1998 Primestar 500
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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1998 Primestar 500 program cover, featuring Ted Musgrave. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | March 9, 1998 | ||
| Official name | 39th Annual Primestar 500 | ||
| Location | Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.48 km (1.54 miles) | ||
| Distance | 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km) | ||
| Average speed | 139.501 miles per hour (224.505 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Time | 28.732 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kenny Irwin Jr. | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 113 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
The 1998 Primestar 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 8, 1998, but was postponed to Monday, March 9 due to rain.[1] The race was held in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54 miles (2.48 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 325 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte would manage to pass for the lead with 47 to go and take his sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[2][3] To fill out the podium, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Penske-Kranefuss Racing driver Jeremy Mayfield would finish second and third, respectively.
Entry list
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
- (R) - denotes rookie driver.
*Was replaced by Phil Parsons after injuring himself in first practice.[4]
Practice
Originally, two practice sessions were scheduled to be held, with one on Friday, March 6, and one on Saturday, March 7, However, due to rain on Saturday, the Saturday practice session was cancelled.[5]
The only practice session was held on Friday, March 6. Robert Pressley, driving for Jasper Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.359 and an average speed of 188.834 mph (303.899 km/h).[6]
During the session, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. rookie driver Steve Park would blow a tire heading into turn 4, causing him to slam the outside wall. The car, which had lost brakes by this point, would then proceed to ricochet again into front stretch outside wall two times. After proceeding the second front stretch hit, the car would proceed to head onto pit road, where Park slammed the pit road wall, with the car eventually stopping. Park would suffer fractures of the right thighbone, the left shoulder blade and collarbone and two broken front teeth. In replacement, Phil Parsons would attempt to qualify the car.[4] Park was out for five months before eventually returning in the 1998 Brickyard 400.[7]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 28.882 | 191.953 |
| 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 28.913 | 191.748 |
| 3 | 42 | Joe Nemechek | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 28.914 | 191.741 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
