1998 Las Vegas 400 Explained

The 1998 Las Vegas 400 was the inaugural running of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mark Martin, driver of the Valvoline Ford, won the race, and also led the most laps with 82. Dale Jarrett of the Quality Care Service/Ford Credit Ford won the pole position, but finished 40th due to an engine problem.^[2] A total of 120,000 people attended the race, with the profits from all three NASCAR races totaling $40 million for the local economy.^[3]

Race

The command to start the engines was given by boxing announcer Michael Buffer. Jimmy Howell was the Chief Starter per MRN's Allen Bestwick. As of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, none of the top 16 finishers are currently racing full-time; Jeff Gordon, the lone current full-time driver, finished 17th.^[4]

This race has been self-acclaimed by Mark Martin as being his "biggest victory in the Winston Cup Series." Martin's 5 foot 5 inch stature made him shorter than the Vegas showgirls that posed with him after the race. He would collect six more career wins after this race; making him a strong contender for the championship with an all-new NASCAR team.^[5] The Ford Taurus would win more than 100 races after this event before it was retired and replaced with a new Ford model, the Fusion.

Jeff Burton had to fight back from a pit road penalty in order to finish the race with a decent position.^[2]

Race results

Source:

Results

Pos	Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status
1	7	6				267	82	Running
2	15	99			Ford	267	37	Running
3	10	2			Ford	267	40	Running
4	16	26			Ford	267	9	Running
5	32	12			Ford	267	0	Running
6	23	16			Ford	267	0	Running
7	29	23			Ford	267	28	Running
8	26	3			Chevrolet	267	1	Running
9	4	94			Ford	267	0	Running
10	17	97			Ford	267	0	Running
11	6	75			Ford	266	0	Flagged
12	19	10			Ford	266	0	Flagged
13	2	7			Ford	266	14	Flagged
14	36	21			Ford	266	0	Flagged
15	28	5			Chevrolet	266	2	Flagged
16	12	90			Ford	266	0	Flagged
17	5	24			Chevrolet	266	0	Flagged
18	3	22				266	5	Flagged
19	11	18			Pontiac	266	0	Flagged
20	41	4			Chevrolet	265	0	Flagged
21	37	33			Chevrolet	265	0	Flagged
22	14	44			Pontiac	265	0	Flagged
23	20	77			Ford	265	0	Flagged
24	21	40			Chevrolet	265	0	Flagged
25	22	98			Ford	265	0	Flagged
26	24	11			Ford	265	0	Flagged
27	39	50			Chevrolet	265	0	Flagged
28	35	91	Kevin Lepage (R)		Chevrolet	264	0	Flagged
29	34	31			Chevrolet	264	0	Flagged
30	18	36			Pontiac	264	0	Flagged
31	9	30			Pontiac	264	0	Flagged
32	43	9			Ford	264	0	Flagged
33	31	29			Chevrolet	264	0	Flagged
34	33	96			Chevrolet	264	0	Flagged
35	27	17			Chevrolet	264	0	Flagged
36	38	28	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)		Ford	263	0	Flagged
37	8	42			Chevrolet	263	0	Flagged
38	25	46			Chevrolet	262	0	Flagged
39	40	41			Chevrolet	258	0	Flagged
40	1	88			Ford	219	40	Engine
41	30	43			Pontiac	196	0	Piston
42	13	81			Ford	179	0	Engine
43	42	8			Chevrolet	150	0	Electrical
		19		Roehig Motorsports	Ford
		78			Ford
		13	Jerry Nadeau (R)		Ford
		35			Pontiac
		1	Steve Park (R)		Chevrolet
		71			Chevrolet
		37			Ford
		38			Ford

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Rusty Wallace	505
2	Dale Earnhardt	449
3	Jeremy Mayfield	446
4	Jimmy Spencer	429
5	Bill Elliott	427
6	Jeff Gordon	412
7	Mark Martin	409
8	Terry Labonte	394
9	Chad Little	380
10	Bobby Hamilton	373

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1998 Las Vegas weather information. The Old Farmers' Almanac. 2013-06-14.
2. Web site: 1998 Las Vegas 400. Racing Reference. 2012-11-30.
3. News: Butterworth. Scott. NASCAR expected to return. Las Vegas Review-Journal. 1998-03-03. 2012-11-30.
4. Web site: Jensen. Tom. A NASCAR Throwback Thursday stat that will blow your mind. Foxsports.com. 2015-03-05. 2015-03-05.
5. Web site: Mark Martin 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results. Racing Reference. 2015-03-05.