|
Jeff Gordon opened the season with his first-ever IROC victory
at Daytona, which was the serie's first rain-shortened event. Gordon
made to the winner's circle after 75 of the scheduled 100 miles. In
Race 2 at the California Speedway, Mark Martin passed Gordon for the
lead and stayed there for the last 38 laps to claim the win. Series
newcomer Jeff Burton won in Michigan after Tommy Kendall led the opening
44 laps. In IROC's historic debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jimmy
Vasser was on the pole and led the first 36 laps, but Martin came from
11th to pass with four laps to go to take the triumph and his third
consecutive IROC crown. The average margin of victory for the four events
was an amazing .195 of a second. (from IROC Website)
|
Final Points
|
IROC 22 Champion
Mark Martin
 |
| Position |
Driver/Residence/Sanction
|
Points |
Money Earned |
| 1 |
Mark Martin/Daytona
Beach, FL/NASCAR |
86 |
$225,000 |
| 2 |
Jeff Burton/Cornelius,
NC/NASCAR |
57 |
100,000 |
| 3 |
Jeff Gordon/Davidson,
NC/NASCAR |
51 |
60,000 |
| 4 |
Al Unser Jr./Albuquerque,
NM/CART |
46 |
50,000 |
| 5 |
Terry Labonte/Thomasville,
NC/NASCAR |
39 |
45,000 |
| 6 |
Tony Steward/Indianapolis,
IN/IRL |
37 |
40,000 |
| 7 |
Dale Earnhardt/Mooresville,
NC/NASCAR |
36 |
40,000 |
| 8 |
Jimmy Vasser/Las
Vegas, NV/CART |
34 |
40,000 |
| 9 |
Randy Lajoie/Kannapolis,
NC/NASCAR |
31 |
40,000 |
| 10 |
Dale Jarrett/Hickory,
NC/NASCAR |
29 |
40,000 |
| 11 |
Tom Kendall/Santa
Monica, CA/SCCA |
28 |
40,000 |
| 12 |
Arie Luyendyk/Scottsdale,
AZ/IRL |
28 |
40,000 |
Race One |
| |
| February 13, 1998 |
| Daytona International Speedway |
| Daytona Beach, Florida |
| 2.5-mile high-banked oval, 30 laps, 100 miles ** |
Finish |
Start |
Driver |
Laps |
Status |
| 1 |
6 |
Jeff Gordon |
30 |
Running |
| 2 |
4 |
Jeff Burton |
30 |
Running |
| 3 |
9 |
Mark Martin |
30 |
Running |
| 4 |
5 |
Dale Earnhardt |
30 |
Running |
| 5 |
8 |
Arie Luyendyk |
30 |
Running |
| 6 |
2 |
Dale Jarrett |
30 |
Running |
| 7 |
7 |
Terry Labonte |
30 |
Running |
| 8 |
12 |
* Al Unser Jr. |
30 |
Running |
| 9 |
1 |
Tony Stewart |
30 |
Running |
| 10 |
3 |
Jimmy Vasser |
30 |
Running |
| 11 |
11 |
Randy Lajoie |
29 |
Running |
| 12 |
10 |
Tom Kendall |
11 |
Accident |
| |
* Did not practice,
moved to rear of field |
| |
** Rain shortened
from scheduled 100-mile distance |
| Time
of Race: 25
minutes, 8 seconds |
| Average
Speed: 179.045
MPH |
| Margin
of Victory: .087 second |
| Caution
Flags : Laps 5 and 28 |
| Lead
Changes: 10 among 7 drivers |
| Lap
Leaders: Jarrett, 1; Burton, 2; Labonte, 3; Earnhardt, 4;
Burton, 5-6, Earnhardt, 7; Burton, 8; Kendall, 9-11; Martin, 12-28;
Gordon 29-30. |
Race Two |
| |
| May 2, 1998 |
| California Speedway |
| Fontana, California |
