1998 NASCAR RCA Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

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The 1998 NASCAR RCA Cup Series was the 50th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 27th modern-era cup series. The season included 39 races and three exhibition races, beginning with the Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point Raceway and ending with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the Driver's Championship, the second of his career.

Teams, drivers, and manufacturers

Manufacturers

Company	Marquee	Model	Status	Teams
General Motors	Chevrolet	Monte Carlo Z34	Full factory support	Dale Earnhardt Inc., Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing
		Cavalier	Full factory support	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
		Camaro Z28	Full factory support	Marcis Auto Racing
	Pontiac	Grand Prix	Full factory support	Joe Gibbs Racing, MB2 Motorsports
		Bonneville	Full factory support	ISM Racing
		Firebird	Full factory support	eligible but unused
	Oldsmobile	Cutlass	Full factory support	American Equipment Racing, Andy Petree Racing
		Intrigue	NEW, full factory support	Larry Hedrick Motorsports, LJ Racing
Ford Motor Company	Ford	Taurus	NEW, full factory support	Elliott-Marino Racing, Penske Racing South/Penske-Kranefuss Racing, Robert Yates Racing
		Thunderbird	FINAL YEAR, support ended after 1997	Used by part-time teams
		Crown Victoria	Full factory support	Melling Racing
		Mustang SVT Cobra	Full factory support	FILMAR Racing
		Escort	Full factory support	eligible but unused
		Roush Mustang	In-house variant	Roush Racing
	Mercury	Sable	Full factory support	Cale Yarborough Motorsports, Rudd Performance Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing
		Tracer	NEW, full factory support	Jasper Motorsports
		Grand Marquis	NEW GENERATION, full factory support	Orr Motorsports
	Lincoln (RETURNING)	Continental	RETURNING, full factory support	Team Scandia/Brett Bodine Racing
		Mark VIII	Full engine support (bodies were rebadged Ford Thunderbirds)	Butch Mock Motorsports, Travis Carter Enterprises
		Town Car	Full engine support (bodies were rebadged Ford Crown Victorias)	Mattei Motorsports
Chrysler Corporation	Dodge	Intrepid	NEW GENERATION, full factory support	Bahari Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Petty Enterprises, PE2
		Stratus	Full factory support	Donlavey Racing, Moroso Racing
		Avenger	Full factory support	AK Racing, Team SABCO

Manufacturer notes

1998 saw a massive escalation in the Third Aero War. Not only did Dodge debut the new-generation Intrepid to great success, Ford finally managed to get the Taurus into the RCA Cup Series, and also brought back Lincoln due to the Continental sharing the same platform with the Taurus and Mercury Sable (the Mark VIII only ran because Ford allowed smaller teams to rebadge surplus Thunderbirds; the Town Car was an anomaly caused by Mattei Motorsports rebadging some of Geoff Bodine's old Crown Victorias, as the two cars shared a common platform). 1998 also saw Oldsmobile introduce the new Intrigue, a car built on the same platform as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix; it was hoped this would change their fortunes, and although the car never visited victory lane in 1998, it did get a slew of top-tens and even competed for the win at Denver and Nazareth.

With the discontinuation of the Ford Probe, Roush Racing, instead of switching to the new Taurus, elected to take advantage of the fact Jack Roush owned Roush Performance and prepare their own variant of the Mustang, known as the Roush Mustang. NASCAR approved this because Sheldon Johnson, Jr. liked the idea of aftermarket engines getting representation. Unsurprisingly, the Roush Mustang was an absolute success, and played spoiler in the Third Aero War by proving that horsepower matter, as well, thus serving as a preview of the Horsepower Wars that started ten years later.

