1998 Dura Lube 200

1998 Phoenix

Race details
2nd round of the 1998 Indy Racing League season
Date	March 22, 1998
Official name	Dura Lube 200
Location	Phoenix International Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.000 mi / 1.609 km
Distance	200 laps 200.000 mi / 321.869 km
Pole position
Driver	Jeff Ward (ISM Racing)
Time	20.839
Fastest lap
Driver	Tony Stewart (Team Menard)
Time	21.996 (on lap 43 of 200)
Podium
First	Scott Sharp (Kelley Racing)
Second	Tony Stewart (Team Menard)
Third	Billy Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)

The 1998 Dura Lube 200 was the second round of the 1998 Indy Racing League. The race was held on March 22, 1998 at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Grid limited to 28 cars. Positions 1-26 determined by qualifying speed. Positions 27-28 reserved for provisionals (based on entrant points).

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1	Lap 2	Best (in mph)	Entrant points
1	35	Jeff Ward	20.839	21.242	172.753
2	11	Billy Boat	21.053	20.867	172.521
3	1	Tony Stewart	21.058	20.869	172.505
4	7	Jimmy Kite	20.872	20.896	172.480
5	14	Kenny Bräck	21.404	21.003	171.404
6	15	Eliseo Salazar	21.116	21.023	171.241
7	6	Davey Hamilton	21.198	21.083	170.754
8	8	Scott Sharp	21.112	21.110	170.535
9	91	Buddy Lazier	21.161	21.476	170.124
10	44	J. J. Yeley R	21.258	21.163	170.108
11	21	Roberto Guerrero W	21.225	21.176	170.004
12	3	Robbie Buhl	21.257	21.185	169.932
13	30	Raul Boesel	21.249	21.235	169.531
14	4	Scott Goodyear	21.267	21.340	169.276
15	28	Mark Dismore	21.530	21.274	169.221
16	16	Marco Greco	21.565	21.312	168.919
17	12	Buzz Calkins	21.423	21.320	168.856
18	97	Greg Ray	22.003	21.441	167.903
19	5	Arie Luyendyk W	21.656	21.520	167.286
20	51	Eddie Cheever	21.550	21.560	167.053
21	18	John Paul Jr.	21.626	21.624	166.482
22	77	Stéphan Grégoire	21.779	21.676	166.082
23	22	Dave Steele R	22.190	21.809	165.069
24	10	Mike Groff	22.185	21.838	164.850
25	99	Sam Schmidt	22.220	21.861	164.677
26	23	Paul Durant	21.974	21.865	164.647
27	20	Tyce Carlson	23.244	23.660	154.879	19
28	17	Brian Tyler R	23.129	23.158	155.649	11
Didn't qualify
29	40	Jack Miller	22.398	21.880	164.534	7
30	53	Jim Guthrie W	22.418	21.898	164.399	0
31	27	Robbie Groff	21.957	22.062	163.957	2
32	19	Stan Wattles	22.364	21.997	163.659	8

The difference between the fastest and slowest qualifier was the 2nd closest in Indycar history at Phoenix, which, combined with traction problems in turn 2 caused by a dip in the pavement, made for a rough race. Shockingly, neither the defending race champion, Jim Guthrie, nor his previous team Blueprint Racing (with Robbie Groff) qualified. Speeds were up from the previous year, and six cars broke the new-car track record led by surprise pole winner Jeff Ward, who jumped out to the early lead and held it until he encountered gearbox problems. He eventually lost fifth gear and was handicapped on restarts, although once up to speed he was still one of the fastest cars on the track. Eddie Cheever, from 20th starting position, moved into the top 10 by lap 11. Buddy Lazier dropped out early when he lost an engine and crashed in turn 3. On lap 19, John Paul Jr. started a long sequence of incidents in turn 2 when he spun there.

After Ward's transmission malfunctioned, Tony Stewart took over the lead for almost 100 more laps. In between, Kenny Bräck, Billy Boat and Ward battled for position while Sharp moved up through the field. On lap 32, Sharp's teammate Mark Dismore wrecked in turn 2, and lost some laps before returning to the race, something that would be significant for the outcome of the race. Rookie J. J. Yeley surprised qualifying 10th in his first IRL start, but he spun in turn 2 on lap 46. Davey Hamilton tried to squeeze by on the outside but slid into the wall and then into Yeley. Another first-timer, Dave Steele, was involved in a frightening accident at the same spot on lap 59. Eliseo Salazar spun and collected Steele and Robbie Buhl. Trying to avoid him, Arie Luyendyk touched wheels with Salazar. Luyendyk's car went up and over, and slid through turn 2 upside down. The Dutch had significant damage to his helmet from the pavement but only had a hand burn caused by scraping the asphalt during the spin.

