Track: New Hampshire International Speedway
Date: Sunday, June 28, 1998
Start time: 2:08 PM EDT
Weather: Mild, sunny
Serial: #5 of 11 in 1998 season, #18 overall
History: IRL race #3, Indycar race #7 at this track
Config: 1-mile oval, flat track
Wing package: Short track
The third and possibly final IRL race at NHIS started under ideal weather but discontent on the track. Only twenty-six cars took the green flag, the least of the 1998 season, and due to the short field Stan Wattles was permitted to start last without completing a qualifying attempt, the first time in the 1998 season this had occurred. A NASCAR Modified race (won by prospective IRL driver Mike Stefanik) preceding the IRL race left "marbles" and an incompatible type of rubber on the track, resulting in very slippery conditions for the IRL cars. This took its toll immediately as, after Jeff Ward had jumped polesitter Billy Boat on the start, Kenny Brack spun in turn 3 on the first lap and collected John Paul Jr.; Brack was able to continue after repairs, but Paul was out. Immediately after that incident, Jack Hewitt lost the back end under power exiting turn 4 and backed into the front stretch wall. It was lap 20 before any sustained period of green flag racing began. Scott Sharp jumped Ward on the restart until he chose to pit under caution on lap 27 (for J. J. Yeley's crash), handing the lead back to Ward. Meanwhile, Stephan Gregoire and Marco Greco were in and out of the pits with engine problems; Greco made it to the finish but Gregoire did not. The series of closely-spaced yellows continued when Billy 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. The fire was never adequetely explained; Ward was unaware of it until told on the radio, but when he stopped it spread rapidly through the rear of the car, causing extensive damage and knocking the disappointed Ward from the race.
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. Hamilton's chances were hurt when he was black-flagged for speeding in the pits during a caution on lap 77. Pit stops jumbled the running order and left Tony Stewart, Shott 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 snap-spun unexpectedly towards the inside of the track, and he was hit broadside by Raul Boesel. All four were out and Boat suffered a broken thigh, an injury that would force him to miss some races and endhis championship hopes.
The second half of the race was run with no further cautions and was dominated by Stewart. His biggest threats looked to be Sharp and Goodyear, but both suffered misfortune: Sharp's engine stalled durin a pit stop on lap 147, while Goodyear lost both fifth and sixth gears and was forced to run the remainder of the race in fourth gear. On Goodyear's in-car camera, the RPM limiter could be heard cutting out the engine two-thirds of the way down each straight; there was concern about the engine blowing, but remarkably it took this abuse and held through the end of the race. Goodyear was able to reel in Stewart in traffic, but could not maintain the pace in clear runs, and Stewart, not suffering from any mechanical problems for a change, led the final 36 laps to win over Goodyear, Sharp, Hamilton, and Luyendyk. Buzz Calkins struggled to a 15th-place finish, extending his running-at-finish streak to five races, and 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 (including two CART races prior to 1996) may have sealed the fate of Indycar racing at NHIS.
Fin St Qual Car C/E/T Driver Entrant Laps Status Laps Pts
Spd # Led
1 6 158.899 1 D/A/F Tony Stewart Menard 200 Running 93 52
2 5 159.011 4 G/A/G Scott Goodyear Panther 200 Running 44 40
3 4 159.191 8 D/A/G Scott Sharp Kelley 200 Running 9 35
4 22 148.076 6 G/A/G Davey Hamilton Nienhouse 200 Running 3 32
5 7 158.720 5 G/A/F Arie Luyendyk Treadway 199 Running 30
6 17 152.547 15 R/A/G Eliseo Salazar R&S 199 Running 28
7 3 159.538 91 D/A/G Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn 199 Running 27
8 13 156.535 28 D/A/G Mark Dismore Kelley 199 Running 24
9 11 157.486 51 D/A/G Eddie Cheever Cheever 198 Running 22
10 12 157.032 3 D/A/F Robbie Buhl Menard 198 Running 5 20
11 18 150.290 52 D/A/G Robby Unser Cheever 198 Running 19
12 24 144.218 99 D/A/F Sam Schmidt LP 196 Running 18
13 14 155.913 16 G/A/F Marco Greco Phoenix 191 Running 17
14 25 142.593 81 D/A/F Brian Tyler Pelphrey 190 Running 16
15 23 147.285 12 G/A/G Buzz Calkins Bradley 183 Running 15
16 19 149.201 40 D/I/F Jack Miller Sinden 168 Running 14
17 26 No Spd. 19 R/A/G Stan Wattles Metro 127 Handling 13
18 8 157.937 14 D/A/G Kenny Brack Foyt 98 Handling 12
19 9 157.780 30 G/A/G Raul Boesel McCormack 94 Crash T2 11
20 15 154.109 98 G/A/F Donnie Beechler Cahill 93 Crash T2 10
21 1 162.146 11 D/A/G Billy Boat Foyt 91 Crash T2 12
22 2 161.089 35 G/A/G Jeff Ward ISM 56 Oil Leak 46 10
23 21 148.399 45 D/I/F J. J. Yeley Sinden 38 Crash T2 7
24 16 153.198 77 D/A/G Stephan Gregoire Chastain 22 Electrical 6
25 20 148.752 18 G/A/G Jack Hewitt PDM 11 Crash FS 5
26 10 157.616 10 G/A/F John Paul Jr. Byrd-C'Ham 2 Crash T4 4
Laps under green: 150 of 200 laps (75.0%)
Caution flags: 6 for 50 laps (25.0%)
#1: lap 1, crash (Brack, Paul), T3, 11 laps
#2: lap 13, crash (Hewitt), FS, 7 laps
#3: lap 27, crash (Yeley), T4, 4 laps
#4: lap 32, spin (Boat), T2, 5 laps
#5: lap 75, spin (Miller), T2, 8 laps
#6: lap 95, crash (Beechler, Boat, Boesel, Yeley), T2, 15 laps
Red flags: 0 for 0 minutes
Lead changes: 9; number of race leaders: 6
St: Ward 1-18
#1: Sharp 19-27
#2: Ward 28-55
#3: Goodyear 56-77
#4: Hamilton 78-80
#5: Goodyear 81-91
#6: Stewart 92-146
#7: Goodyear 147-157
#8: Buhl 158-162
#9: Stewart 163-200
C/E/T finish averages (# started / avg finish):
Dallara: 14 / 12.6
G-Force: 10 / 15.1
Riley & Scott: 2 / 11.5
Aurora: 24 / 14.6
Infiniti: 2 / 19.5
Firestone: 10 / 14.0
Goodyear: 16 / 13.2