The 1998 Save Mart/Kragen 350 was the 16th stock car race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 10th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 28, 1998, in Sonoma, California, at the club layout in Sears Point Raceway, a permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 112 laps to complete. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would lead a charge from 20th to the lead within the closing laps of the race to take his 33rd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth of the season. To fill out the podium, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Bobby Hamilton and Petty Enterprises driver John Andretti would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Sears Point Raceway is an auto racing complex in Sonoma, California. The complex features multiple layouts, including various road course layouts and a drag strip. The facility has hosted various major events since its opening in 1969, including IndyCar, NASCAR, and NHRA events. Sears Point Raceway is owned by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Darrell WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet2Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineMattei MotorsportsFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord13Jerry Nadeau (R)Elliott-Marino RacingFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Ron Hornaday Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac19Tom HubertRoehrig MotorsportsFord21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord28Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)Robert Yates RacingFord30Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet35Todd BodineISM RacingPontiac36Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac40Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet41Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac46Tommy KendallTeam SABCOChevrolet50Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet58Chris RaudmanRaudman RacingChevrolet70Rick WareWare Racing EnterprisesFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord91Kevin Lepage (R)LJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottElliott-Marino RacingFord96Robby GordonAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet97Chad LittleRoush RacingFord98Rich BickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, June 23, at 10:00 AM PST. The session would last for three hours. Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:11.209 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.20998.532246Tommy KendallTeam SABCOChevrolet1:11.55698.05536Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1:11.62497.962Full first practice results

Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, June 24, at 8:00 AM PST. The session would last for one hour and 15 minutes. Jerry Nadeau, driving for Elliott-Marino Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:12.230 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed113Jerry Nadeau (R)Elliott-Marino RacingFord1:12.23097.14023Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:12.37796.942388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord1:12.56796.689Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 19, at 2:00 PM PST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, June 20, at 10:00 AM PST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. On January 24, 1998, NASCAR would announce that the amount of provisionals given would be increased from last season. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 1:11.080 and an average speed of .

Six drivers would fail to qualify: Tommy Kendall, Dave Marcis, Todd Bodine, Rick Ware, and Chris Raudman.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.08098.711213Jerry Nadeau (R)Elliott-Marino RacingFord1:11.22898.506388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord1:11.39598.27647Geoff BodineMattei MotorsportsFord1:11.54098.077512Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord1:11.61397.97764Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.61697.973775Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord1:11.66497.907844Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac1:11.66597.906918Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac1:11.67697.8911019Tom HubertRoehrig MotorsportsFord1:11.69597.8651121Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord1:11.82297.6921228Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)Robert Yates RacingFord1:11.84397.663131Darrell WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet1:11.88297.6101442Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet1:11.94997.5191510Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord1:11.97297.4881640Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet1:12.00097.450173Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:12.00697.4421896Robby GordonAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet1:12.03697.4011926Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord1:12.03797.4002016Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord1:12.06697.3612143John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac1:12.10097.3152281Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord1:12.23297.1372399Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord1:12.24397.1222431Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:12.25897.1022522Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac1:12.28797.063266Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1:11.48998.1472733Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet1:11.94197.530282Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord1:11.94397.527295Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:12.12297.2853011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord1:12.12697.2803198Rich BickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord1:12.17497.2153236Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac1:12.30997.0343317Ron Hornaday Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsChevrolet1:12.48796.7953423Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1:12.63896.5943597Chad LittleRoush RacingFord1:12.72796.4763677Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord1:12.78596.399Provisionals3750Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*3890Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord -* -*3941Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*409Butch GillilandMelling RacingFord -* -*4130Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac -* -*4291Kevin LepageLJ RacingChevrolet -* -*Champion's Provisional4394Bill ElliottElliott-Marino RacingFord -* -*Failed to qualify4446Tommy KendallTeam SABCOChevrolet1:13.04496.0574571Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1:13.71895.1794635Todd BodineISM RacingPontiac1:13.95094.8804770Rick WareWare Racing EnterprisesFord1:16.32091.9344858Chris RaudmanRaudman RacingChevrolet - -Official qualifying results *Time not available.

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings1124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet11248running185$160,675264Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet11217running175$81,57532143John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac1120running165$62,1504918Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac1120running160$59,3405282Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord1120running155$49,7156266Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1120running150$54,61571640Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet11214running151$49,6158775Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord1120running142$40,11591228Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)Robert Yates RacingFord1120running138$47,365103941Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet1128running139$46,51011173Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1120running130$44,950124394Bill ElliottElliott-Marino RacingFord1120running127$39,55013131Darrell WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet1123running129$32,200143317Ron Hornaday Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsChevrolet1120running121$27,85015388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord1125running123$46,700164291Tommy KendallLJ RacingChevrolet1122running120$33,800172431Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1120running112$30,17518512Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord1120running109$36,950192016Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord1120running106$36,495202733Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet1120running103$35,160211926Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord1120running100$36,540222281Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord1120running97$28,940233597Chad LittleRoush RacingFord1120running94$28,80524409Butch GillilandMelling RacingFord1120running91$28,625251442Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet1120running88$35,50526844Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac1120running85$35,375273750Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1120running82$35,240281510Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11214running84$41,455293423Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1120running76$35,035303677Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord1110running73$27,995313198Rich BickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord1100running70$31,925323011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord1100running67$34,365333890Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord1090running64$31,845341121Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord1070running61$31,8253547Geoff BodineMattei MotorsportsFord1030transmission58$32,105363236Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac1030running55$31,785371896Robby GordonAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet1021suspension57$24,765384130Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac920rear end49$31,745392399Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord870handling46$41,325402522Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac840transmission43$31,705411019Tom HubertRoehrig MotorsportsFord780transmission40$24,68542295Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet460crash37$40,66543213Jerry Nadeau (R)Elliott-Marino RacingFord130crash34$25,640Official race results

Notes

References