1998 New England 200

The 1998 New England 200 was the fifth round of the 1998 Indy Racing League. The race was held on June 28, 1998 at the 1.058 mi (1.703 km) New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. It would be the last Indy car race held at this track until the 2011 MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225.

1998 New Hampshire
Race details
5th round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season
DateJune 28, 1998
Official nameNew England 200
LocationNew Hampshire International Speedway
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.058 mi / 1.703 km
Distance200 laps
211.600 mi / 340.600 km
Pole position
DriverBilly Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)
Time23.490
Fastest lap
DriverDavey Hamilton (Nienhouse Motorsports)
Time24.068 (on lap unknown out of 200)
Podium
FirstTony Stewart (Team Menard)
SecondScott Goodyear (Panther Racing)
ThirdScott Sharp (Kelley Racing)

Report
Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Two laps qualifying. The worst lap from any of the drivers were not published, and therefore are unknown.

Pos No. Name Lap Best (in mph)
1 11 Billy Boat 23.490 162.146
2 35 Jeff Ward 23.644 161.089
3 91 Buddy Lazier 23.874 159.538
4 8 Scott Sharp W 23.926 159.191
5 4 Scott Goodyear 23.953 159.011
6 1 Tony Stewart 23.970 158.899
7 5 Arie Luyendyk 23.997 158.720
8 14 Kenny Bräck 24.116 157.937
9 30 Raul Boesel 24.140 157.780
10 10 John Paul, Jr. 24.165 157.616
11 51 Eddie Cheever 24.185 157.486
12 3 Robbie Buhl W 24.255 157.032
13 28 Mark Dismore 24.332 156.535
14 16 Marco Greco 24.429 155.913
15 98 Donnie Beechler R 24.715 154.109
16 77 Stéphan Grégoire 24.862 153.198
17 15 Eliseo Salazar 24.968 152.547
18 52 Robby Unser R 25.343 150.290
19 40 Jack Miller 25.528 149.201
20 18 Jack Hewitt R 25.605 148.752
21 44 J. J. Yeley R 25.666 148.399
22 6 Davey Hamilton 25.722 148.076
23 12 Buzz Calkins 25.860 147.285
24 99 Sam Schmidt 26.410 144.218
25 81 Brian Tyler R 26.711 142.593
26 19 Stan Wattles1 Didn't qualify No speed
  1. ^ Crashed during his qualifying attempt, but was allowed to start the race at the back of the field using a provisional.

Failed to qualify or withdrew
  • Roberto Guerrero for Pagan Racing - fired the week prior. The team decided to sit out the event (as well as the next event at Dover) in order to search and accommodate a replacement driver.[1]
  • Greg Ray for Knapp Motorsports - sat out the event because of a shortage of funds.[2]

Race

A NASCAR Modified race preceding the IRL race left a very slippery type of marbles in the surface. After Jeff Ward had jumped polesitter Billy Boat on the start, Kenny Bräck spun in turn 3 on the first lap and collected John Paul, Jr. Bräck was able to continue after repairs, but Paul was out. Immediately after that incident, Jack Hewitt lost the back end exiting turn 4 and backed into the front stretch wall. Scott Sharp jumped Ward on the restart until he chose to pit under caution (caused by J. J. Yeley's crash) on lap 27, handing the lead back to Ward.

This series of closely spaced yellows continued when Boat, who had been falling back, spun into the infield in turn 2. After the green on lap 32, Ward continued to lead until he was black flagged with fire coming out from under the car on lap 55. Scott Goodyear inherited the lead and looked very strong, pursued by Buddy Lazier and Davey Hamilton, who had set the fast lap of the race, but his chances were hurt when he was penalised for speeding in the pits during a caution on lap 77. Pit stops jumbled the running order and left Tony Stewart, Sharp, Arie Luyendyk and Eliseo Salazar pursuing Goodyear.

On lap 92, Stewart caught and passed Goodyear, just before a big crash in turn 2 on lap 95. Yeley, just returned to the track after extensive repairs, spun and contacted Donnie Beechler, who had been moving up through the field. Boat spun to avoid the wreck, but his car spun unexpectedly towards the inside, and he was hit by Raul Boesel. All four were out and Boat suffered a broken thigh, an injury that would force him to miss some races and end his championship hopes.

There were no further cautions in the second half of the race, which was dominated by Stewart. His biggest threats suffered misfortune: Sharp's engine stalled durin a pit stop on lap 147, while Goodyear suffered a gearbox failure and was forced to run in fourth gear. Despite concern about the engine blowing (it could be heard hitting the rev limiter quite notably on the onboards), it held through the end of the race, and even the Canadian was able to reel in Stewart in traffic, but could not follow him in clear runs. Stewart led the final 36 laps to win over Goodyear, Sharp, Hamilton, and Luyendyk. Salazar's sixth-place finish was the best to date for the Riley & Scott chassis. Poor attendance at the event for the fifth year in a row led to the contract not being renewed for 1999.

PosNo.DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridLaps LedPoints
1 1 Tony Stewart Team Menard 200 1:51:30.262 6 93 52
2 4 Scott Goodyear Panther Racing 200 + 1.788 sec 5 44 40
3 8 Scott Sharp W Kelley Racing 200 Running 4 9 35
4 6 Davey Hamilton Nienhouse Motorsports 200 Running 22 3 32
5 5 Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing 199 + 1 lap 7 0 30
6 15 Eliseo Salazar Riley & Scott Cars 199 + 1 lap 17 0 28
7 91 Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 199 + 1 lap 3 0 27
8 28 Mark Dismore Kelley Racing 199 + 1 lap 13 0 24
9 51 Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 198 + 2 laps 11 0 22
10 3 Robbie Buhl W Team Menard 198 + 2 laps 12 5 20
11 52 Robby Unser R Team Cheever 198 + 2 laps 18 0 19
12 99 Sam Schmidt LP Racing 196 + 4 laps 24 0 18
13 16 Marco Greco Phoenix Racing 191 + 9 laps 14 0 17
14 81 Brian Tyler R Team Pelfrey 190 + 10 laps 25 0 16
15 12 Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports 183 + 17 laps 23 0 15
16 40 Jack Miller Sinden Racing 168 + 32 laps 19 0 14
17 19 Stan Wattles Metro Racing Systems 127 Handling 26 0 13
18 14 Kenny Bräck A. J. Foyt Enterprises 98 Handling 8 0 12
19 30 Raul Boesel McCormack Motorsports 94 Accident 9 0 11
20 98 Donnie Beechler R    Cahill Auto Racing 93 Accident 15 0 10
21 11 Billy Boat A. J. Foyt Enterprises 91 Accident 1 0 12
22 35 Jeff Ward ISM Racing 56 Engine 2 46 10
23 44 J. J. Yeley R Sinden Racing 38 Accident 21 0 7
24 77 Stéphan Grégoire Chastain Motorsports 22 Engine 16 0 6
25 18 Jack Hewitt R PDM Racing 11 Accident 20 0 5
26 10 John Paul, Jr. Byrd-Cunningham Racing 2 Accident 10 0 4

Race Statistics
  • Lead changes: 9 among 6 drivers

Standings after the race
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