1998 CART season Races 19 Start date March 15 End date November 1 Drivers' champion Alex Zanardi Constructors' Cup Reynard Manufacturers' Cup Honda Nations' Cup United States Rookie of the Year Tony Kanaan
The 1998 FedEx Championship Series season, the twentieth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing , consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi , his second consecutive championship, while the series' Rookie of the Year was Tony Kanaan . This was the first of five years of sponsorship by FDX Corporation, who became FedEx Corporation in 2000.
The season was marred by a deadly crash on lap 175 of the U.S. 500 . Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn of Michigan International Speedway . His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others.[1]
Also this marks the final season with Bobby Rahal on the CART grid. Other notable events of the 1998 season include first wins for popular driver Bryan Herta and future series and Indianapolis champion Dario Franchitti . Mexican driver Adrián Fernández got his second career win at Twin Ring Motegi , the first race run there by Champ Cars.
Drivers and constructors [ ]
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 CART Championship Series season.
Team
Chassis
Engine
Tires
No
Drivers
Rounds
Primary Sponsors
Chip Ganassi Racing
Reynard 98i
Honda HRK
F
1
Alex Zanardi
All
Target
12
Jimmy Vasser
All
Marlboro Team Penske
Penske PC-27
Mercedes IC108E
G
2
Al Unser Jr.
All
Marlboro
3
André Ribeiro
All
Walker Racing
Reynard 98i
Honda HRK
G
5
Gil de Ferran
All
Valvoline
Newman-Haas Racing
Swift 009.c
Ford XB
G
6
Michael Andretti
All
Texaco -Havoline
11
Christian Fittipaldi
1–6, 8–19
Kmart
Roberto Moreno
7
Team Rahal
Reynard 98i
Ford XB
F
7
Bobby Rahal
All
Miller Lite
8
Bryan Herta
All
Shell
Hogan Racing
Reynard 98i
Mercedes IC108E
F
9
JJ Lehto
All
Hogan Motor Leasing
Della Penna Motorsports
Swift 009.c
Ford XB
F
10
Richie Hearn
All
Budweiser
43
Hideshi Matsuda
2
BMB Mini-Juke
Project CART
Reynard 98i
Mercedes IC108E
G
15
Roberto Moreno
1–2
Hawaiian Tropic
Domenico Schiattarella
3
Bettenhausen Racing
Reynard 98i
Mercedes IC108E
G
16
Hélio Castroneves
All
Alumax
PacWest Racing Group
Reynard 98i
Mercedes IC108E
F
17
Maurício Gugelmin
All
Hollywood Cigarettes
18
Mark Blundell
All
Motorola
Payton/Coyne Racing
Reynard 98i
Ford XB
F
19
Michel Jourdain Jr.
All
Herdez
34
Dennis Vitolo
1, 4, 6–10, 12, 15–19
SmithKline Beecham Payton/Coyne Racing Banco Cacique
Gualter Salles
2–3, 5, 11, 13–14
Patrick Racing
Reynard 98i
Ford XB
F
20
Scott Pruett
All
Visteon
40
Adrián Fernández
All
Tecate Beer
Tasman Motorsports Group
Reynard 98i
Honda HRK
F
21
Tony Kanaan
All
LCI
Arciero-Wells Racing
Reynard 98i
Toyota RV8C
F
24
Hiro Matsushita
1–3, 5
Panasonic
Robby Gordon
4, 6–19
25
Max Papis
All
MCI
Team KOOL Green
Reynard 98i
Honda HRK
F
26
Paul Tracy
All
KOOL
27
Dario Franchitti
All
Forsythe Racing
Reynard 98i
Mercedes IC108E
F
33
Patrick Carpentier
All
Player's
99
Greg Moore
All
All American Racing
Reynard
Toyota RV8C
G
98
P. J. Jones
1–15
Castrol
36
Alex Barron
1–12
Eagle 987
13–19
98
Vincenzo Sospiri
16–19
Lola T98/00
Ford XB
G
77
Arnd Meier
All
BAAN Business Software Hasseröder
Season Summary [ ]
Schedule [ ]
Rnd
Date
Race Name
Circuit
Location
1
March 15
Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami
O Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
2
March 28
Budweiser 500K
O Twin Ring Motegi
Motegi , Japan
3
April 5
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
S Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
4
April 27*
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
