1998 Lone Star 500
# 1998 Lone Star 500

The 1998 Lone Star 500 was the tenth round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season. The race was held on September 20, 1998 at the 1.50 mi (2.41 km) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Open-wheel veteran John Paul Jr. earned his first win since the 1983 Michigan 500 in a race determined by attrition and fuel strategy. It would be Paul's only win in his IRL career and the only win for Byrd-Cunningham Racing in the series. Rookie Robby Unser scored his first and only podium as well as led the only laps in his career.

The race saw many crashes and problems plague the usual frontrunners, including Arie Luyendyk (fuel pump), Eddie Cheever (engine malfunction), Scott Sharp (crash), Greg Ray (engine malfunction), and Tony Stewart (led 51 laps before an engine problem ended his race). By finishing 5th, points leader Kenny Bräck maintained his comfortable lead in the points standings, all but ensuring he would be the next IRL champion in the next race.

## Report

| Key | Meaning |
| - | - |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |

### Qualifying

Two laps qualifying. The worst lap from any of the drivers are unknown.

| Pos | No. | Name | Lap | Best (in mph) |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 11 | Billy Boat W | 23.896 | 225.979 |
| 2 | 1 | Tony Stewart | 24.014 | 224.869 |
| 3 | 8 | Scott Sharp | 24.048 | 224.551 |
| 4 | 28 | Mark Dismore | 24.075 | 224.299 |
| 5 | 35 | Jeff Ward | 24.099 | 224.076 |
| 6 | 6 | Davey Hamilton | 24.142 | 223.677 |
| 7 | 4 | Scott Goodyear | 24.240 | 222.770 |
| 8 | 77 | Stéphan Grégoire | 24.288 | 222.332 |
| 9 | 51 | Eddie Cheever | 24.295 | 222.268 |
| 10 | 14 | Kenny Bräck | 24.304 | 222.186 |
| 11 | 43 | Dave Steele R | 24.319 | 222.049 |
| 12 | 97 | Greg Ray | 24.333 | 221.921 |
| 13 | 30 | Raul Boesel | 24.387 | 221.429 |
| 14 | 10 | John Paul Jr. | 24.394 | 221.366 |
| 15 | 16 | Marco Greco | 24.398 | 221.330 |
| 16 | 3 | Robbie Buhl | 24.451 | 220.850 |
| 17 | 52 | Robby Unser R | 24.454 | 220.823 |
| 18 | 23 | Roberto Guerrero | 24.491 | 220.489 |
| 19 | 91 | Buddy Lazier | 24.499 | 220.417 |
| 20 | 18 | Steve Knapp R | 24.669 | 218.898 |
| 21 | 12 | Buzz Calkins | 24.723 | 218.420 |
| 22 | 40 | Jack Miller | 24.821 | 217.558 |
| 23 | 99 | Sam Schmidt | 24.857 | 217.243 |
| 24 | 81 | Brian Tyler R | 24.900 | 216.867 |
| 25 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R | 25.040 | 215.655 |
| 26 | 19 | Stan Wattles | 25.387 | 212.707 |
| 27 | 15 | Andy Michner R | 26.119 | 206.746 |
| 28 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk W | 24.585 | 219.646 |
| Source |||||

* ^ Changed to a backup car for the race, after repeatedly changing engines during the weekend before loaning one from Panther Racing.

