1998 CART FedEx Championship Series explained
The 1998 FedEx Championship Series season was the twentieth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi, his second consecutive championship, while the series' Rookie of the Year was Tony Kanaan. This was the first of five years of sponsorship by FDX Corporation, who became FedEx Corporation in 2000.
The season was marred by a deadly crash on lap 175 of the U.S. 500. Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn of Michigan International Speedway. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others. Fernández was uninjured.[1]
This was the final season with Bobby Rahal on the CART grid. Other notable events of the 1998 season include first wins for Bryan Herta and future Indycar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti. Mexican driver Adrián Fernández got his second career win at Twin Ring Motegi, the first race run there by Champ Cars.
Drivers and constructors
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 CART Championship Series season.
| Team | Chassis | Engine | Tires | No | Drivers | Rounds | Primary Sponsors |
|---|
 Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 98i | Honda HRK | | 1 |  Alex Zanardi | All | Target |
| 12 | Jimmy Vasser | All |
| Marlboro Team Penske | Penske PC-27 | Mercedes IC108E | | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | All | Marlboro |
| 3 |  André Ribeiro | All |
| Walker Racing | Reynard 98i | Honda HRK | | 5 | Gil de Ferran | All | Valvoline |
| Newman-Haas Racing | Swift 009.c | Ford XB | | 6 | Michael Andretti | All | Texaco-Havoline |
| 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | 1–6, 8–19 | Kmart |
| Roberto Moreno | 7 |
| Team Rahal | Reynard 98i | Ford XB | | 7 | Bobby Rahal | All | Miller Lite |
| 8 | Bryan Herta | All | Shell |
| Hogan Racing | Reynard 98i | Mercedes IC108E | | 9 |  JJ Lehto | All | Hogan Motor Leasing |
| Della Penna Motorsports | Swift 009.c | Ford XB | | 10 | Richie Hearn | All | Budweiser |
| 43 |  Hideshi Matsuda | 2 | BMB Mini-Juke |
| Project CART | Reynard 98i | Mercedes IC108E | | 15 | Roberto Moreno | 1–2 | Hawaiian Tropic |
| Domenico Schiattarella | 3 |
| Bettenhausen Racing | Reynard 98i | Mercedes IC108E | | 16 | Hélio Castroneves | All | Alumax |
| PacWest Racing Group | Reynard 98i | Mercedes IC108E | | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | All | Hollywood Cigarettes |
| 18 | Mark Blundell | All | Motorola |
| Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i | Ford XB | | 19 |  Michel Jourdain Jr. | All | Herdez |
| 34 | Dennis Vitolo | 1, 4, 6–10, 12, 15–19 | SmithKline Beecham
Payton/Coyne Racing
Banco Cacique |
| Gualter Salles | 2–3, 5, 11, 13–14 |
| Patrick Racing | Reynard 98i | Ford XB | | 20 | Scott Pruett | All | Visteon |
| 40 | Adrián Fernández | All | Tecate Beer |
| Tasman Motorsports Group | Reynard 98i | Honda HRK | | 21 | Tony Kanaan | All | LCI |
| Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i | Toyota RV8C | | 24 | Hiro Matsushita | 1–3, 5 | Panasonic |
| Robby Gordon | 4, 6–19 |
| 25 | Max Papis | All | MCI |
| Team KOOL Green | Reynard 98i | Honda HRK | | 26 | | All | KOOL |
| 27 | Dario Franchitti | All |
| Forsythe Racing | Reynard 98i | Mercedes IC108E | | 33 |  Patrick Carpentier | All | Player's |
| 99 | Greg Moore | All |
| All American Racing | Reynard | Toyota RV8C | | 98 | P. J. Jones | 1–15 | Castrol |
| 36 | Alex Barron | 1–12 |
| Eagle 987 | 13–19 |
| 98 | Vincenzo Sospiri | 16–19 |
| Davis Racing | Lola T98/00 | Ford XB | | 77 |  Arnd Meier | All | BAAN Business Software
Hasseröder |
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Season Summary
Schedule
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Circuit | Location |
|---|
| 1 | March 15 | Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota | Homestead Motorsports Complex | Homestead, Florida |
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| 2 | March 28 | Budweiser 500K | Twin Ring Motegi | Motegi, Japan |
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| 3 | April 5 | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California |
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| 4 | April 27* | Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota | Nazareth Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
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| 5 | May 10 | Rio 400K | Autódromo de Jacarepaguá | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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| 6 | May 23 | Motorola 300 | Gateway International Raceway | Madison, Illinois |
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| 7 | May 31 | Miller Lite 200 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
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| 8 | June 7 | ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix | The Raceway on Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan |
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| 9 | June 21 | Texaco/Havoline Presents the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 | Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
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| 10 | July 12 | Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Star Bank | Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport | Cleveland, Ohio |
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| 11 | July 19 | Molson Indy Toronto | Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
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| 12 | July 26 | U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota | Michigan Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan |
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| 13 | August 9 | Miller Lite 200 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
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| 14 | August 16 | The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
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| 15 | September 6 | Molson Indy Vancouver | Streets of Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia |
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| 16 | September 13 | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Texaco/Havoline 300 | Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California |
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| 17 | October 4 | Texaco Grand Prix of Houston | George R. Brown Convention Center | Houston, Texas |
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| 18 | October 18 |  Honda Indy 300 | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Australia |
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| 19 | November 1 | Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota | California Speedway | Fontana, California |
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– The Nazareth race was scheduled for April 26, but postponed due to rain.
– The Houston race was scheduled for 153 miles, but was shortened due to poor visibility.
Oval/Speedway
Road/Street course
Race results
Final driver standings
See also: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems.
| | Color | Result |
|---|
| Gold | Winner | | Silver | 2nd place | | Bronze | 3rd place | | Green | 4th–6th place | | Light Blue | 7th–12th place | | Dark Blue | Finished
(Outside Top 12) | | Purple | Did not finish | | Red | Did not qualify
(DNQ) | | Brown | Withdrawn
(Wth) | | Black | Disqualified
(DSQ) | | White | Did not start
(DNS) | | Blank | Did not
participate
(DNP) | | Not competing | |
| | align=center colspan=2 | In-line notation |
|---|
| Bold | Pole position | | Italics | Ran fastest race lap | *| align=center|Led most race laps|-| align=center| |align=center|Rookie of the Year|-| align=center| |align=center|Rookie|}|}|}Nations' Cup
- Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Chassis Constructors' Cup
Engine Manufacturers' Cup
Driver breakdown
References
See also
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Notes and References
- News: Glick. Shav. Three spectators die at U.S. 500. Los Angeles Times. July 27, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120132220/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jul/27/sports/sp-7580. January 20, 2012. live.
United Kingdom