1998 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World

  1998 Walt Disney World

Race details
1st Round of the 1998 Indy Racing League.
Date	January 24, 1998
Official name	Indy 200 at Walt Disney World
Location	Walt Disney World Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.000 / 1.609 km
Distance	200 laps, 200.000 mi / 321.869 km
Pole
Driver	Tony Stewart	Team Menard
Time	Grid set by entrant points
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Time	21.831
Podium
First	Tony Stewart	Team Menard
Second	Jeff Ward	ISM Racing
Third	Davey Hamilton	Nienhouse Motorsports

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 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida. As in 1997, rain hampered the event, this time forcing to cancel the qualifying session.

Report

Qualifying

For the first time in IRL history, torrential rain forced the qualifying session to be cancelled. Thus, the first 20 positions on the grid were set by 1996-1997 entrant points, with the remaining spots being determined by practice speeds. The grid was limited to 28 cars due to concerns about safety in the pit area.^[1]

Pos	No.	Name
1	1	Tony Stewart
2	14	Kenny Bräck
3	11	Billy Boat
4	10	Mike Groff
5	5	Arie Luyendyk
6	21	Roberto Guerrero
7	18	John Paul, Jr.
8	91	Buddy Lazier
9	30	Raul Boesel
10	12	Buzz Calkins W
11	40	Jack Miller
12	27	Robbie Groff
13	17	Brian Tyler R
14	3	Robbie Buhl
15	77	Stephan Gregoire
16	97	Greg Ray
17	99	Sam Schmidt
18	19	Stan Wattles
19	6	Davey Hamilton
20	8	Scott Sharp
21	4	Scott Goodyear
22	28	Mark Dismore
23	51	Eddie Cheever W
24	35	Jeff Ward
25	16	Marco Greco
26	15	Eliseo Salazar
27	20	Tyce Carlson
28	7	Jimmy Kite†
Didn't qualify
29	53	Jim Guthrie
30	41	Affonso Giaffone
31	24	Billy Roe

• † Kite, who originally placed 5th in the grid due to its entrant points, had to change to a backup chassis following a crash in practice.

Failed to qualify or withdrew

• John Hollansworth, Jr. R for Blueprint Racing - couldn't pass his rookie test in time for the race. 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, Stephan Gregoire and Mark Dismore) were marginal on fuel mileage. Stewart, Hamilton, and Ward pitted for fuel, while Dismore and Gregoire elected to gamble and assumed the top two places.

After the restart, Dismore held off Stewart (who had moved back up to second) while Gregoire, 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 Gregoire 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
1	1	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	200	2:06:07	1	132	52
2	35	Jeff Ward	ISM Racing	200	+ 8.579 sec	24	0	40
3	6	Davey Hamilton	Nienhouse Motorsports	200	Running	19	0	35
4	77	Stephan Gregoire	Chastain Motorsports	200	Running	15	0	32
5	28	Mark Dismore	Kelley Racing	199	+ 1 lap	22	27	30
6	8	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing	198	+ 2 lap	20	0	28
7	10	Mike Groff	Byrd-Cunningham Racing	198	+ 2 lap	4	0	26
8	5	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	197	+ 3 laps	5	0	24
9	99	Sam Schmidt	LP Racing	195	+ 5 laps	17	0	22
10	18	John Paul, Jr.	PDM Racing	194	+ 6 laps	7	0	20
11	20	Tyce Carlson	Immke Racing	192	+ 8 laps	27	0	19
12	15	Eliseo Salazar	Riley & Scott Cars	187	+ 13 laps	26	0	18
13	14	Kenny Bräck	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	174	+ 26 laps	2	1	17
14	12	Buzz Calkins W	Bradley Motorsports	168	+ 32 laps	10	0	16
15	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	165	Accident	8	34	15
16	7	Jimmy Kite	Team Scandia	149	Half shaft	28	0	14
17	4	Scott Goodyear	Panther Racing	132	Suspension	21	0	13
18	30	Raul Boesel	McCormack Motorsports	128	+ 72 laps	9	0	12
19	17	Brian Tyler R	Chitwood Motorsports	121	Accident	13	0	11
20	3	Robbie Buhl	Team Menard	100	Electrical	14	0	10
21	11	Billy Boat	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	72	Accident	3	0	9
22	19	Stan Wattles	Metro Racing Systems	64	Accident	18	0	8
23	40	Jack Miller	Crest Racing/SRS	59	Handling	11	0	7
24	51	Eddie Cheever W	Team Cheever	48	Engine fire	23	0	6
25	97	Greg Ray	Knapp Motorsports	29	Accident	16	0	5
26	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	13	Accident	6	6	4
27	16	Marco Greco	Phoenix Racing	12	Accident	25	0	3
28	27	Robbie Groff	Blueprint Racing	0	Accident	12	0	2

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Tony Stewart 52 2 Jeff Ward 40 3 Davey Hamilton 35 4 Stephan Gregoire 32 5 Mark Dismore 30 Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings. References ↑ "Qualifying Postponed for Indy 200 at WDW". Indy Racing League. The Auto Channel. January 23, 1998. Retrieved July 25, 2015.  External links IndyCar official website Walt Disney World Speedway IRL IndyCar races 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Previous race: None IndyCar Series 1998 season Next race: 1998 Dura Lube 200 Previous race: 1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Next race: 1999 TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200