Track: Pikes Peak International Raceway
Date: Sunday, August 16, 1998
Start time: 2:00 PM MDT
Weather: Pleasant, sunny
Serial: #8 of 11 in 1998 season, #21 overall
History: IRL race #2, Indycar race #2 at this track
Config: 1 mile D-oval, flat track
Wing package: Short track
Kenny Brack became only the second driver to win two IRL consecutive races, but he had to survive a bizarre final five laps to do it. Billy Boat, returning from injuries he suffered at New Hampshire, won the pole, but at the start of the race he missed a shift and Jeff Ward, starting on the outside of the front row for the second consecutive race, jumped into the lead followed by Tony Stewart and Mark Dismore, who had been fastest in practice. Stewart soon ran down Ward and passed for the lead while Dismore dueled with Stewart's teammate Robbie Buhl, driving the blue #3 car again after John Menard's two-race protest. By lap 20, Stewart had a one-second lead, but he got caught in traffic and Ward re-passed him on lap 24 just as Buzz Calkins and Raul Boesel simultaneously blew engines, bringing out the yellow -- the first of only three on the day. After the green, Ward and Stewart set sail as Scott Goodyear pitted with a fuel pressure problem, a lengthy stop that would put an end to his four-race top-5 streak.
On lap 50 Ward and Stewart had a big duel with Stewart first moving under Ward in turn 4, losing grip, but then getting back under and taking the lead in turn 1, only to slip up and come under attack again in turn 3. Ward continued to assault Stewart in traffic and both he and Buhl slipped by on lap 60. The action continued with Stewart re-passing Buhl under power on the backstretch on lap 65, but then a round of green-flag pit stops began. During this, Arie Luyendyk (who had been miserably running with a run-out engine because his team's supplier had been unable to deliver another one) stalled and brought out the yellow. Several drivers had not stopped at that point and the running order was Ward followed by Stephan Gregoire, Robby Unser, and Roberto Guerrero, all of whom had not stopped yet. Guerrero was making his first start for Price Cobb's team (which had released Jim Guthrie) and the team was making its first start with the Infiniti engine, and Guerrero had given the Nissan fans something to cheer about by qualifying 10th, staying on the lead lap, and running as high as second during the pit stops. After the green Ward continued to lead as Goodyear and Dismore both made unplanned pit entrances with engines shut off. Ward drove away from the field and by lap 89 he had a five-second lead on Buddy Lazier and had lapped Boat. John Paul Jr. was moving up but his bad luck which had begun at Charlotte continued when he had to pit under green for a flat tire on lap 100. Shortly another cut tire played a much bigger role in the race as a flat right rear denied Ward yet another shot at his first IRL win; the flat on lap 118 put him into the wall in turn 1. He was to be the only car to retire due to contact on this day. About this time Guerrero's run ended with a failed fuel pump. The timing of this caution would be a determining factor at the end of the race; it left most teams just outside of their fuel windows for completing the race. Paul, Andy Michner, Lazier, Stewart, and Buhl all made late stops anticipating a fuel economy run.
After the yellow Davey Hamilton found himself with the lead, followed by the Foyt cars (Boat had unlapped himself just before the caution) and the IRL's resident short-track expert Marco Greco. Buhl was well back due to having to re-pit for a wheel not not tightened properly. Hamilton drove away quickly for only a few laps before his right front tire started to go flat. He continued at a slower pace as Brack went to work on him, finally taking the lead on lap 165. By this time everyone was in fuel conservation mode, running in high gear and keeping their RPM down. Many teams who needed another caution for fuel were about to be disappointed. There were still eight cars on the lead lap, but on lap 184 the first shoe dropped as Eddie Cheever concluded that he coouldn't go the distance and stopped for fuel and tires. Meanwhile, Buhl was flying and back up to third; he took second after a daring contact pass on Boat on lap 187. The second contender dropped off next lap as Hamilton, unable to go any further on his failing front tire, pitted. On lap 189 Buhl passed Brack for the lead. By this time everyone that had not stopped was running well off pace, and lap times had dropped to around 150 MPH vs. 164 for the cars that had stopped. The final act was under way. On lap 192 Lazier began to slow with an engine problem. On lap 196 the leader Buhl ran out of fuel; he made it back to the pits without losing too much time but handed the lead to Brack. On lap 197 Stewart decided that he couldn't risk his standing in the IRL points and pitted for a splash-and-go. That left Brack and Boat, alone in the lead lap but running extremely slowly, while Stewart, Buhl, and Hamilton set a furious pace trying to make up positions, and Gregoire and Greco attempting to hang on to theirs. On lap 198 Boat ran out of fuel in turn 2. He was unable to make it back to the pits before the race ended. Would Brack make it? Buhl and Stewart had unlapped themselves and were making up four seconds a lap. Brack continued to run at below 145 MPH. On the last lap, his engine soured going down the back stretch and finally stopped altogether in turn 4. He pushed in the clutch, crossed his fingers, and coasted. Fortunately for him, he had gotten to the clutch in time to preserve his momentum, and his silent car coasted under the checkered flag a quarter of a lap ahead of Buhl. Stewart was third and the only other car on the lead lap. Gregore and Greco also finished without stopping for fuel, with Gregoire posting his third 4th-place finish of the year. Hamilton passed three cars in the final five laps to take fifth. Michner ran out of fuel on lap 199 and finished 17th. Donnie Beechler, after weeks of bad luck, posted his second IRL finish and placed 10th. At the end of the race, Goodyear was the fastest car on the track but had lost so many laps he placed 18th. A truck had to be sent out to push Brack back to Victory Lane.