| 2-mile oval, 50 laps, 100 miles |
Finish |
Start |
Driver |
Laps |
Status |
| 1 |
10 |
Mark Martin |
50 |
Running |
| 2 |
5 |
Al Unser Jr. |
50 |
Running |
| 3 |
12 |
Jeff Gordon |
50 |
Running |
| 4 |
6 |
Terry Labonte |
50 |
Running |
| 5 |
11 |
Jeff Burton |
50 |
Running |
| 6 |
2 |
Randy LaJoie |
50 |
Running |
| 7 |
4 |
Tony Stewart |
50 |
Running |
| 8 |
7 |
Dale Jarrett |
50 |
Running |
| 9 |
3 |
Jimmy Vasser |
50 |
Running |
| 10 |
9 |
Dale Earnhardt |
50 |
Running |
| 11 |
8 |
Arie Luyendyk |
50 |
Running |
| 12 |
1 |
Tom Kendall |
45 |
Running |
| Time
of Race: 37
minutes, 1 second |
| Average
Speed: 162.089
MPH |
| Margin
of Victory: .218
second |
| Caution Flags: Lap 7 |
| Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers |
| Lap Leaders:
LaJoie, 1-3; Unser Jr., 4-7; Gordon, 8-12; Martin, 13-50. |
Race Three |
| |
| June 13, 1998 |
| Michigan International Speedway |
| Brooklyn, Michigan |
| Two-mile superspeedway, 50 laps, 100 miles. |
Finish |
Start |
Driver |
Laps |
Status |
| 1 |
10 |
Jeff Burton |
50 |
Running |
| 2 |
12 |
Mark Martin |
50 |
Running |
| 3 |
5 |
Tony Stewart |
50 |
Running |
| 4 |
7 |
Dale Earnhardt |
50 |
Running |
| 5 |
1 |
Tom Kendall |
50 |
Running |
| 6 |
8 |
Terry Labonte |
50 |
Running |
| 7 |
4 |
Arie Luyendyk |
50 |
Running |
| 8 |
11 |
Jeff Gordon |
50 |
Running |
| 9 |
3 |
Randy LaJoie |
50 |
Running |
| 10 |
6 |
Dale Jarrett |
50 |
Running |
| 11 |
2 |
Jimmy Vasser |
50 |
Running |
| 12 |
9 |
Al Unser Jr. |
50 |
Running |
| Time
of Race: 36
minutes, 53.9 seconds |
| Average
Speed: 162.969
MPH |
| Margin
of Victory: .229
second |
| Caution Flags:
None |
| Lead Changes:
1 among 2 drivers |
| Lap Leaders:
Kendall, 1-44; Burton, 45-50. |
Race Four |
| |
| July 31, 1998 |
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| Indianapolis, IN |
| 2.5-mile oval, 40 laps, 100 miles |
Finish |
Start |
Driver |
Laps |
Status |
| 1 |
11 |
Mark Martin |
40 |
Running |
| 2 |
6 |
Al Unser Jr. |
40 |
Running |
| 3 |
1 |
Jimmy Vasser |
40 |
Running |
| 4 |
2 |
Randy LaJoie |
40 |
Running |
| 5 |
7 |
Terry Labonte
|
40 |
Running |
| 6 |
12 |
* Tony Stewart
|
40 |
Running |
| 7 |
3 |
Dale Jarrett |
40 |
Running |
| 8 |
8 |
Dale Earnhardt
|
40 |
Running |
| 9 |
9 |
Jeff Gordon |
40 |
Running |
| 10 |
5 |
Tom Kendall |
40 |
Running |
| 11 |
4 |
Arie Luyendyk
|
2 |
Accident |
| 12 |
10 |
Jeff Burton |
2 |
Accident |
| |
* Stewart was scheduled
to start sixth but started last at his request due to lack of
practice. |
| Time
of Race: 38
minutes, 22 seconds |
| Average
Speed: 156.386
MPH |
| Margin
of Victory: . 247
second |
| Caution Flags:
1 (Luyendyk accident after lap 2) |
| Lead Changes:
1 among 2 drivers |
| Lap Leaders:
Vasser, 1-36; Martin, 37-40. |
|
Rauzulu's Street