### Race

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 10 | John Paul Jr. | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | 208 | 2:21:53.557 | 14 | 31 | 50 |
| 2 | 52 | Robby Unser R | Team Cheever | 208 | +1.577 sec | 17 | 22 | 40 |
| 3 | 35 | Jeff Ward | ISM Racing | 208 | Running | 5 | 16 | 35 |
| 4 | 23 | Roberto Guerrero | Cobb Racing | 208 | Running | 18 | 22 | 32 |
| 5 | 5 | Kenny Bräck | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 207 | +1 Lap | 10 | | 30 |
| 6 | 91 | Buddy Lazier | Hemelgarn Racing | 206 | +2 Laps | 19 | 14 | 28 |
| 7 | 3 | Robbie Buhl | Team Menard | 205 | +3 Laps | 16 | | 26 |
| 8 | 19 | Stan Wattles | Metro Racing Systems | 205 | +3 Laps | 26 | | 24 |
| 9 | 6 | Davey Hamilton | Nienhouse Motorsports | 202 | +6 Laps | 6 | | 22 |
| 10 | 28 | Mark Dismore | Kelley Racing | 202 | +6 Laps | 4 | 14 | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Buzz Calkins | Bradley Motorsports | 201 | +7 Laps | 21 | | 19 |
| 12 | 40 | Jack Miller | Sinden Racing Services | 201 | +7 Laps | 22 | | 18 |
| 13 | 81 | Brian Tyler R | Team Pelfrey | 174 | Engine | 24 | | 17 |
| 14 | 11 | Billy Boat W | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 162 | +46 Laps | 1 | | 19 |
| 15 | 15 | Andy Michner R | Riley & Scott | 158 | Engine | 27 | 7 | 15 |
| 16 | 16 | Marco Greco | Phoenix Racing | 133 | Contact | 15 | | 14 |
| 17 | 30 | Raul Boesel | McCormack Motorsports | 133 | Contact | 13 | 30 | 13 |
| 18 | 18 | Steve Knapp R | PDM Racing | 131 | Contact | 20 | | 12 |
| 19 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R | Cahill Racing | 122 | Contact | 25 | | 11 |
| 20 | 1 | Tony Stewart | Team Menard | 80 | Engine | 2 | 51 | 14 |
| 21 | 97 | Greg Ray | Knapp Motorsports | 75 | Engine | 12 | | 9 |
| 22 | 4 | Scott Goodyear | Panther Racing | 71 | Clutch | 7 | | 8 |
| 23 | 8 | Scott Sharp | Kelley Racing | 67 | Contact | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 24 | 43 | Dave Steele R | Panther Racing | 39 | Contact | 11 | | 6 |
| 25 | 51 | Eddie Cheever | Team Cheever | 30 | Engine | 9 | | 5 |
| 26 | 77 | Stéphan Grégoire | Chastain Motorsports | 18 | Contact | 8 | | 4 |
| 27 | 99 | Sam Schmidt | LP Racing | 5 | Engine | 23 | | 3 |
| 28 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk W | Treadway Racing | 5 | Fuel Pump | 28 | | 2 |
| Source |||||||||

## Race Statistics

* Lead changes: 17 among 10 drivers

Lap Leaders :

| Laps | Leader |
| - | - |
| 1-27 | Tony Stewart |
| 28-41 | Mark Dismore |
| 42 | Jeff Ward |
| 43-50 | Raul Boesel |
| 51 | Scott Sharp |
| 52-75 | Tony Stewart |
| 76-80 | Jeff Ward |
| 81-87 | John Paul Jr. |
| 88-109 | Raul Boesel |
| 110-116 | Andy Michner |
| 117-130 | Buddy Lazier |
| 131-136 | John Paul Jr. |
| 137-140 | Roberto Guerrero |
| 141-162 | Robby Unser |
| 163 | John Paul Jr. |
| 164-182 | Roberto Guerrero |
| 183-191 | Jeff Ward |
| 192-208 | John Paul Jr. |

Cautions: 8 for 74 laps :

| Laps | Reason |
| - | - |
| 19-27 | Stéphane Grégoire crash |
| 40-48 | Dave Steele crash |
| 70-78 | Scott Sharp crash |
| 85-92 | Debris |
| 108-116 | Billy Boat crash |
| 134-152 | Greco, Boesel, Beechler and Knapp crash |
| 160-164 | Tow-in for Andy Michner |
| 198-202 | Davey Hamilton's tire blow-out |

## Standings after the race

### Drivers' Championship standings

| Rank | +/– | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Kenny Bräck | 312 |
| 2 | | Davey Hamilton | 281 |
| 3 | | Tony Stewart | 271 |
| 4 | | Scott Sharp | 254 |
| 5 | 1 | Jeff Ward | 243 |

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.
