. Earnhardt led Labonte and Mayfield, who were side by side. Earnhardt took the white and yellow flags in first while Labonte edged Mayfield for second by a fender. This was before the green-white-checkered finish was introduced, so the race ended under caution.
Results
- 3-Dale Earnhardt, Led 107 of 200 Laps
- 18-Bobby Labonte, Polesitter; Led 22 Laps
- 12-Jeremy Mayfield
- 33-Ken Schrader
- 2-Rusty Wallace, Led 4 Laps
- 36-Ernie Irvan
- 97-Chad Little
- 31-Mike Skinner, Led 1 Lap
- 21-Michael Waltrip
- 94-Bill Elliott
- 44-Kyle Petty
- 4-Bobby Hamilton
- 5-Terry Labonte, Led 2 Laps
- 50-Ricky Craven
- 23-Jimmy Spencer
- 24-Jeff Gordon, Led 56 Laps
- 9-Lake Speed
- 43-John Andretti
- 28-Kenny Irwin, Jr.*, 1 Lap down
- 16-Ted Musgrave, 1 Lap down
- 13-Jerry Nadeau*, 1 Lap down
- 40-Sterling Marlin, 1 Lap down; Led 2 Laps
- 73-Mike Wallace, 1 Lap down
- 11-Brett Bodine, 1 Lap down
- 22-Ward Burton, 1 Lap down
- 42-Joe Nemechek, 1 Lap down; Led 6 Laps
- 90-Dick Trickle, 2 Laps down
- 41-Steve Grissom, 2 Laps down
- 95-Andy Hillenburg, 2 Laps down
- 75-Rick Mast, 3 Laps down
- 7-Geoffrey Bodine, 3 Laps down
- 77-Robert Pressley, 3 Laps down
- 17-Darrell Waltrip, 4 Laps down
- 88-Dale Jarrett, 4 Laps down
- 47-Billy Standridge, 4 Laps down
- 71-Dave Marcis, 7 Laps down
- 30-Derrike Cope, 9 Laps down
- 6-Mark Martin, 13 Laps down
- 98-Greg Sacks, 27 Laps down
- 99-Jeff Burton, 160 Laps Completed (Engine Failure)
- 1-Steve Park*, 158 Laps (Ignition)
- 10-Ricky Rudd, 117 Laps (Ignition)
- 91-Kevin Lepage*, 78 Laps (Engine Failure).
Failed to Qualify
46-Wally Dallenbach, Jr., 81-Kenny Wallace, 96-David Green, 78-Gary Bradberry, 29-Jeff Green, 79-Norm Benning, 8-Hut Stricklin, 14-Loy Allen, Jr., 80-Michael Ciochetti, 59-Mark Gibson, 26-Johnny Benson, 35-Todd Bodine, 07-Dan Pardus, and 0-Randy Renfrow.
Quotes
- "Look, out on pit road! Every man on every crew has come out to the edge of pit lane to congratulate the man who has dominated everything there is to win in this sport, except this race; until today."--Mike Joy on the crew members congratualting Dale Earnhardt on his Daytona 500 victory.
- "The most anticipated moment in the history of motor racing, Dale Earnhardt rolling into Victory Lane in the Daytona 500"--Mike Joy during the broadcast
- "Dale was like a kid at Christmas, and there was a time where I just wanted to sit back and just watch him"--Larry McReynolds on Earnhardt's win.
- "It took ten years off my life, if I had made that race, I would have lived another ten years"--Rick Mast on missing the 1997 Daytona 500 after making the 1998 race.
- "The Daytona 500 is ours. We won it, we won it, we won it!" Dale Earnhardt in victory lane during post race TV interview
See also
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