O Nazareth Speedway
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5
May 10
Rio 400K
O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
6
May 23
Motorola 300
O Gateway International Raceway
Madison, Illinois
7
May 31
Miller 200
O Milwaukee Mile
West Allis, Wisconsin
8
June 7
ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix
S The Raceway on Belle Isle Park
Detroit , Michigan
9
June 21
Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200
R Portland International Raceway
Portland, Oregon
10
July 12
Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland
S Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport
Cleveland, Ohio
11
July 19
Molson Indy Toronto
S Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ontario
12
July 26
U.S. 500
O Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
13
August 9
Miller Lite 200
R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
14
August 16
Texaco/Havoline 200
R Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
15
September 6
Molson Indy Vancouver
S Streets of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
16
September 13
Honda Grand Prix of Monterey
R Laguna Seca Raceway
Monterey, California
17
October 4
Texaco Grand Prix of Houston
S George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, Texas
18
October 18
Honda Indy 300
S Surfers Paradise Street Circuit
Surfers Paradise , Australia
19
November 1
Marlboro 500
O California Speedway
Fontana, California
– The Nazareth race was scheduled for April 26, but postponed due to rain.
– The Houston race was scheduled for 153 miles, but was shortened due to poor visibility.
O Oval/Speedway
R Dedicated road course
S Temporary street circuit
Race results [ ]
Final driver standings [ ]
Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems
Pos
Driver
MIA
MOT
LBH
NAZ
RIO
GAT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIC
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAG
HOU
SUR
FON
Pts
1
Alex Zanardi
3
23
1
2
2*
1
8
1*
1*
1*
1
3*
12
2
4
2
2
1*
3
285
2
Jimmy Vasser
16
7
8
1
6
4
1*
6
8
7
3
2
27
9
26
5
4
24
1*
169
3
Dario Franchitti
9
8
2
21
19
27
4
4
21
3
20*
21
26
1*
1*
4
1*
2
22
160
4
Adrián Fernández
6
1*
4
26
3
18
9
2
24
5
9
23
1
5
15
7
6
6
4
154
5
Greg Moore
2
4
6
3
1
3
13
5
27
25
11
1
22
21
20
21
26
8
2
141
6
Scott Pruett
5
21
12
22
18
5
10
9
2
4
6
4
2
20
3
18
11
4
20
121
7
Michael Andretti
1*
14
21
18*
5
2*
26
10
17
2
2
6
21
15
2
10
28
20
18
112
8
Bryan Herta
8
28
3
8
4
23
11
21
3
13
5
10
25
23
22
1*
8
10
15
97
9
Tony Kanaan RY
29
6
5
9
27
24
17
8
4
14
22
11
8
4
18
3
3
7
19
92
10
Bobby Rahal
19
17
17
6
8
8
5
11
6
8
4
7
3
8
25
16
23
25
11
82
11
Al Unser Jr.
22
2
29
15
16
19
3
24
5
17
17
22
6
27
5
6
7
22
27
72
12
Gil de Ferran
7
3
20*
4
26
6
22
3
20
6
27
16
9
16
13
19
21
14
17
67
13
Paul Tracy
27
5
25
5
25
26
7
7
28
19
14
9
5
6
11
8
20
23
14
61
14
Christian Fittipaldi
4
25
26
11
21
11
Wth
17
26
11
16
25
13
3
14
9
27
3
7
56
15
Maurício Gugelmin
10
20
10
17
9
16
21
19
7
20
12
13
4*
19
6
27
18
12
5
49
16
Richie Hearn
13
27
23
10
7
28
6
23
10
18
7
5
24
13
16
11
9
18
8
47
17
Hélio Castroneves R
24
11
9
23
23
7
2
12
13
27
10
12
17
26
24
23
24
21
10
36
18
Mark Blundell
12
10
7
20
11
10
12
22
22
10
26
17
19
7
12
25
14
11
6
36
19
Patrick Carpentier
11
19
28
13
17
15
25
15
9
9
25
8
7
28
27
17
22
9
26
27
20
JJ Lehto R
14
29
18
16
10
9
19
26
25
28
24
20
15
18
8
28
10
5
21
25
21
Max Papis
26
13
24
14
28
22
16
18
11
12
8
19
14
11
9
12
5
17
16
25
22
André Ribeiro
17
9
22
DNQ
22
20
18
16
15
22
23
28
10
25
7
14
17
13
28
13
23
Robby Gordon
7
13
20
14
23
23
13
27
11
12
23
13
13
16
9
13
24
Michel Jourdain Jr.
