| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 33 in the1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 1998 Daytona 500 logo | |||
| Date | February 15, 1998 (1998-02-15) | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Overcast with temperatures up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 172.712 miles per hour (277.953 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 46.776 seconds | ||
| Qualifying race winners | |||
| Duel 1 Winner | Sterling Marlin | SABCO Racing | |
| Duel 2 Winner | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 107 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Buddy Baker, andNed Jarrett | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 8.6/23 (13.04 million viewers) | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Allen Bestwick andBarney Hall | ||
| Turn announcers | Joe Moore (1 & 2),Mike Bagley (Backstretch), Fred Armstrong (3 & 4) | ||
The1998 Daytona 500, the 40th running of theevent, was held on February 15 atDaytona International Speedway inDaytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the1998 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It wasDale Earnhardt's onlyDaytona 500 victory after 19 previous attempts. It was Earnhardt's 20th 500 start andCBS's 20th consecutive live broadcast of the Daytona 500. Also, his Daytona 500 win ended a 59-race winless streak dating back toAtlanta Motor Speedway in March1996.
The race had three cautions - all of which were for minor incidents, and there were no accident-related retirements. The race was run under the green flag for the first 125 laps. This resulted in it being the second-fastest Daytona 500 ever, behind the1980 Daytona 500 won byBuddy Baker, and the fastest of therestrictor plate era.
Daytona International Speedway is arace track inDaytona Beach, Florida that is one of sixsuperspeedways to holdNASCAR races, the others beingMichigan International Speedway,Auto Club Speedway,Indianapolis Motor Speedway,Pocono Raceway andTalladega Superspeedway.[1] The standard track at Daytona is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track also features two other layouts that utilize portions of the primary high speedtri-oval, such as a 3.56-mile (5.73 km)sports car course and a 2.95-mile (4.75 km) motorcycle course.[2] The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hostedpowerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated byInternational Speedway Corporation.
The track was built by NASCAR founderBill France, Sr. to host racing that was being held at the formerDaytona Beach Road Course and opened with thefirst Daytona 500 in 1959.[3] The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004,[4] and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.[5]
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar.[6] It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since1995, U.S.television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, theIndianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.[7]
Bobby Labonte won the pole position for the Daytona 500 with a time of 46.776 seconds, and his brotherTerry qualified on the outside pole position next to him.Sterling Marlin qualified third winning the first Gatorade Twin 125 andDale Earnhardt qualified fourth winning the second Twin 125.
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The race began with an emphasis on NASCAR's 50th Anniversary Celebration. The pre-race show onCBS featured some of the greatest Daytona 500 finishes in recent memory. It also detailed the famousDaytona Beach Road Course and it featuredRuss Truelove,Buck Baker,Tim Flock,Red Farmer andJunior Johnson on the Daytona Beach with one of Tim Flock's old "Full Jeweled" #300Chryslers.
The Rev. Hal Marchman gave the traditional invocation, and country/bluegrass music singerKathy Mattea sang the US National Anthem, but neither was aired on CBS. Kansas GovernorBill Graves and the fans in the stands all gave the command for drivers to start their engines andPro Football Hall of FamerDan Marino waved the green flag to start the race.
In the mid-stage of the event, green flag pit stops were still in progress withJeff Gordon leading and were on pace of breaking the average speed of 198.Ward Burton cut down a tire, leaving debris on the track. This would bring out the first caution.
Late in the race with a possibility of a second round of green-flag stops,John Andretti andRobert Pressley made contact in turn 2 and both spun out, which brought out the second caution. During pit spots,Dale Earnhardt came out first,Michael Waltrip had a penalty after running over a hose while pitting, thus held back at the rear of the pack.
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Dale Earnhardt ledBobby Labonte andJeremy Mayfield heading into turn 2.Lake Speed andJohn Andretti got together and both cars spun, setting up a scenario where Earnhardt, Labonte, and Mayfield were all in contention for the win. While racing back to the caution flag, the three came up on the lapped car ofRick Mast. Earnhardt easily passed Mast on the outside. Labonte lost Earnhardt's draft while Mayfield sped to the inside of Mast. Earnhardt led Labonte and Mayfield, who were side by side. Earnhardt took the white and yellow flags in first while Labonte edged Mayfield for second by a fender. The race would end under the caution flag. Earnhardt dedicated his win to his late colleague,Neil Bonnett, who died 4 years earlier whilst practicing for the1994 race.
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