Complete schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race Driver	Crew Chief	Model	Primary Sponsor
Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	17	Darrell Waltrip	Dave McCarty	1998 Monte Carlo	Parts America
		38	Kelley Earnhardt	Phillipe Lopez		Pennzoil
	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Terry Labonte	Andy Graves	1998 Monte Carlo	Kellogg's
		24	Jeff Gordon	Ray Evernham		DuPont
		50	Ricky Craven	Tony Furr		Lowe's
		52	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Tim Brewer		Castrol
	Marcis Auto Racing	71	Dave Marcis	Bob Marcis	1998 Camaro	RealTree Camouflage
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Kenny Wallace	Charley Pressley	1998 Cavalier	Kodak Film
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Dale Earnhardt	Larry McReynolds	1998 Monte Carlo	GM Goodwrench Service Plus
		31	Mike Skinner	Kevin Hamlin		Budweiser
Dodge	AK Racing	7	Alan Kulwicki	Paul Andrews	1998 Avenger	Walmart
		11	Ernie Irvan			Burger King
	Bahari Racing	30	Clifford Allison	Doug Hewitt	1998 Intrepid	Gumout
	Bill Davis Racing	22	Bobby Labonte		1998 Intrepid	MBNA America
		23	Ward Burton	Tommy Baldwin Jr.		Sprite
	Donlavey Racing	90	Dick Trickle	Junie Donlavey	1998 Stratus	Heilig-Meyers/Simmons
	Elliott-Melling Racing	9	Bill Elliott	Joe Garone	1998 Taurus	McDonald's
		13	Jerry Nadeau (R)	Jerry Pitts		FirstPlus Loans
		94	Casey Elliott			Super 8 Motels
	Moroso Racing	20	Rob Moroso		1998 Stratus	NAPA Auto Parts
	Petty Enterprises	43	John Andretti	Robbie Loomis	1998 Intrepid	STP
	Team SABCO	40	Shawna Robinson	Corrie Stott	1998 Avenger	Kmart
		42	Kyle Petty	Scott Eggleston		Mello Yello
		45	Patty Moise	Gary Grossenbacher		Barbie
		46	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)			First Union
Ford	FILMAR Racing	82	Ted Musgrave	David Ifft	1998 Mustang	Square D
	Penske Racing South Penske-Kranefuss Racing	2	Rusty Wallace	Robin Pemberton	1998 Taurus	Miller Lite
		12	Tim Richmond	Paul Andrews		Mobil 1
	Robert Yates Racing	28	Davey Allison	Marc Reno	1998 Taurus	Texaco/Havoline
		88	Sterling Marlin	Todd Parrott		Ford Quality Care
	Roush Racing	6	Mark Martin	Jimmy Fennig	1998 Roush Mustang	Valvoline
		16	Tammy Jo Kirk	James Ince		PrimeStar
		26	Johnny Benson	Ben Leslie		Cheerios
		97	Chad Little	Jeff Hammond		John Deere
		99	Jeff Burton	Frank Stoddard		Exide Batteries
	Steele-Favre Racing	15	Tim Steele (R)		1998 Contour	Nike/Sony
Lincoln	Butch Mock Motorsports	75	Rick Mast	Dave Charpentier	1998 Mark VIII	Remington Arms
	Team Scandia Brett Bodine Racing	27	Brett Bodine	Gere Kennon	1998 Continental	Paychex
	Travis Carter Enterprises	32	Jimmy Spencer	Donnie Wingo	1998 Mark VIII	Coca-Cola
			Frank Kimmel
			Ted Musgrave
Mercury	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	98	Jeremy Mayfield	Michael McSwain	1998 Sable	RCA
	Jasper Motorsports	77	Robert Pressley	Newt Moore	1998 Tracer	Jasper Engines
			Hut Stricklin
			Ted Musgrave
	Orr Motorsports	57	Rodney Orr		1998 Grand Marquis	Craftsman
	Rudd Performance Motorsports	10	Ricky Rudd	Bill Ingle	1998 Sable	Tide
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Michael Waltrip	Glen Wood	1998 Sable	Citgo
Oldsmobile	American Equipment Racing	96	David Green	Sammy Johns	1998 Cutlass	Caterpillar
			Kevin Lepage (R)
			Hut Stricklin
			Robby Gordon
			Ron Fellows
			Ted Musgrave
			Mike Bliss
			Steve Grissom
	Andy Petree Racing	33	Ken Schrader	Andy Petree	1998 Cutlass	Skoal Bandit
	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	41	Steve Grissom		1998 Intrigue	Kodiak
			David Green
			Rick Wilson
	LJ Racing	91	Kevin Lepage (R)	Doug Richert	1998 Intrigue	First Union Bank
			Tommy Kendall
			Andy Hillenburg
			Todd Bodine
Pontiac	ISM Racing	35	Todd Bodine	Pat Tryson Phil Hammer	1998 Bonneville	Tabasco
			Rich Bickle
	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Dale Jarrett	Jimmy Makar	1998 Grand Prix	Interstate Batteries
	MB2 Motorsports	36	Derrike Cope	Ryan Pemberton	1998 Grand Prix	Jimmy Dean

