Jeff Gordon Wins

AC Delco 400 (November 1, 1998)
QUALIFYING: Mark Martin won the Bud Pole with a speed of 156.502mph and a time of 00:23.394sec. Rusty Wallace started 3rd with a speed of 155.505mph and a time of 00:23.544sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Mark Martin, 2nd-Johnny Benson, 3rd-Rusty Wallace, 4th-Dale Jarrett, 5th-Geoff Bodine, 6th-Jeremy Mayfield, 7th-Ricky Rudd, 8th-Derrike Cope, 9th-Jeff Gordon, 10th-John Andretti. Notables in field: 13th-Jeff Burton, 14th-Ken Schrader, 19th-Bobby Labonte, 20th-Michael Waltrip, 21st-Terry Labonte, 29th-Dale Earnhardt, 37th-Ricky Craven. Starting Grid

RACE: Gordon clinched his 3rd championship in four years about a third of the way through the ACDelco 400, then punctuated his day by catching and passing Rusty Wallace with 8 laps to go to claim his 12th victory this year. The victory made Gordon the youngest three-time Winston Cup champion in history and only the seventh driver ever to win that many titles. Gordon ran in the top 10 most of the day, and used a quick pit stop to move into second place behind Wallace with 40 laps to go. Riding in a high groove while Wallace stayed low through turns three and four, Gordon kept cutting into the lead until he finally slipped by on lap 385, pulling away for a .520-second victory over Dale Jarrett. The victory moved Gordon within one victory of Richard Petty's modern-day mark of 13 in a season with one race remaining. Petty and Dale Earnhardt have each won seven championships, while Waltrip, Lee Petty, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough are the only others to win three. Pearson had been the youngest, winning his third at 31 in 1969. Jarrett, who spent four days in an Arizona hospital with gall stones and wasn't released until Thursday, led five times for a race-high 195 laps. He finished second in a Ford despite still fighting the effects of his illness. Martin locked up second place in the final point standings for the third time in his career. The average speed was a track record 128.423 mph and 4 cautions for 25 laps was also a record. Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Dale Jarrett, 3rd-Rusty Wallace, 4th-Mark Martin, 5th-Jeff Burton, 6th-Bobby Hamilton, 7th-Ward Burton, 8th-Terry Labonte, 9th-Dale Earnhardt, 10th-Ricky Rudd. Notables in the field: 14th-Ken Schrader, 15th-Bobby Labonte, 22nd-Michael Waltrip, 29th-Jeremy Mayfield, 37th-Ricky Craven. Race Results


�2 - Rusty Wallace
�������Started: 3rd ��������������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 153
�������Finished: 3rd�������������Lowest: 10th

3 - Dale Earnhardt
�������Started: 29th ������������Highest: 1st�������������Laps Led: 8
������ Finished: 9th������������Lowest: 30th

5 - Terry Labonte
�������Started: 21st �������������Highest: 1st��������������Laps Led: 3
� �����Finished: 8th��������������Lowest: 21st

�6 - Mark Martin
�������Started: 1st� �����������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 1
�������Finished: 4th��������������Lowest: 11th

24 - Jeff Gordon
�������Started: 9th ���������������Highest: 1st���������������Laps Led: 28
� �����Finished: 1st������������Lowest: 12th

88 - Dale Jarrett
�������Started: 4th �������������Highest: 1st���������������Laps Led: 195
��� ���Finished: 2nd������������Lowest: 4th

99 - Jeff Burton
�������Started: 13th �������������Highest: 1st��������������Laps Led: 1
� �����Finished: 5th��������������Lowest: 13th



RACE RECAP:
After 393 Laps
Leaders: 10
Lead Changes: 20
4 Cautions for 25 Laps *track record*
Cars Out of Race: 6
Average Speed: 128.423mph *track record*
Winner: Jeff Gordon
Margin of Victory: 0.520
Time of Race: 3:06:44
 �������������NEWS



This page was created on October 30, 1998. It was last updated on November 2, 1998.
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