1998 CART FedEx Championship Series

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, 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.

1998 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races19
Start dateMarch 15
End dateNovember 1
Awards
Drivers' champion Alex Zanardi
Constructors' Cup Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup Honda
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year Tony Kanaan

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.

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 15
Payton/Coyne Racing 3
Banco Cacique 1
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
Davis Racing Lola T98/00 Ford XB G 77 Arnd Meier All BAAN Business Software 8
Hasseröder 11

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 Carnival  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
Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Race Winner Race Time Report
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Greg Moore Greg Moore Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing Swift Ford 1:33:39 Report
2 Budweiser 500 Jimmy Vasser Jimmy Vasser Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford 1:57:12 Report
3 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Bryan Herta Bobby Rahal Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:51:29 Report
4 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Patrick Carpentier Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:57:20 Report
5 Rio 400k Dario Franchitti Alex Zanardi Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes 1:52:14 Report
6 Motorola 300 Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 2:23:02 Report
7 Miller 200 Patrick Carpentier Scott Pruett Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:34:17 Report
8 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix Greg Moore Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:41:17 Report
9 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Bryan Herta Patrick Carpentier Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:54:06 Report
10 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Jimmy Vasser Bryan Herta Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:52:22 Report
11 Molson Indy Dario Franchitti Christian Fittipaldi Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:52:24 Report
12 U.S. 500 Adrián Fernández Patrick Carpentier Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes 3:00:48 Report
13 Miller Lite 200 Dario Franchitti Greg Moore Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford 1:53:39 Report
14 Texaco/Havoline 200 Michael Andretti Alex Zanardi Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:35:30 Report
15 Molson Indy Vancouver Dario Franchitti Hélio Castroneves Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 2:00:37 Report
16 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Bryan Herta Tony Kanaan Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard Ford 1:55:13 Report
17 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston Greg Moore Alex Zanardi Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:36:30 Report
18 Honda Indy Carnival Australia Dario Franchitti Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 2:01:51 Report
19 Marlboro 500 Scott Pruett Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 3:17:54 Report

Final driver standings
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  18 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 DNS 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 DNS 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 DNS 12 14 DNS 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 DNS 28 18 24 26 17 26 19 DNS 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
Pos Driver Team Entries Wins Podiums Top 5s Top 10s Poles Points
1 Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 19 7 15 16 17 0 285
2 Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 19 3 5 8 15 2 169
3 Franchitti Team KOOL Green 19 3 6 9 11 5 160
4 Fernandez Patrick Racing 19 2 4 8 14 1 154
5 Moore Forsythe Racing 19 2 6 8 10 4 141
6 Pruett Patrick Racing 19 0 3 8 11 1 121
7 Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 19 1 5 6 9 1 112
8 Herta Team Rahal 19 1 3 5 10 3 97
9 Kanaan Tasman Racing 19 0 2 5 10 0 92
10 Rahal Team Rahal 19 0 1 3 10 0 82
11 Unser Jr. Marlboro Team Penske 19 0 2 4 7 0 72
12 de Ferran Walker Racing 19 0 2 3 7 0 67
13 Tracy Team KOOL Green 19 0 0 3 8 0 61
14 Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 18 0 2 3 5 0 56
15 Gugelmin PacWest Racing 19 0 0 2 7 0 49
16 Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 19 0 0 1 8 0 47
17 Castroneves Bettenhausen Racing 19 0 1 1 5 0 36
17 Blundell PacWest Racing 19 0 0 0 6 0 36
19 Carpentier Forsythe Racing 19 0 0 0 5 2 27
20 Lehto Hogan Racing 19 0 0 1 5 0 25
20 Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 19 0 0 1 3 0 25
22 Ribeiro Marlboro Team Penske 18 0 0 0 3 0 13
22 Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing 15 0 0 0 2 0 13
24 Jourdain Jr. Dale Coyne Racing 19 0 0 0 1 0 5
25 Meier Davis Racing 19 0 0 0 1 0 4
26 Jones All American Racing 15 0 0 0 0 0 3
27 Barron All American Racing 17 0 0 0 0 0 2
28 Salles Dale Coyne Racing 6 0 0 0 0 0 1
29 Vitolo Dale Coyne Racing 11 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Sospiri All American Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Matsushita Arciero-Wells Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Moreno Newman-Haas Racing
Project CART		 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Schiattarella Project CART 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Matsuda Beck Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

References
  1. Glick, Shav (July 27, 1998). "Three spectators die at U.S. 500". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012.

See also
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