28
22
27
12
24
17
15
13
19
26
18
18
28
14
10
24
25
26
12
5
25
Arnd Meier
21
15
15
24
14
21
23
27
12
16
15
14
18
10
28
15
16
27
24
4
26
P. J. Jones
20
30
11
19
13
12
14
25
16
21
19
24
20
22
21
3
27
Alex Barron R
18
24
14
DNQ
12
14
DNQ
20
14
15
28
15
16
24
19
20
12
19
13
2
28
Gualter Salles
12
13
20
21
23
17
1
29
Vincenzo Sospiri R
22
15
15
23
0
30
Hiro Matsushita
23
16
19
15
0
31
Roberto Moreno
15
26
24
0
32
Domenico Schiattarella
16
0
33
Dennis Vitolo
25
25
25
DNQ
28
18
24
26
17
26
19
DNQ
25
0
34
Hideshi Matsuda
18
0
Pos
Driver
MIA
MOT
LBH
NAZ
RIO
GAT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIC
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAG
HOU
SUR
FON
Pts
Color
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
4th–6th place
Light Blue
7th–12th place
Dark Blue
Finished (Outside Top 12)
Purple
Did not finish
Red
Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown
Withdrawn (Wth)
Black
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Blank
Did not participate (DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold
Pole position
Italics
Ran fastest race lap
*
Led most race laps
RY
Rookie of the Year
R
Rookie
Nation's Cup [ ]
Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
Pos
Country
MIA
MOT
LBH
NAZ
RIO
GAT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIC
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAG
HOU
SUR
FON
Pts
1
United States
1
2
3
1
4
2
1
6
2
2
2
2
2
8
2
1
4
4
1
303
2
Italy
3
13
1
2
2
1
8
1
1
1
1
3
12
2
4
2
2
1
3
286
3
Brazil
4
3
5
4
9
6
2
3
4
6
10
11
4
3
6
3
3
3
5
203
4
Canada
2
4
6
3
1
3
7
5
9
9
11
1
5
6
11
8
20
8
2
182
5
United Kingdom
9
8
2
20
11
10
4
4
21
3
20
17
19
1
1
4
1
2
6
168
6
Mexico
6
1
4
12
3
17
9
2
19
5
9
18
1
5
10
7
6
6
4
158
7
Finland
14
29
18
16
10
9
19
26
25
28
24
20
15
18
8
28
10
5
21
25
8
Germany
21
15
15
24
14
21
23
27
12
16
15
14
18
10
28
15
16
27
24
4
9
Japan
23
16
19
15
0
Pos
Country
MIA
MOT
LBH
NAZ
RIO
GAT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIC
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAG
HOU
SUR
FON
Pts
Chassis Constructor's Cup[ ]
Pos
Chassis
Pts
Wins
1
Reynard 98I
409
18
2
Swift 009.c
167
1
3
Penske PC-27
72
0
4
Lola T9800
4
0
5
Eagle 987
1
0
Pos
Chassis
Pts
Wins
Engine Manufacturer's Cup[ ]
Pos
Engine
Pts
Wins
1
Honda
365
13
2
Ford XB
293
4
3
Mercedes
226
2
4
Toyota
41
0
Pos
Engine
Pts
Wins
Driver breakdown [ ]
References [ ]
See also [ ]
American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA USAC CART CCWS IRL INDYCAR
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.