Limited schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model
Chevrolet	BMR Motorsports	46	Jeff Ward		1997 Malibu
	Chris Raudman Racing	58	Chris Raudman		1996 Impala
	Gerhart Racing	54	Bobby Gerhart		1998 Monte Carlo
	T.R.I.X. Racing	79	Norm Benning	Ted Walters	1997 Monte Carlo
			Randy MacDonald
			Ken Bouchard
Dodge	Barkdoll Racing	73	Mike Wallace		1998 Intrepid
	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	29	Jeff Green		1995 Avenger
		92	Elliott Sadler	Butch Hylton Sandy Jones
	Midwest Transit Racing	07	Dan Pardus	Chet Shirah Jr. John McQueen	1997 Stratus
	Precision Products Racing	14	Loy Allen Jr.		1997 Avenger
			Lance Hooper
Ford	Elliott-Marino Racing	89	Dennis Setzer	Mike Brandt	1998 Taurus
	Moore-Robinson Racing	15	Loy Allen Jr.	Joey Knuckles	1998 Escort
			Ted Musgrave
	Roush Racing	60	Matt Kenseth	Robbie Reiser	1998 Roush Mustang
	Ware Racing Enterprises	70	Rick Ware		1997 Thunderbird
Lincoln	CSG Racing	59	Mark Gibson	Tony Gibson	1998 Town Car
			Brian Cunningham
	Hilton Racing	38	Butch Gilliland		1998 Mark VIII
	SBIII Racing	58	Rick Wilson		1998 Mark VIII
Mercury	Gunselman Racing	37	Larry Gunselman		1997 Cougar
	Roehrig Motorsports	19	Tony Raines	Mike Bodick	1998 Sable
			Tom Hubert
			Robby Gordon
	Standridge Motorsports	47	Billy Standridge		1997 Grand Marquis
	Triad Motorsports	78	Gary Bradberry		1997 Sable
Oldsmobile	Andy Petree Racing	55	Hut Stricklin	Jimmy Elledge	1998 Cutlass
	Buckshot Racing	66	Buckshot Jones	Ricky Pearson	1997 Cutlass
	Highland Timber Racing	08	Harris DeVane		1998 Intrigue
	Stavola Brothers Racing	8	Hut Stricklin		1998 Intrigue
			Buckshot Jones
			Morgan Shepherd
Pontiac	Shepherd Racing	05	Morgan Shepherd	J.T. Townsend	1997 Grand Prix
	Stacker-Foyt Racing	14	Tony Stewart		1998 Grand Prix

Schedule

No.	Race title	Track	Date	TV
1	Save Mart/Kragen 350	Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma	January 25	WBC
	Bud Shootout Qualifier	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 8	ESPN
	Bud Shootout			WBC
	Gatorade 125s		February 12	WBC
2	Daytona 500		February 15	WBC
3	GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400	North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham	February 22	TNN
4	Las Vegas 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	March 1	WBC
5	Primestar 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	March 9	ESPN
6	San Jose 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	March 15	WBC
7	TranSouth Financial 400	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	March 22	ESPN
8	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	March 29	ESPN
9	Texas 400	Texas World Speedway, College Station	April 5	WBC
10	Goody's Headache Powder 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	April 20	ESPN
11	DieHard 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	April 26	WBC
12	California 500 presented by NAPA	California Speedway, Fontana	May 3	WBC
13	Diet Coke 500	Denver International Speedway, Denver	May 10	WBC
	RCA Shootout	Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Easley	May 16	TNN
	RCA Open			TNN
	RCA All-Star Challenge XIV			TNN
14	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	May 24	WBC
15	MBNA Platinum 400	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	May 31	TNN
16	Pontiac Excitement 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	June 6	ESPN
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	June 14	TNN
18	Dodge Avenger 400	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth	June 21	WBC
19	Budweiser 400	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside	June 28	WBC
20	Jiffy Lube 300	New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon	July 12	TNN
21	Music City USA 420	Nashville Speedway USA, Nashville	July 19	TNN
22	Pennsylvania 500	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	July 26	WBC
23	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	August 1	WBC
24	The Bud at The Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 9	ESPN
25	Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss	Michigan Speedway, Brooklyn	August 16	ESPN
26	Goody's Headache Powder 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	August 22	ESPN
27	Tyson Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	August 30	ESPN
28	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 6	WBC
29	Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	September 12	ESPN
30	MBNA Gold 400	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	September 20	TNN
31	NAPA Autocare 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	September 27	ESPN
32	UAW-GM Quality 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	October 4	WBC
33	Dodge 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	October 11	ESPN
34	Pepsi 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	October 17	WBC
35	Gilead 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	October 25	WBC
36	Dura Lube/Kmart 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	November 1	TNN
37	ACDelco 400	North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham	November 8	TNN
38	NAPA 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	November 15	ESPN
39	Sprite 500	Denver International Speedway, Denver	November 22	WBC
	Coca-Cola 500	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	November 29	WBC
40	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario	December 6	WBC

