1998 Pepsi Southern 500

1998 Pepsi Southern 500

Race details
Race 24 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1998 Southern 500 program cover
Date	September 6, 1998 (1998-09-06)
Official name	Pepsi Southern 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.366 miles (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.800 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 93.2 °F (34.0 °C); wind speeds up to 11.3 miles per hour (18.2 km/h)
Average speed	139.031 miles per hour (223.749 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Time	29.119
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing
Laps	273
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons

The 1998 Pepsi Southern 500, the 49th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 6, 1998 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometre) speedway, it was the twenty-fourth race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race and captured his fourth consecutive Southern 500.

Results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Laps led	Time/Status	Points
1	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	367	64	3:36:21	180
2	99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	367	273	+3.631	180
3	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	367	15	Lead lap	170
4	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	367	0	Lead lap	160
5	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	366	0	+1 lap	155
6	36	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac	365	0	+2 laps	150
7	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Ford	365	11	+2 laps	151
8	40	Sterling Marlin	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	365	0	+2 laps	142
9	7	Geoffrey Bodine	Mattei Motorsports	Ford	364	0	+3 laps	138
10	81	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing	Ford	364	0	+3 laps	134
11	94	Bill Elliott	Bill Elliott Racing	Ford	364	1	+3 laps	135
12	22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	364	0	+3 laps	127
13	33	Ken Schrader	Andy Petree Racing	Chevrolet	363	0	+4 laps	124
14	43	John Andretti	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	362	0	+5 laps	121
15	18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	362	0	+5 laps	118
16	46	Jeff Green	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	362	0	+5 laps	115
17	21	Michael Waltrip	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	362	0	+5 laps	112
18	97	Chad Little	Roush Racing	Ford	362	0	+5 laps	109
19	98	Rich Bickle	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	362	0	+5 laps	106
20	41	Steve Grissom	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	362	0	+5 laps	103
21	26	Johnny Benson Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	362	0	+5 laps	100
22	10	Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports	Ford	362	0	+5 laps	97
23	4	Bobby Hamilton	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	362	0	+5 laps	94
24	1	Steve Park	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	361	0	+6 laps	91
25	5	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	361	0	+6 laps	88
26	31	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	361	0	+6 laps	85
27	30	Derrike Cope	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	361	0	+6 laps	82
28	44	Kyle Petty	PE2 Motorsports	Pontiac	361	0	+6 laps	79
29	13	Dennis Setzer	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	360	0	+7 laps	76
30	77	Robert Pressley	Jasper Motorsports	Ford	360	0	+7 laps	73
31	50	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	360	0	+7 laps	70
32	9	Jerry Nadeau	Melling Racing	Ford	360	0	+7 laps	67
33	90	Dick Trickle	Donlavey Racing	Ford	359	0	+8 laps	64
34	23	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Ford	359	0	+8 laps	61
35	42	Joe Nemechek	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	359	0	+8 laps	58
36	75	Rick Mast	Butch Mock Motorsports	Ford	358	0	+9 laps	55
37	78	Gary Bradberry	Triad Motorsports	Ford	358	0	+9 laps	52
38	35	Darrell Waltrip	Tyler Jet Motorsports	Pontiac	346	0	Oil pump	49
39	16	Kevin Lepage	Roush Racing	Ford	326	0	Ignition	46
40	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	318	3	Engine	48
41	28	Kenny Irwin Jr.	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	298	0	Oil pump	40
42	11	Brett Bodine	Brett Bodine Racing	Ford	269	0	Engine	37
43	15	Ted Musgrave	Moore-Robinson Motorsports	Ford	83	0	Engine	34
Source:

Race statistics

• Time of race: 3:36:21
• Average speed: 139.031 miles per hour (223.749 km/h)
• Pole speed: 168.879 miles per hour (271.784 km/h)
• Cautions: 2 for 16 laps
• Margin of Victory: 3.631 seconds
• Lead changes: 12
• Percent of race run under caution: 4.4%
• Average green flag run: 117 laps

Lap leaders
Laps	Leader
1–8	Dale Jarrett
9–19	Rusty Wallace
20–63	Jeff Burton
64–65	Mark Martin
66–83	Jeff Burton
84–90	Dale Jarrett
91–147	Jeff Burton
148	Mark Martin
149	Bill Elliott
150–273	Jeff Burton
274–310	Jeff Gordon
311–340	Jeff Burton
341–367	Jeff Gordon

Total laps led
Laps led	Driver
273	Jeff Burton
64	Jeff Gordon
15	Dale Jarrett
11	Rusty Wallace
3	Mark Martin
1	Bill Elliott

Cautions: 2 for 16 laps
Laps	Reason
83–87	#23 (Spencer) spin turn 4
244–254	Debris turn 2