Cheever had moved into the lead prior to this yellow, but lost a lap when his crew got the left and right rear tires reversed on a pit stop, and he never managed to make up the lap. Then, Stéphan Grégoire moved into second place behind Stewart. Buzz Calkins was picking up his lap times, and after a caution for Paul Durant's blown engine on lap 106, he made up a lap and joined the lead pack, but he got hit by debris when Paul Jr. wrecked on lap 133 and had to put for a new nose, losing again a lap. At this point, Stewart still led, with Bräck pursuing him but being unable to catch the leader. Pit strategy came into play on lap 169 when Sam Schmidt spun in turn 2. All cars on the lead lap cars pitted with the exception of Sharp, who decided to gamble on fuel.

After the green flag on lap 174, Sharp quickly opened up a 3-second lead in traffic but then had to slow to conserve fuel. On lap 186, Bräck got caught in a four wide pass in the back stretch dogleg and he touched wheels with Mike Groff. Both crashed hard and Groff had to be cut out of his car. Groff was taken to the hospital, examined, and released. The resulting long caution allowed Sharp to conserve fuel. The green waved with 2 laps to go. Between the leaders was Dismore, many laps down but running fast. Dismore bogged down at the start and held up Stewart and Boat. The race would end in that order: despite the controversy that erupted following the race, Dismore claimed to not have received any "team orders", but he was fined $5,000 for "unsportsmanlike conduct". Sharp was also fined $15,000 and docked 7 points for "failing to meet the fuel tank capacity requirement", as his car held more fuel than allowed.^[1] Grégoire's unsponsored car logged its second consecutive fourth-place finish, and Ward finished fifth. Schmidt, with an underfunded team, managed his best finish ever in the IRL with a 7th place despite two spins. Scott Sharp got his second IRL victory; his first in the new cars.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	8	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing	200	2:02:18.735	8	30	43
2	1	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	200	+ 2.366 sec	3	127	43
3	11	Billy Boat	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	200	+ 3.280 sec	2	12	37
4	77	Stéphan Grégoire	Chastain Motorsports	199	+ 1 lap	22	0	32
5	35	Jeff Ward	ISM Racing	199	+ 1 lap	1	25	33
6	4	Scott Goodyear	Panther Racing	199	+ 1 lap	14	0	28
7	99	Sam Schmidt	LP Racing	198	+ 2 laps	25	0	26
8	30	Raul Boesel	McCormack Motorsports	197	+ 3 laps	13	0	24
9	12	Buzz Calkins	Bradley Motorsports	197	+ 3 laps	17	0	22
10	51	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	196	+ 4 laps	20	6	20
11	97	Greg Ray	Knapp Motorsports	192	+ 8 laps	18	0	19
12	3	Robbie Buhl	Team Menard	187	+ 13 laps	12	0	18
13	20	Tyce Carlson	Immke Racing	186	+ 14 laps	27	0	17
14	14	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	185	Accident	5	0	16
15	10	Mike Groff	Byrd-Cunningham Racing	177	Accident	24	0	15
16	28	Mark Dismore	Kelley Racing	175	+ 25 laps	15	0	14
17	17	Brian Tyler R	Treadway Racing	168	+ 32 laps	28	0	13
18	7	Jimmy Kite	Team Scandia	129	+ 71 laps	4	0	12
19	18	John Paul Jr.	PDM Racing	126	Accident	21	0	11
20	16	Marco Greco	Phoenix Racing	122	+ 78 laps	16	0	10
21	23	Paul Durant	CBR Cobb Racing	99	Engine	26	0	9
22	22	Dave Steele R	RSM Marko	59	Engine	23	0	8
23	15	Eliseo Salazar	Riley & Scott Cars	58	Accident	6	0	7
24	5	Arie Luyendyk W	Treadway Racing	58	Accident	19	0	6
25	44	J. J. Yeley R	Sinden Racing Services	45	Accident	10	0	5
26	6	Davey Hamilton	Nienhouse Motorsports	45	Accident	7	0	4
27	21	Roberto Guerrero W	Pagan Racing	44	Transmission	11	0	3
28	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	9	Accident	9	0	2

• Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Tony Stewart	95
2	Jeff Ward	73
3	Scott Sharp	71
4	Stéphan Grégoire	64
5	Sam Schmidt	48

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

• IndyCar official website