Jeff Gordon Wins

Brickyard 400 (August 1, 1998)
QUALIFYING: Ernie Irvan won the Bud Pole with a speed of 179.394mph and a time of 00:50.169sec breaking the track record. Rusty Wallace started 14th with a speed of 176.665mph and a time of 00:50.944sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Ernie Irvan, 2nd-Dale Jarrett, 3rd-Jeff Gordon, 4th-Kenny Irwin, 5th-Jeff Green, 6th-Ricky Craven, 7th-Mark Martin, 8th-Terry Labonte, 9th-John Andretti, 10th-Bobby Labonte. Notables in field: 11th-Sterling Marlin, 12th-Jeremy Mayfield, 14th-Rusty Wallace, 19th-Ken Schrader, 27th-Ricky Rudd, 28th-Dale Earnhardt, 29th-Michael Waltrip, 34th-Jeff Burton. Starting Grid

RACE: The Kid from just around the corner did it again. Jeff Gordon won his second Brickyard 400 and a $1 million bonus Saturday, holding off Mark Martin until a caution flag three laps from the end cut short the drama. Gordon, who was born and grew up a 15-minute drive from Indianapolis in Pittsboro, stayed out front easily, beating Martin back to the finish line to take the yellow flag by about five car-lengths. Gordon was able to drive to the checkered flag behind the pace car at a leisurely 100 mph. Although Gordon dominated the race, leading 97 laps, including the last 34, Martin had the crowd in an uproar in the late going. Martin, who had been running second to Gordon before the last pit stops by the leaders, had a problem with a lugnut during his stop and was 11th for the restart on lap 124. Gordon came out of that stop fourth as he took four new tires while Earnhardt, Skinner and Sterling Marlin took two each and beat him back onto the track. But Gordon took second in his first trip around the 2 1/2-mile oval, then passed Earnhardt to take the lead for good on lap 127. Meanwhile, Martin's Ford was slicing through the field. It took him only until lap 144 to take second, but two late caution flags kept him bottled up. Gordon is the first driver to get the $1 million bonus from series sponsor Winston for its No Bull 5 promotion, which offers the big money to any of the top-five finishers in NASCAR's five biggest events who can win the next of the majors. The nine caution flags were pretty well spread out over the 160 laps. The only injury was to Jimmy Spencer, who crashed in the first turn on lap 155. Spencer, who apparently had a concussion, was transported by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation. Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Mark Martin, 3rd-Bobby Labonte, 4th-Mike Skinner, 5th-Dale Earnhardt, 6th-Ernie Irvan, 7th-John Andretti, 8th-Rusty Wallace, 9th-Terry Labonte, 10th-Ken Schrader. Notables in the field: 11th-Sterling Marlin, 16th-Dale Jarrett, 17th-Ricky Craven, 31st-Ricky Rudd, 36th-Jeff Burton, 42nd-Jeremy Mayfield. Race Results


�2 - Rusty Wallace
�������Started: 14th ��������������Highest: 4th����������������Laps Led: 0
�������Finished: 8th�������������Lowest: 38th

3 - Dale Earnhardt
�������Started: 28th ������������Highest: 1st�������������Laps Led: 6
������ Finished: 5th������������Lowest: 26th

�6 - Mark Martin
�������Started: 7th� �����������Highest: 2nd����������������Laps Led: 0
�������Finished: 2nd��������������Lowest: 10th

24 - Jeff Gordon
�������Started: 3rd ���������������Highest: 1st���������������Laps Led: 97
� �����Finished: 1st������������Lowest: 5th

33 - Ken Schrader
�������Started: 19th ������������Highest: 10th�������������Laps Led: 0
������ Finished: 10th������������Lowest: 40th

36 - Ernie Irvan
�������Started: 1st� �����������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 25
�������Finished: 6th��������������Lowest: 6th



RACE RECAP:
After 160 Laps
Leaders: 7
Lead Changes: 10
9 Cautions for 34 Laps
Cars Out of Race: 6
Average Speed: 126.770mph
Winner: Jeff Gordon
Margin of Victory: Under caution
Time of Race: 3:09:19
 �������������NEWS



This page was created on July 31, 1998. It was last updated on August 2, 1998.
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