Fin St Qual Car C/E/T Driver Entrant Laps Status Laps Pts
Spd # Led
1 5 176.974 14 D/A/G Kenny Brack Foyt 200 Running 28 50
2 6 176.419 3 D/A/G Robby Buhl Menard 200 Running 8 40
3 3 177.874 1 D/A/F Tony Stewart Menard 200 Running 21 36
4 18 172.803 77 G/A/G Stephan Gregoire Chastain 199 Running 32
5 7 176.099 6 G/A/G Davey Hamilton Nienhouse 199 Running 38 30
6 9 175.859 16 G/A/F Marco Greco Phoenix 199 Running 28
7 17 173.327 91 D/A/G Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn 199 Running 8 26
8 16 173.402 51 D/A/G Eddie Cheever Cheever 199 Running 24
9 1 178.571 11 D/A/G Billy Boat Foyt 199 Out of Fuel 25
10 21 172.035 98 D/A/F Donnie Beechler Cahill 197 Running 20
11 8 175.927 8 D/A/G Scott Sharp Kelley 196 Running 19
12 23 168.028 52 G/A/G Robby Unser Cheever 196 Running 18
13 19 172.736 99 D/A/F Sam Schmidt LP 195 Running 17
14 14 173.661 18 G/A/G Steve Knapp PDM 195 Running 16
15 13 174.452 10 G/A/F John Paul Jr. Byrd-C'Ham 195 Running 15
16 24 167.520 81 D/A/F Brian Tyler Pelphrey 186 Running 14
17 15 172.043 15 R/A/G Andy Michner R&S 180 Out of Fuel 13
18 11 174.936 4 G/A/G Scott Goodyear Panther 174 Running 12
19 4 176.991 28 D/A/G Mark Dismore Kelley 133 Brakes 11
20 2 178.218 35 G/A/G Jeff Ward ISM 117 Crash T1 97 14
21 10 175.038 23 G/I/F Roberto Guerrero Cobb 106 Fuel Pump 9
22 22 171.518 5 G/A/F Arie Luyendyk Treadway 73 Ignition 8
23 25 No Spd. 40 D/I/F Jack Miller Sinden 35 Clutch 7
24 15 173.544 12 G/A/G Buzz Calkins Bradley 23 Engine 6
25 12 174.842 30 G/A/G Raul Boesel McCormack 23 Engine 5
Laps under green: 172 of 200 laps (86.0%)
Caution flags: 3 for 28 laps (14.0%)
#1: lap 25, blown engine (Calkins), FS, 11 laps
#3: lap 75, stalled car (Luyendyk), T2, 5 laps
#4: lap 118, crash (Ward), T1, 12 laps
Red flags: 0 for 0 minutes
Lead changes: 10; number of race leaders: 6
St: Ward 1-11
#1: Stewart 12-22
#2: Ward 23-50
#3: Stewart 51-59
#4: Ward 60-117
#5: Lazier 118-125
#6: Stewart 126
#7: Hamilton 127-164
#8: Brack 165-188
#9: Buhl 189-196
#10: Brack 197-200
C/E/T finish averages (# started / avg finish):
Dallara: 12 / 10.2
G-Force: 12 / 15.5
Riley & Scott: 1 / 17.0
Aurora: 23 / 12.2
Infiniti: 2 / 22.0
Firestone: 9 / 14.3
Goodyear: 16 / 12.25