Results

No.	Race	Pole Position	Winner	Make/Model
1	Save Mart/Kragen 350	Kenny Wallace	Kyle Petty	Dodge Intrepid
	Bud Shootout Qualifier	Sterling Marlin	Jimmy Spencer	Lincoln Mark VIII
	Bud Shootout	Mark Martin	Rusty Wallace	Ford Taurus
	Gatorade 125s Race 1	Bobby Labonte	Sterling Marlin	Dodge Avenger
	Gatorade 125s Race 2	Terry Labonte	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2	Daytona 500	Bobby Labonte	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3	GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400	Rick Mast	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4	Las Vegas 400	Davey Allison	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
5	Primestar 500	John Andretti	Bobby Labonte	Dodge Intrepid
6	San Jose 500	Jeremy Mayfield	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
7	TranSouth Financial 400	Mark Martin	Ernie Irvan	Ford Taurus
8	Food City 500	Rusty Wallace	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9	Texas 400	Tim Richmond	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
10	Goody's Headache Powder 500	Bobby Hamilton	Bobby Hamilton	Chevrolet Cavalier
11	DieHard 500	Bobby Labonte	Bobby Labonte	Dodge Intrepid
12	California 500 by NAPA	Jeff Gordon	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
13	Diet Coke 500	Mark Martin	Ricky Rudd	Mercury Sable
	RCA Shootout Race 1	???	Tim Richmond	Ford Taurus
	RCA Shootout Race 2	???	Jimmy Spencer	Lincoln Mark VIII
	RCA Open	???	Tim Richmond	Ford Taurus
	RCA All-Star Challenge XIV	Bill Elliott	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
14	Coca-Cola 600	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
15	MBNA Platinum 400	Rusty Wallace	Davey Allison	Ford Taurus
16	Pontiac Excitement 400	Jeff Gordon	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	Ward Burton	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
18	Dodge Avenger 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeremy Mayfield	Mercury Sable
19	Budweiser 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
20	Jiffy Lube 300	Ricky Craven	Jeff Burton	Roush Mustang
21	Music City USA 420	Jeff Gordon	Derrike Cope	Pontiac Grand Prix
22	Pennsylvania 500	Ward Burton	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
23	Brickyard 400	Ernie Irvan	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
24	The Bud at The Glen	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
25	Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss	Ernie Irvan	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
26	Goody's Headache Powder 500	Rusty Wallace	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
27	Tyson Holly Farms 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
28	Southern 500	Dale Jarrett	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
29	Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400	Rusty Wallace	Jeff Burton	Roush Mustang
30	MBNA Gold 400	Mark Martin	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
31	NAPA Autocare 500	Davey Allison	Ricky Rudd	Mercury Sable
32	UAW-GM Quality 500	Derrike Cope	Mark Martin	Roush Mustang
33	Dodge 500	Ken Schrader	Davey Allison	Ford Taurus
34	Daytona 400	Bobby Labonte	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
35	Gilead 500	Davey Allison	Alan Kulwicki	Dodge Avenger
36	Dura Lube/Kmart 500	Ken Schrader	Rusty Wallace	Ford Taurus
37	ACDelco 400	Mark Martin	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
38	NAPA 500	Kenny Irwin Jr.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
39	Sprite 500	Ward Burton	Clifford Allison	Dodge Intrepid
	Coca-Cola 500	Jeremy Mayfield	Mike Skinner	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
40	Los Angeles Times 500	Tony Stewart	Clifford Allison	Dodge Intrepid

Cars used in 1998 (incomplete)

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Ford Taurus (NEW)

1997 Ford Thunderbird (final year; no factory support)

Dodge Avenger (final year)

Pontiac Grand Prix

Mercury Sable

Lincoln Mark VIII (NEW, only year with factory support)