1998 Las Vegas 500K
# 1998 Las Vegas 500K

The 1998 Las Vegas 500K was the eleventh and final round of the 1998 Indy Racing League. The race was held on October 11, 1998 at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.

## 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 | 25.167 | 214.567 |
| 2 | 1 | Tony Stewart | 25.360 | 212.934 |
| 3 | 16 | Marco Greco | 25.432 | 212.331 |
| 4 | 97 | Greg Ray | 25.439 | 212.272 |
| 5 | 3 | Robbie Buhl | 25.466 | 212.047 |
| 6 | 14 | Kenny Bräck | 25.506 | 211.715 |
| 7 | 10 | John Paul Jr. | 25.531 | 211.508 |
| 8 | 35 | Jeff Ward | 25.543 | 211.408 |
| 9 | 28 | Mark Dismore | 25.557 | 211.292 |
| 10 | 51 | Eddie Cheever | 25.564 | 211.235 |
| 11 | 8 | Scott Sharp | 25.617 | 210.798 |
| 12 | 12 | Buzz Calkins | 25.787 | 209.408 |
| 13 | 6 | Davey Hamilton | 25.790 | 209.383 |
| 14 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk | 25.843 | 208.954 |
| 15 | 4 | Scott Goodyear | 25.880 | 208.655 |
| 16 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R | 25.898 | 208.510 |
| 17 | 91 | Buddy Lazier | 25.925 | 208.293 |
| 18 | 23 | Roberto Guerrero | 25.931 | 208.245 |
| 19 | 15 | Jim Guthrie | 25.932 | 208.237 |
| 20 | 30 | Raul Boesel | 25.946 | 208.125 |
| 21 | 18 | Steve Knapp R | 26.071 | 207.127 |
| 22 | 81 | Brian Tyler R | 26.222 | 205.934 |
| 23 | 99 | Sam Schmidt | 26.303 | 205.300 |
| 24 | 77 | Stéphan Grégoire | 26.445 | 204.197 |
| 25 | 19 | Stan Wattles | 26.540 | 203.466 |
| 26 | 43 | Dave Steele R | 26.770 | 201.718 |
| 27 | 52 | Robby Unser R | No time | No speed |
| 28 | 40 | Jack Miller | No time | No speed |
| Source |||||

* ^ Couldn't qualify due to an unscheduled engine change. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.
* ^ Waved off his qualifying attempt after two warm-up laps. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

### Race

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | Arie Luyendyk | Treadway Racing | 208 | 2:18:19.202 | 14 | 88 | 52 |
| 2 | 99 | Sam Schmidt | LP Racing | 208 | + 0.926 sec | 23 | 0 | 40 |
| 3 | 91 | Buddy Lazier | Hemelgarn Racing | 208 | Running | 17 | 60 | 35 |
| 4 | 10 | John Paul Jr. | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | 208 | Running | 7 | 8 | 32 |
| 5 | 51 | Eddie Cheever | Team Cheever | 207 | + 1 lap | 10 | 3 | 30 |
| 6 | 81 | Brian Tyler R | Team Pelfrey | 207 | + 1 lap | 22 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 | 3 | Robbie Buhl | Team Menard | 206 | + 2 laps | 5 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 16 | Marco Greco | Phoenix Racing | 206 | + 2 laps | 3 | 0 | 25 |
| 9 | 18 | Steve Knapp R | PDM Racing | 204 | + 4 laps | 21 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 14 | Kenny Bräck | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 202 | + 6 laps | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Buzz Calkins | Bradley Motorsports | 202 | + 6 laps | 12 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 8 | Scott Sharp | Kelley Racing | 198 | + 10 laps | 11 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 19 | Stan Wattles | Metro Racing Systems | 187 | Accident | 25 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 1 | Tony Stewart | Team Menard | 178 | + 30 laps | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 15 | 28 | Mark Dismore | Kelley Racing | 176 | Suspension | 9 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | 52 | Robby Unser R | Team Pelfrey | 174 | Engine | 27 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 77 | Stéphan Grégoire | Chastain Motorsports | 160 | + 48 laps | 24 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 30 | Raul Boesel | McCormack Motorsports | 144 | Timing chain | 20 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 6 | Davey Hamilton | Nienhouse Motorsports | 124 | Accident | 13 | 0 | 11 |
| 20 | 23 | Roberto Guerrero | CBR Cobb Racing | 123 | Accident | 18 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 | 35 | Jeff Ward | ISM Racing | 120 | Accident | 8 | 21 | 9 |
| 22 | 4 | Scott Goodyear | Panther Racing | 117 | Accident | 15 | 0 | 8 |
| 23 | 98 | Donnie Beechler R | Cahill Auto Racing | 107 | Accident | 16 | 1 | 7 |
| 24 | 15 | Jim Guthrie | Riley & Scott Cars | 90 | Suspension | 19 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 | 97 | Greg Ray | Knapp Motorsports | 76 | Handling | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 26 | 11 | Billy Boat | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 51 | Accident | 1 | 27 | 7 |
| 27 | 43 | Dave Steele R | Panther Racing | 42 | Suspension | 26 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 | 40 | Jack Miller | Sinden Racing Services | 38 | Handling | 28 | 0 | 2 |
| Source |||||||||

## Race Statistics

* Lead changes: 13 among 7 drivers

Lap Leaders :

| Laps | Leader |
| - | - |
| 1-27 | Billy Boat |
| 28-38 | Jeff Ward |
| 39-41 | Eddie Cheever |
| 42-46 | Arie Luyendyk |
| 47 | Donnie Beechler |
| 48-49 | Arie Luyendyk |
| 50-97 | Buddy Lazier |
| 98-99 | Arie Luyendyk |
| 100-109 | Jeff Ward |
| 110-112 | John Paul Jr. |
| 113-124 | Buddy Lazier |
| 125-163 | Arie Luyendyk |
| 164-168 | John Paul Jr. |
| 169-208 | Arie Luyendyk |

Cautions: 10 for 68 laps :

| Laps | Reason |
| - | - |
| 7-11 | Tony Stewart spin |
| 15-18 | Debris |
| 45-48 | Dave Steele's brush with the wall |
| 54-63 | Billy Boat crash |
| 110-119 | Donnie Beechler crash |
| 120-129 | Jeff Ward and Scott Goodyear crash |
| 130-138 | Davey Hamilton and Roberto Guerrero crash |
| 165-171 | Stan Wattles spin |
| 180-182 | Debris |
| 198-203 | Stan Wattles crash |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | +/– | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Kenny Bräck | 332 |
| 2 | | Davey Hamilton | 292 |
| 3 | | Tony Stewart | 289 |
| 4 | | Scott Sharp | 272 |
| 5 | 2 | Buddy Lazier | 262 |

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