The 1998 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World was the first round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season. The race was held on January 24, 1998 at the Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida. As in 1997, rain hampered the event, this time forcing to cancel the qualifying session.
Report Key Meaning R Rookie W Past winner
Qualifying
For the first time in IRL history, torrential rain forced the qualifying session to be cancelled. Thus, the grid was set by 1996-1997 entrant points. The remaining new entries were sorted by practice speeds. The grid was limited to 28 cars due to concerns about safety in the pit area.
Pos No. Name 1996-1997entrant pointsPractice speed(in mph) 1 1 Tony Stewart 2780 168.951 2 14 Kenny Bräck 2720 166.659 3 11 Billy Boat 2400 163.726 4 10 Mike Groff 2390 160.299 5 5 Arie Luyendyk 2230 161.638 6 21 Roberto Guerrero 2210 166.929 7 18 John Paul Jr. 2160 158.249 8 91 Buddy Lazier 2090 166.775 9 30 Raul Boesel 2080 162.126 10 12 Buzz Calkins W 1836 163.154 11 40 Jack Miller 1680 154.759 12 27 Robbie Groff 1674 157.398 13 17 Brian Tyler R 1248 157.446 14 3 Robbie Buhl 1141 165.723 15 77 Stéphan Grégoire 1092 156.849 16 97 Greg Ray 365 160.464 17 99 Sam Schmidt 114 155.743 18 19 Stan Wattles 27 155.166 19 6 Davey Hamilton 19 164.166 20 8 Scott Sharp New entry 167.645 21 4 Scott Goodyear New entry 166.574 22 28 Mark Dismore New entry 165.358 23 51 Eddie Cheever W New entry 165.069 24 35 Jeff Ward New entry 163.674 25 16 Marco Greco New entry 161.783 26 15 Eliseo Salazar New entry 161.233 27 20 Tyce Carlson New entry 157.604 28 7 Jimmy Kite 2360 165.153Didn't qualify 29 24 Billy Roe New entry 156.013 30 53 Jim Guthrie New entry 148.215 31 41 Affonso Giaffone New entry 131.401
Changed to a backup car for the race, following a crash in a practice session after qualifying.
Failed to qualify or withdrew John Hollansworth Jr. R for Blueprint Racing - couldn't pass his rookie test in time for the race and did not take part in official practice. Replaced by Robbie Groff.
Race Tony Stewart outlasted all challengers to take his second IRL victory. Starting on the pole, he was quickly passed by Roberto Guerrero who pulled away until he got collected in an accident in turn 1. Stewart then led the rest of the first half of the race, which was marked by numerous incidents taking out contenders: Scott Sharp got tangled up with a slower car and had to pit for a new nose, Scott Goodyear slid into the wall in the midstretch and suffered suspension damage, Raul Boesel collided in the pit lane with Robbie Buhl and needed a radiator replaced, and defending champion Eddie Cheever dropped out with engine failure.
Unexpected cold weather caused tire problems for the competitors; Robbie Groff wrecked at the start of the race when his rear tires broke loose under acceleration, and Billy Boat had a grinding crash on the inside wall of the front stretch when the same thing happened to him on a restart. On lap 132, Buddy Lazier took the lead and held it until he got bound up behind a slower car, spun, and hit the back stretch inside wall on lap 166. At that point, all five cars remaining in the lead lap (Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Jeff Ward, Stéphan Grégoire and Mark Dismore) were marginal on fuel mileage. Stewart, Hamilton, and Ward pitted for fuel, while Dismore and Grégoire elected to gamble and assumed the top two places.
After the restart, Dismore held off Stewart (who had moved back up to second) while Grégoire, Hamilton, and Ward all dueled for third. The gamble didn't work for Dismore, and he finally had to pit for fuel on lap 197 after Stewart had passed him two laps earlier when the engine stumbled. On the final lap, Ward passed Hamilton, and then claimed second place as Grégoire ran out of fuel and coasted across the line to a fourth-place finish.
Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points 11 Tony StewartTeam Menard2002:06:07113252 235 Jeff WardISM Racing200+ 8.579 sec24040 36 Davey HamiltonNienhouse Motorsports200Running19035 477 Stéphan GrégoireChastain Motorsports200Running15032 528 Mark DismoreKelley Racing199+ 1 lap222730 68 Scott SharpKelley Racing198+ 2 lap20028 710 Mike GroffByrd-Cunningham Racing198+ 2 lap4026 85 Arie LuyendykTreadway Racing197+ 3 laps5024 999 Sam SchmidtLP Racing195+ 5 laps17022 1018 John Paul Jr.PDM Racing194+ 6 laps7020 1120 Tyce CarlsonImmke Racing192+ 8 laps27019 1215 Eliseo SalazarRiley & Scott Cars187+ 13 laps26018 1314 Kenny BräckA. J. Foyt Enterprises174+ 26 laps2117 1412 Buzz Calkins WBradley Motorsports168+ 32 laps10016 1591 Buddy LazierHemelgarn Racing165Accident83415 167 Jimmy Kite Team Scandia149Half shaft28014 174 Scott GoodyearPanther Racing132Suspension21013 1830 Raul BoeselMcCormack Motorsports128+ 72 laps9012 1917 Brian Tyler RChitwood Motorsports121Accident13011 203 Robbie BuhlTeam Menard100Electrical14010 2111 Billy BoatA. J. Foyt Enterprises72Accident309 2219 Stan WattlesMetro Racing Systems64Accident1808 2340 Jack MillerCrest Racing/SRS59Handling1107 2451 Eddie Cheever W Team Cheever48Engine fire2306 2597 Greg Ray Knapp Motorsports29Accident1605 2621 Roberto GuerreroPagan Racing13Accident664 2716 Marco GrecoPhoenix Racing12Accident2503 2827 Robbie GroffBlueprint Racing0Accident1202
Race Statistics Lead changes: 8 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders Laps Leader1-7 Tony Stewart8-13 Roberto Guerrero14-126 Tony Stewart127 Kenny Bräck128-131 Tony Stewart132-165 Buddy Lazier166-168 Tony Stewart169-195 Mark Dismore196-200 Tony Stewart
Cautions: 10 for 74 laps Laps Reason1-6Robbie Groff crash14-26Eliseo Salazar spin; Roberto Guerrero and Marco Greco crash34-41Greg Ray crash and Jack Miller spin49-53Fire on Eddie Cheever's engine66-71Stan Wattles crash72-81Billy Boat crash102-107Debris from Robbie Buhl's car124-131Bryan Tyler and Eliseo Salazar crash134-139Scott Goodyear crash166-171Buddy Lazier crash
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Tony Stewart 52 2 Jeff Ward 40 3 Davey Hamilton 35 4 Stéphan Grégoire 32 5 Mark Dismore 30
Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.
References
External links IndyCar official website