Sports season
The1998 FedEx Championship Series season was the twentieth in theChampionship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era ofAmerican open-wheel car racing . It consisted of 19 races, beginning inHomestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding inFontana, California on November 1. TheFedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion wasAlex Zanardi , his second consecutive championship, while the series'Rookie of the Year wasTony Kanaan . This was the first of five years of sponsorship by FDX Corporation, who became FedEx Corporation in 2000.
The season was marred by a deadly crash on lap 175 of theU.S. 500 .Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn ofMichigan International Speedway . His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others. Fernández was uninjured.[ 1]
This was the final season withBobby Rahal andAndré Ribeiro on the CART grid. Other notable events of the 1998 season include first wins forBryan Herta and futureIndycar Series andIndianapolis 500 championDario Franchitti . Mexican driverAdrián Fernández got his second career win atTwin Ring Motegi , the first race run there by Champ Cars.
Drivers and constructors [ edit ] The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1998CART Championship Series season.
Team Chassis Engine Tires No Drivers Rounds Primary Sponsors Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 98iHonda HRKF 1 Alex Zanardi All Target 12 Jimmy Vasser All Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-27 Mercedes IC108EG 2 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro 3 André Ribeiro All Walker Racing Reynard 98iHonda HRKG 5 Gil de Ferran All Valvoline Newman-Haas Racing Swift 009.cFord XB G 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco -Havoline 11 Christian Fittipaldi 1–6, 8–19 Kmart Roberto Moreno 7 Team Rahal Reynard 98iFord XB F 7 Bobby Rahal All Miller Lite 8 Bryan Herta All Shell Hogan Racing Reynard 98iMercedes IC108EF 9 JJ Lehto All Hogan Motor Leasing Della Penna Motorsports Swift 009.cFord XB F 10 Richie Hearn All Budweiser 43 Hideshi Matsuda 2 BMB Mini-Juke Project CART Reynard 98iMercedes IC108EG 15 Roberto Moreno 1–2 Hawaiian Tropic Domenico Schiattarella 3 Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 98iMercedes IC108EG 16 Hélio Castroneves All Alumax PacWest Racing Group Reynard 98iMercedes IC108EF 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes 18 Mark Blundell All Motorola Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 98iFord XB F 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. All Herdez 34 Dennis Vitolo 1, 4, 6–10, 12, 15–19 SmithKline Beecham 15 Payton/Coyne Racing 3 1 Gualter Salles 2–3, 5, 11, 13–14 Patrick Racing Reynard 98iFord XB F 20 Scott Pruett All Visteon 40 Adrián Fernández All Tecate Beer Tasman Motorsports Group Reynard 98iHonda HRKF 21 Tony Kanaan All LCI Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 98iToyota RV8CF 24 Hiro Matsushita 1–3, 5 Panasonic Robby Gordon 4, 6–19 25 Max Papis All MCI Worldcom Team KOOL Green Reynard 98iHonda HRKF 26 Paul Tracy All KOOL 27 Dario Franchitti All Forsythe Racing Reynard 98iMercedes IC108EF 33 Patrick Carpentier All Player's 99 Greg Moore All All American Racing Reynard Toyota RV8CG 98 P. J. Jones 1–15 Castrol 36 Alex Barron 1–12 Eagle 98713–19 98 Vincenzo Sospiri 16–19 Davis Racing Lola T98/00Ford XB G 77 Arnd Meier All BAAN Business Software 8 Hasseröder 11
Icon Legend O Oval/Speedway R Road course S Street circuit
Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location 1 March 15 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami O Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida 2 March 28 Budweiser 500K O Twin Ring Motegi Motegi ,Japan 3 April 5 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach S Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California 4 April 27* Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix O Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania 5 May 10 Rio 400K O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil 6 May 23 Motorola 300 O Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois 7 May 31 Miller Lite 200 O Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 8 June 7 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix S The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit ,Michigan 9 June 21 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 R Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 10 July 12 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland R Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 11 July 19 Molson Indy Toronto S Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 12 July 26 U.S. 500 O Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 13 August 9 Miller Lite 200 R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 14 August 16 Texaco/Havoline 200 R Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 15 September 6 Molson Indy Vancouver S Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia 16 September 13 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey R Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California 17 October 4 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston S George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas 18 October 18 Honda Indy 300 S Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise ,Australia 19 November 1 Marlboro 500 O California Speedway Fontana, California
* The Nazareth race was scheduled for April 26, but postponed due to rain.
Final driver standings [ edit ] Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th–6th place Light Blue 7th–12th place Dark Blue Finished Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify Brown Withdrawn Black Disqualified White Did not start Blank Did not Not competing
In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps RY Rookie of the Year R Rookie
Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup. Åberg, Andreas."CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1998" . Driver Database.Archived from the original on June 30, 2009. RetrievedMay 19, 2009 . "1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series" . Champ Car Stats.Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. RetrievedMay 19, 2009 ."Federal Express Signs Title Sponsorship Agreement with Championship Auto Racing Teams" (Press release). FDX Corporation. December 9, 1997. Archived fromthe original on June 29, 2009. RetrievedMay 20, 2009 ."FedEx Renews Title Sponsorship Agreement with Championship Auto Racing Teams; FedEx Championship Series Roars into 2002" (Press release). FedEx Corporation. November 7, 2001. Archived fromthe original on June 29, 2009. RetrievedMay 20, 2009 ."Standings after California" . Champ Car World Series. Archived fromthe original on June 29, 2009. RetrievedMay 19, 2009 .
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Alex Zanardi
Reynard
Honda
United States
Tony Kanaan
Mexico
Finland
Germany